General Fusion Group Ltd S-1, filed Aug 6, 2025
General Fusion Group Ltd. (GFUZ)
As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 4, 2025.
Registration No. 333-[·]
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
Cayman Islands | 6770 | N/A |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of | (Primary Standard Industrial | (IRS Employer |
Incorporation or Organization) | Classification Code Number) | Identification Number) |
2100 McKinney Ave., Suite 1675
Dallas, TX 75201
Tel: (214) 308-5230
(Address, including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)
Christopher Sorrells
Chief Executive Officer
2100 McKinney Ave., Suite 1675
Dallas, TX 75201
Tel: (214) 308-5230
(Name, Address, including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
Copies to:
Alan Annex, Esq. | Matthew R. Pacey, P.C. |
Jason Simon, Esq. | Kirkland & Ellis LLP |
Greenberg Traurig, LLP | 609 Main Street |
1750 Tysons Boulevard, Suite 1000 | Houston, TX 77002 |
McLean, Virginia 22102 | Tel: (713) 836-3600 |
Tel: (703) 749-1300 | |
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, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
☒ | 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.
The information contained in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. No securities may be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities, and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities, in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED AUGUST 4, 2025
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
$150,000,000
Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III
15,000,000 Units
Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III is a blank check company, incorporated 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, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. 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 with respect to an initial business combination with us. Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any business, industry or geographic location, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships, sector expertise and active management and operating experience. In particular, we currently intend to focus on opportunities that capitalize on the expertise and ability of our management team, particularly our executive officers, to identify, acquire and operate a business in the natural resources and decarbonization industries.
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 risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 48. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
| | |
| Underwriting | | |
| | | | Discounts and | | Proceeds, Before |
| | Price to Public | | Commissions(1) | | Expenses, to Us |
Per Unit |
| 10.00 |
| 0.60 |
| 9.40 |
Total |
| 150,000,000 |
| 9,000,000 |
| 140,250,000 |
| (1) | Includes (a) $0.20 per unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate (or $3,450,000 if the overallotment option is exercised in full), payable to the underwriters upon the closing of this offering, of which (i) $0.10 per unit will be paid to the underwriters in cash and (ii) $0.10 per unit will be used by the underwriters to purchase private placement warrants; and (b) up to $0.40 per unit, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the overallotment option is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters in this offering, for deferred underwriting commissions, to be placed in a trust account located in the United States and released to the underwriters only upon the completion of an initial business combination, but such $0.40 per unit shall be due solely on amounts remaining in the trust account following all properly submitted shareholder redemptions in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Does not include certain fees and expenses payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See also “Underwriting” for additional information regarding underwriting compensation. |
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) ($10.00 per unit), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account maintained with [●] acting as trustee. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to as described below, and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or such later time as provided for in any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (an “Extension Period”), subject to applicable law, 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 24 months from the closing of this offering, or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, 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. We are permitted to withdraw amounts from the trust account (i) to fund our working capital requirements, which amount shall not equal more than 5% of the interest earned on the trust account, and/or (ii) to pay our taxes, provided that all permitted withdrawals can only be made (x) from interest and not from the principal held in the trust account and (y) only to the extent such interest is in amount sufficient to cover the permitted withdrawal amount (“permitted withdrawals”).
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Delivery of the units will be made on or about, 2025.
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.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable public warrant. Each whole public warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per 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. The public 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, and will expire seven years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,250,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.
We will provide our public shareholders with the
described herein, our initial shareholders, executive officers, and directors 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 amounts withdrawn for permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. See “Proposed Business Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination” for more information.
Our Sponsor and the three independent directors that will hold our founder shares prior to this offering (which we refer to as our “initial shareholders” as further described herein) 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 the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. 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 as provided herein. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of the Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason. 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. See “Summary — The Offering — Founder Shares”; “Summary — The Offering — Transfer restrictions on founder shares”; “Summary — The Offering — Appointment of directors; Voting rights”; and “Summary — The Offering — Private Placement Warrants,” for further discussion on our Sponsor’s and our affiliates’ securities and compensation.
Our Sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $250,000 under an unsecured promissory note, dated March 28, 2025, to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, and the outstanding balance of this loan will be payable on the earlier of: (i) December 31, 2025, and (ii) the date on which we consummate an initial public offering. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates 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. Upon consummation of this offering, we may repay any loans made to us by our Sponsor, to cover offering-related and organizational expenses. In the event that following this offering we obtain working capital loans from our Sponsor or an affiliate to finance transaction costs related to our initial business combination, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. Commencing on the date on which our securities are listed on Nasdaq, we may make certain payments and reimbursements, or pay certain fees, to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Our Sponsor has also agreed to provide office space and administrative services to us at a price of $20,000 per month. See the section titled “Summary - Sponsor Information” for more information regarding, among other things, the amount of compensation and securities received or to be received by our sponsors, their affiliates and our officers and directors.
Because our Sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price of approximately $0.004 per share, our public shareholders will incur immediate
The following table illustrates the difference between the public offering price and our net tangible book value (“NTBV”), as adjusted to give effect to this offering and to redemptions of our public shares at varying levels, assuming the full exercise and no exercise of the over-allotment option. See the sections titled “Prospectus Summary — Dilution” and “Dilution” for more information.
As of May 21, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offering Price of | | 25% of Maximum | | 50% of Maximum | | 75% of Maximum | | | | | |
| ||||||||||||
$10.00 per Unit | | Redemption | | Redemption | | Redemption | | Maximum Redemption | ||||||||||||||||
| | | | | Difference | | | | | Difference | | | | | Difference | | | | | Difference | ||||
| | | | | between | | | | | between | | | | | between | | | | | between | ||||
| | | | | Public NTBV | | | | | NTBV and | | | | | NTBV and | | | | | NTBV and | ||||
| | | | | and Public | | | | | Offering | | | | | Offering | | | | | Offering | ||||
NTBV |
| NTBV |
| Offering Price |
| NTBV |
| Price |
| NTBV |
| Price |
| NTBV |
| Price | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||||||
Assuming Full Exercise of Over-Allotment Option | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | |
Assuming No Exercise of Over-Allotment Option | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
$ | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | |
Our Sponsor and members of our management team will directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering, and accordingly, 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. Further, each of
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. We have applied to list our units on The Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “SVACU” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. The closing of this offering is contingent upon the successful listing of our common stock on Nasdaq. The Class A ordinary shares and public 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 Cohen and Company Capital Markets, a division of Cohen & Company Securities, LLC (“CCM”), the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions as described further herein. 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 “SVAC” and “SVACW,” respectively.
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.
Sole Book-Running Manager
Cohen & Company Capital Markets
The date of this prospectus is , 2025
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page |
1 | |
18 | |
48 | |
87 | |
88 | |
92 | |
93 | |
95 | |
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS | 96 |
102 | |
132 | |
143 | |
146 | |
149 | |
167 | |
176 | |
185 | |
185 | |
185 |
Until , 2025, 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 underwriters 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 ™ 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.
SUMMARY
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” starting on page 48 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:
| ● | “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; |
| ● | “CCM” are to Cohen and Company Capital Markets, a division of Cohen & Company Securities, LLC, the representative of the underwriters in this offering; |
| ● | “Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| ● | “directors” are to our directors and our director nominees named in this prospectus; |
| ● | “founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our initial shareholders in a private placement prior to this offering, and our Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon conversion thereof as provided herein (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”); |
| ● | “initial shareholders” are to Sponsor and the three independent directors that will hold our founder shares prior to this offering; |
| ● | “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; |
| ● | “management” or our “management team” are to our directors and officers; |
| ● | “ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
| ● | “permitted withdrawals” refers to amounts withdrawn from the trust account (i) to fund our working capital requirements, which amount shall not equal more than 5% of the interest earned on the trust account, and/or (ii) to pay our taxes, provided that all permitted withdrawals can only be made (x) from interest and not from the principal held in the trust account and (y) only to the extent such interest is in amount sufficient to cover the permitted withdrawal amount; |
| ● | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our Sponsor and the underwriters in private placements simultaneously with the closing of this offering, which private placement warrants are identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus; |
| ● | “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our Sponsor, directors and officers to the extent such persons purchase public shares, provided their status as a “public shareholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares; |
| ● | “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); |
| ● | “public warrants” are to our warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| ● | “Sponsor” are to Spring Valley Acquisition III Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, which was recently formed to invest in our company, as further discussed under “Sponsor Information” below; |
1
| ● | “warrants” are, collectively, to the public warrants and the private placement warrants; |
| ● | “warrant agreement” are to our warrant agreement governing the warrants; |
| ● | “we,” “us,” “our” or our “company” are to Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, a Cayman Islands exempted company; and |
| ● | “$,” “US$” and “U.S. dollar” each refer to the United States dollar. |
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 assumes the forfeiture by our Sponsor (and the other holders thereof as applicable) of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares.
Proposed Business
General
We are a recently incorporated blank check company incorporated 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 as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, had any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.
We will seek to capitalize on the significant experience and vast network of our management team to complete our initial business combination. Although we may pursue our initial business combination in any business, industry or geographic location, we currently intend to focus on opportunities that capitalize on the expertise and ability of our management team, particularly our executive officers, to identify, acquire and operate a business in the natural resources and decarbonization industries (our “Focus Industries”). Our management team has been investing and advising in our Focus Industries for over 25 years and our targeted themes include, but are not limited to:
| ● | energy resources — with a focus on oil and gas exploration and production (E&P), oilfield services and equipment and biofuels; |
| ● | metals and mining — including critical metals (rare earths) and uranium; and |
| ● | decarbonization — clean energy generation (nuclear, hydrogen, solar and wind), energy storage, grid infrastructure (technologies to support an aging and intermittent grid), resource optimization (digitization and energy efficiency), carbon capture (utilization and storage), environmental services (waste management, pollution control and recycling) and transportation (electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles). |
We believe our management team’s collective background and the favorable macro and social trends disrupting our Focus Industries will provide an opportunity to execute a potentially transformational business combination.
We believe that there are significant attractive investment opportunities in natural resources as well as in our core decarbonization theme. Growth in the natural resources industry is being driven by a series of macroeconomic, demographic, technological and geopolitical trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to the growth of natural resources include global economic growth and industrialization. In addition, various demographic, technological and geopolitical trends, such as the “electrification of everything”, digitalization and technology growth (cloud computing, AI, data centers, and crypto mining) as well as conflicts and trade rivalries are driving the need for critical natural resources.
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In addition, the movement to decarbonize carbon intensive industries is being driven by a series of macroeconomic and social trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to growth in the decarbonization industry include urbanization, population growth, increased government spending and increased regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local levels. In addition, various social trends, such as the expanding focus on ESG practices and business models, as well as ESG increasingly becoming a core mandate for fund managers, are leading to an accelerated global focus on decarbonization. As a result, we believe the decarbonization industry has the potential to undergo profound changes similar to other industries in the past, such as the transportation industry with airline deregulation in the 1970s and the telecom industry following the emergence of wireless technology in the 1990s.
We believe that we are well-positioned to identify attractive businesses in our Focus Industries that would benefit from access to the public markets and the diverse skill set of our management team. We intend to focus on evaluating established companies with leading competitive positions, experienced management teams, attractive financial profiles and robust long-term potential for growth and profitability. We believe many businesses in our Focus Industries could benefit from access to the public markets but have been unable to do so due to a number of factors, including the time required to conduct a traditional initial public offering, market volatility and pricing uncertainty. Our objective is to consummate our initial business combination with such a business and enhance stakeholder value by identifying and recruiting management, pursuing additional acquisitions, implementing operational improvements and expanding its product offerings and geographic footprint. We intend to utilize our management team’s experience, reputation and contacts across the industry to achieve this objective.
Our management team also formed and co-sponsored Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. (“Spring Valley I”) and Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. II (“Spring Valley II”), both special purpose acquisition companies similar to our company that were formed to consummate an initial business combination:
| ● | Spring Valley I (2020): Target (Nuscale Power, LLC (“Nuscale”)). Spring Valley I completed its initial public offering in November 2020 at approximately $230 million. Spring Valley I experienced aggregate redemptions of 8,599,631 public shares in connection with the consummation of its business combination. Spring Valley I’s business combination with Nuscale closed in May 2022. Nuscale is an industry-leading provider of proprietary and innovative advanced nuclear SMR technology. Shares of Nuscale trade on the NYSE under the symbol “SMR”, and the price of the common stock has ranged from $1.81 to $32.30 following the consummation of the business combination, with a closing price of $24.00 on May 15, 2025. |
| ● | Spring Valley II (2022): Spring Valley II completed its initial public offering in October 2022 at approximately $230 million. The SPAC term was extended twice and experienced aggregate redemptions of 20,786,571 public shares in connection with its extensions. Spring Valley II currently trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SVII”, “SVIIW” and “SVIIR”. |
On January 10, 2024, Spring Valley II held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in lieu of an annual general meeting to vote to approve, among other things, to amend Spring Valley II’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which the Company must consummate an initial merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses from 15 months from the closing of the IPO to 36 months from the closing of the IPO. Spring Valley II must consummate a business combination by October 17, 2025, which may be further extended upon shareholder approval. In connection with the vote to approve the extension to 36 months from the closing of the IPO, holders of 8,362,234 Class A ordinary shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.85 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $90,726,470.51. Spring Valley II’s targeted sectors include, but are not limited to, renewable energy (with a focus on solar and wind, energy storage and other decarbonization technologies), resource optimization (including energy efficiency and digitization), environmental services (including waste management, pollution control and recycling) and grid infrastructure (technologies to support an aging and intermittent grid) in the United States and other developed countries. The closing price of Spring Valley II’s units was $11.21 on July 31, 2025.
On July 31, 2025, Spring Valley II and Eagle Energy Metals Corp. (“Eagle”) announced their execution of a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated July 30, 2025, pursuant to which, among other things, Eagle would become a public company.
Business Strategy
Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company in our Focus Industries that builds upon the vast industry experience and expertise of our management team.
3
We expect to develop our pipeline of opportunities for a potential business combination through our management team’s over 100 cumulative years of experience, deep relationships and extensive network of corporate executives, board members, venture capital and private equity firms, family offices, investment bankers, lawyers, investors and other service providers to our Focus Industries. We have an extensive history of launching successful investment platforms through proactive and highly selective sourcing of potential targets by analyzing the entire value chain to determine the best balance of risk and reward across each segment. Utilizing this approach, we have helped build large public and private platforms in the global natural resources and decarbonization markets.
Our selection process will leverage our management team’s broad and deep relationship network, distinct industry experiences and extensive deal-sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities. We expect to develop this network through our management team’s broad experience, with demonstrated success in both investing in and operating businesses across a variety of industries and at numerous stages of these companies’ life cycles. We have developed a distinctive combination of capabilities, which includes:
| ● | an established record of building industry-leading companies and strong ability to deliver shareholder value over an extended time period; |
| ● | experience using acquisitions to grow companies during periods of both economic growth and decline by using extensive deal-sourcing and differentiated transaction execution/structuring capabilities; |
| ● | experience deploying value creation strategies, including recruiting talented personnel, implementing system upgrades to back-office systems, and delivering operating efficiency by implementing an analytical based approach to business metrics; and |
| ● | extensive capital markets experience across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership. |
We intend to focus our efforts on opportunities where our management team’s strategic vision, operating expertise, deep relationships and capital markets experience can be catalysts to enhance the growth, competitive position and financial upside in an initial business combination. We intend to identify and execute an initial business combination within our Focus Industries in the United States or other developed countries, although we may pursue targets in any business, industry or geographical location. Our management team has an established history in identifying and capitalizing on key trends that have shaped the global decarbonization and energy markets and has helped build leading platforms to scale within the marketplace.
Our Team
Christopher Sorrells has served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since our inception. Mr. Sorrells has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spring Valley II since its inception in January 2021. Mr. Sorrells served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Spring Valley I from its inception in November 2020 until the closing of the Nuscale merger in May 2022 at which time Mr. Sorrells began serving as a member of the board of directors of the post-closing company, Nuscale Power Corporation, until May 2024. Mr. Sorrells has been an investor, operator, advisor, and board member in the Natural Resources and Decarbonization industries for over 30 years. Mr. Sorrells served as Lead Director and Chairman of the compensation committee for Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGI) until the completion of its merger with Chevron Corporation for $3.1 billion in June 2022, having previously served as Vice Chairman of its board and led the $100 million financing in 2006 to create the company, ultimately witnessing revenues increase from approximately $85 million in 2008 to over $3.0 billion in 2021, via organic growth and an aggressive acquisition strategy. In addition, the stock price for REGI appreciated significantly following its initial public offering in January 2012 of $10 per share to the $61.50 acquisition price paid by Chevron. Previously, Mr. Sorrells served as a Managing Director and then as an Operating Partner of NGP Energy Technology Partners (“NGP ETP”), an affiliate of Natural Gas Partners (“NGP”), a leading energy private equity fund with $25 billion of capital commitments, which he helped grow into one of the most successful Decarbonization-focused private equity funds. Mr. Sorrells and/or his former firms including NGP ETP have invested in over 30 Natural Resource and Decarbonization platforms in a broad range of companies across those industries, including Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGI), Power- One, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: PWER), Caminus Corporation (formerly Nasdaq: CAMZ), Waste Resource Management, Inc. (sold to Ridgewood Infrastructure), TPI Composites, Inc. (Nasdaq: TPIC) and others. In addition to leading investments, Mr. Sorrells has held a number of board positions for numerous public and private firms, including ENGlobal Corporation, groSolar (which was later sold to EDF Renewables Inc.), Community Energy (which was later sold to AES Corporation), GSE Systems, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: GVP before being sold to Pelican Energy Partners) and Living Earth (which was later sold to
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Bain Capital Double Impact). As an operator, Mr. Sorrells has held a variety of senior executive leadership roles at Natural Resource and Decarbonization-focused companies including serving as Chief Operating Officer and Director of GSE Systems, Inc. Mr. Sorrells started his career in the energy, power and decarbonization industries as an investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney in 1996 and later at Banc of America Securities LLC where he created one of the first decarbonization-focused investment banking teams in 2000. Mr. Sorrells received his Master of Accounting from the University of Southern California, an M.B.A. from The College of William and Mary and a B.A. from Washington and Lee University.
Jeff Schramm has served as our Chief Financial Officer since June 2025. Mr. Schramm also serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the sponsor of Spring Valley II. Mr. Schramm served as the Chief Financial Officer of Spring Valley I from its inception in November 2020 until the closing of the Nuscale merger in May 2022, as well as Spring Valley I’s sponsor from inception in September 2020 until December 2023. Mr. Schramm has over 30 years of leadership experience in advanced materials and specialty chemical organizations with a deep understanding of the sustainability sector. Previously, Mr. Schramm served as Chief Financial Officer at Lehigh Technologies, Inc. (“Lehigh”) from 2009 until 2019 where he was responsible for building the financial and administrative functions of Lehigh after being relocated from Naples, Fl. Mr. Schramm was instrumental in Lehigh’s eventual sale to Michelin as the key part of its sustainability initiative. Prior to that, Mr. Schramm served as Vice President of Finance for Euramax International, Inc. (now Omnimax) in the Exterior Products & Fabral (fabrication) divisions from 2007 until 2009 where he managed a large multilocation team supporting sales close to $1 billion annually. From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Schramm was with Kermira Chemicals (formerly Vulcan Performance Chemicals) as head of Financial Planning & Analysis and North American CFO over the Pulp & Paper and Water Treatment specialty chemical businesses. During his time at Kemira he was a key member of the acquisition team acquiring the Pulp & Paper chemicals business from Lanxess (LXS.DE) and the Pulp & Paper business from FinnChem USA. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Schramm began his career at Milliken & Company in various roles starting in Accounting, Controllership and later served as Financial Planning & Analysis Manager in Procurement where he helped significantly reduce raw material cost. Mr. Schramm earned a B.S. in Corporate Finance and Investment Management from the University of Alabama, and an M.B.A from LaGrange College.
Robert Kaplan has served as our Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development since June 2025. Mr. Kaplan has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Spring Valley II since its inception in January 2021. Mr. Kaplan served as the Vice President of Business Development of Spring Valley I from its inception in November 2020 until the closing of the Nuscale merger in May 2022. Mr. Kaplan has over 20 years of investment banking experience in the Decarbonization industry. Mr. Kaplan has been involved in over 60 transactions totaling approximately $6 billion in transaction value. Mr. Kaplan was most recently Managing Director of Clean Technologies / Renewables at Stifel Financial Corp. (“Stifel”). In this role, Mr. Kaplan was responsible for the firm’s capital markets and advisory services in various decarbonization subsectors, including clean energy, biofuels, energy storage, energy efficiency, mobility and environmental technologies. He joined Stifel in 2010 in connection with Stifel’s acquisition of Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. (“TWP”) in 2010. Mr. Kaplan joined TWP in 2007 as a Vice President in the Technology investment banking group with a focus on decarbonization technologies. Prior to joining TWP, Mr. Kaplan started his investment banking career at First Albany where he was a founding member of one of the first Decarbonization-focused banking franchises on Wall Street. During his tenure at First Albany, he completed many of the industry’s first public offerings in various sustainability subsectors, such as solar, alternative fuels, mobility, fuel cells and the smart grid. Mr. Kaplan received a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business.
David Buzby will serve on our board of directors upon the closing of this offering. Mr. Buzby has over 30 years of business experience in sustainability, renewable energy, and technology, including forming several billion-dollar public companies in the Sustainability industry as well as raising over $1 billion of co-investment from institutional investors over a period of 30 years. Currently, Mr. Buzby is Chairman of the board of directors of Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM), a leading energy storage/grid services company in North America, where he has served since 2010. He also currently serves as the Chairman of Wondrwall Holdco Ltd., a UK-based provider of software to integrate the hardware and grid systems needed to electrify and decarbonize the home. He has also served on the board of directors of Spring Valley II since the completion of its initial public offering in October 2022. In addition, he was an early investor and board member in Sunrun Inc. (Nasdaq: RUN) from 2008 through 2012, helping lead the company to complete its initial public offering in 2015. Mr. Buzby was also a founding investor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, of SunEdison (Nasdaq: SUNE) helping create one of North America’s leading solar developers before selling the company to MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) in 2009. Mr. Buzby was also a founding investor and board member and chair of the audit committee of ValueClick (NASD: VCLK) which conducted its initial public offering in 2000 and subsequently later sold to Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS) in 2014. Mr. Buzby has held other board seats of both public and private companies and held various senior executive roles in numerous companies, including Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Buzby received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
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Deborah Frodl will serve on our board of directors upon the closing of this offering. Ms. Frodl has over 38 years of international business experience. Mr. Frodl was a senior executive with General Electric Company. From 2012 to 2017, Ms. Frodl served as the Global Executive Director of Ecomagination. Ms. Frodl repositioned this sustainable technology strategy into one of multi-faceted innovation and expansive global growth. From 2010 to 2012, Ms. Frodl served as GE’s Chief Strategy Officer and Global Alternative Fuels Leader where she pioneered the business strategy to decarbonize the commercial fleet industry through alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure technologies. From 2005 to 2010, Ms. Frodl served as Chief Commercial Officer of GE Capital Fleet Services, from 2004 to 2005, as Chief Marketing Officer of GE Capital Commercial Equipment Finance and from 2002 to 2004, as Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital Dealer Finance. From 1999 to 2004, Ms. Frodl served as Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital Public Finance. Currently Ms. Frodl serves on the board of directors for ITC Holdings Corp., and is an operating partner for Greenbelt Capital Partners. She has also served on the board of directors for Renewable Energy Group, Inc., Spring Valley Acquisition Corporation, and Spruce Power Holdings Corporation where she was Chair of the Board. In 2024, she was recognized by Board Prospects as a “100 Women Leaders in the Boardroom”, in 2023 by Twin Cities Business as an “Outstanding Director” and in 2019 by Directors & Boards as a “Director to Watch”. Ms. Frodl has been recognized by Green Building & Design as 2017 “Woman in Sustainability Leadership,” Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment as 2014 “Woman of the Year,” Connected World Magazine as 2013 “Top Women in M2M.” She holds an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and BSBA from Minnesota State University.
Richard Thompson will serve on our board of directors upon the closing of this offering. Mr. Thompson served as a member of the board of directors of Spring Valley I from its inception in November 2020 until the closing of the Nuscale merger in May 2022. Mr. Thompson has over 35 years of international business experience in renewable energy, power electronics and semiconductors, including several billion- dollar public exits in the Sustainability industry. Currently, Mr. Thompson is a strategic adviser to Sumeru Equity Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm, in which he has served since 2014. From 2014 to 2016, he was Executive Chairman of AVI-SPL, an approximately $700 million privately held, global leader in video communications. From 2008 to October 2013, Mr. Thompson was President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Power-One, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: PWER), a leading provider of renewable energy and power conversion solutions. During his tenure, he successfully led the company through restructuring to become one of the largest renewable energy inverter suppliers worldwide, generating over $1 billion in sales in 2012, along with its sale to ABB (NYSE: ABB) for approximately $1 billion in equity value. Prior to joining Power-One, Inc., Mr. Thompson was Chief Financial Officer of American Power Conversion Corporation (Nasdaq: APCC) from 2005 to 2007, which was acquired in March 2007 by a French competitor, Schneider Electric SA (Paris: SU.PA), in an auction for approximately $5.5 billion in enterprise value. From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Thompson was Chief Financial Officer of Artesyn Technologies (Nasdaq: ATSN) and was instrumental in creating one of the leading power component companies in the industry which was later sold to Emerson (NYSE: EMR) for $500 million. In addition to his role at Artesyn, he was also General Manager of Spider Software and led the company’s merger with Zytec Inc. that created a robust power component and computer board business. Mr. Thompson received a B.B.A. in Accounting from Lamar University.
Our Competitive Strengths
Our intent is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that complements the experience of our management team and can benefit from our distinct combination of skills in investing, financing, advising and operating. Our management team has a substantial deal-making skillset developed throughout their collective careers and has created significant shareholder value across several high-profile transactions, including:
| ● | As lead investor in 2006, Mr. Sorrells brought together a combination of strategic and financial partners to lead a $100.0 million investment for the sole purpose of creating Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGI), one of the largest global biodiesel and renewable diesel companies. At the time, this investment was noted as one of the largest investments in biodiesel in North America and helped transform an emerging industry into a growing and vibrant sector. Renewable Energy Group, Inc.’s revenues grew from approximately $85.0 million in 2008 to over $3.0 billion in 2021 via organic growth and an aggressive acquisition strategy. In addition, the stock price for Renewable Energy Group, Inc. appreciated significantly since its initial public offering in January 2012 of $10.00 per share to the $61.50 acquisition price paid by Chevron. |
| ● | From 2008 to 2012, as Chief Executive Officer and director, Mr. Thompson successfully led Power- One, Inc. through restructuring, and helped the company increase its revenue from approximately $537.5 million in 2008 to approximately $1.0 billion in 2012 and become one of the largest renewable energy inverter suppliers worldwide. In July 2013, Mr. Thompson successfully completed the sale of Power-One, Inc. to ABB (NYSE: ABB) for approximately $1.0 billion in equity value. In 2007, as Chief Financial Officer of American Power Conversion Corporation (Nasdaq: APCC), Mr. Thompson helped negotiate the sale of the company to Schneider Electric SA (Paris: SU.PA) for approximately $6.0 billion in enterprise value. |
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| ● | Mr. Buzby has spent the last 20 years of his career innovating business models and financial structures to accelerate the adoption of clean energy. As the founding investor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at SunEdison (Nasdaq: SUNE), Mr. Buzby created the commercial solar PPA in 2002, building one of the largest commercial solar developers before its sale to MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. in 2009. Utilizing that knowledge in 2007 to help launch SunRun as an investor and director with a residential version of the PPA, Mr. Buzby helped create a leading market share in residential solar in the United States in 2018 with an approximately $1.9 billion market capitalization as of June 2025 (Nasdaq: RUN). The increasing adoption of solar energy that he pioneered allowed Mr. Buzby to become the founding investor, and now Chairman, of Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM), so that solar, wind and energy storage resources could be increasingly scaled and integrated with the broader infrastructure; again, creating a market-leading company. Stem, Inc. completed a merger with Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. in April 2021. |
| ● | Ms. Frodl served as the Global Executive Director of Ecomagination at General Electric Company from 2012 to 2017, and repositioned the company’s sustainable technology strategy into a multi- faceted platform for innovation and global growth. From 2005 through 2016, GE Ecomagination’s cumulative revenues reached $270 billion. In 2017, the Ecomagination portfolio was comprised of 74 Ecomagination qualified products and solutions, including onshore and offshore wind, gas engines, gas turbines, hybrid gas turbine, GEnx and LEAP engines, LEDs, hydropower, solar, solar inverters, EV charging infrastructure, Tier 4 locomotives and battery storage. |
Among these transactions, we have helped pioneer business models and technologies and have deployed assets that have changed the way we produce or transport energy and power while contributing to the significant growth in clean energy and power. We expect to draw upon this vast set of experiences with the goal of affecting a business combination and building a market-leading business. Except as otherwise disclosed herein, none of our officers or directors have had experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies in the past.
With respect to the above, past performance of our management team or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii)the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of future performance. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.” For a list of our executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such officers and the company, please refer to “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”
Industry Opportunity
We believe our management team’s extensive and diverse experience will help us to effectively evaluate targets across our Focus Industries. We believe natural resources and decarbonization are attractive for several reasons:
Large Target Market. According to the International Energy Agency’s (“IEA”) World Energy Outlook 2024 under the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), global energy demand is expected to continue to rise through 2035, with electricity demand increasing by nearly 1,000 Terawatt-hours (“TWh”) per year — equivalent to adding the electricity consumption of Japan annually. Historically, growth in energy demand has been met primarily by fossil fuels. While STEPS anticipates ongoing contributions from fossil fuels, it projects that renewables and clean energy sources will play a dominant role going forward. Renewable power generation capacity is expected to grow from 4,250 GW today to nearly 10,000 GW by 2030. Meeting this demand will require substantial investment: annual global energy investment is projected to reach $3.2 trillion by 2030, with approximately $2.1 trillion directed toward clean energy technologies and $1.1 trillion toward fossil fuel-related infrastructure.
We believe energy demand projections may continue to increase as the market gains a deeper understanding of several global technological trends:
| ● | “Electrification of everything” — The shift from fossil fuel-based systems to electric-powered alternatives across transportation, buildings, and industry. Critical metals and rare earth elements, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium are expected to play a vital role in enabling this transition. According to the IEA, if the net zero emissions by 2050 is met, mineral demand for clean energy technologies would more than triple by 2050, reaching nearly 40 million tonnes (Mt). |
| ● | Artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”) — The rapid rise of AI and ML and the resulting increase of data center demand have led to a significant rise in energy consumption. According to McKinsey & Company, the global demand |
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| for data center capacity is expected to grow at an annual rate of up to 22 percent from 2023 to 2030, reaching an annual demand of up to 219 gigawatts (“GW”). |
| ● | Cryptocurrency (or crypto), blockchain and other digital assets — Crypto, particularly Bitcoin, is known for its significant energy consumption due to the computational power required for mining and transaction verification. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) estimates that global electricity usage associated with Bitcoin mining ranged from 67 to 240 TWh in 2023, with a point estimate of 120 TWh. This energy demand is expected to grow as the popularity and usage of crypto increases. |
Favorable Trends. Growth in the natural resources industry is being driven by a series of macroeconomic, demographic, technological and geopolitical trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to this growth include global economic expansion and industrialization. In addition, various demographic, technological and geopolitical trends, such as the “electrification of everything”, digitalization and technology growth (cloud computing, AI, data centers, and crypto mining) and conflicts and trade rivalries are driving the need for critical natural resources.
The decarbonization industry is defined by significant growth in a set of dynamic and changing industries. We believe this growth is being fueled by a series of macroeconomic and social trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to growth in the decarbonization industry include urbanization, population growth, increased government spending and increased regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local levels. In addition, various social trends, such as the increased focus on ESG practices and business models as well as ESG increasingly becoming a core mandate for fund managers, are leading to an increased global focus on decarbonization, climate change and a reduced carbon footprint.
Broad Universe of Targets. We intend to focus our investment efforts across our Focus Industries. We believe the anticipated growth in the industries and the related sectors will present a substantial number of actionable opportunities with the required scale that fit our acquisition criteria. According to the industry source Pitchbook, there were over 10,800 companies operating in the decarbonization industry alone as of June 2025.
High Barriers to Entry. Success in natural resources and decarbonization is driven by a myriad of global regulations, government spending and technological breakthroughs. We believe our management team’s experience in these industries over the past 25 years provides a significant amount of proprietary domain expertise and know-how in evaluating investment opportunities in a difficult-to-navigate industry. Further, our management team has spent considerable time navigating the complex regulatory environment inherent in the decarbonization industry, and its familiarity with the nuances of the regulatory aspect of the industry provides a differentiated competitive advantage.
Investment Approach
Upon completion of this offering, our management team plans to commence an extensive outreach program to its network and industry relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities. We intend to capitalize on the following competitive advantages in our pursuit of a target company:
Proactive and Proprietary Transaction Sourcing. We believe that our management team’s 100+ cumulative years of deal experience, history of building leading platforms, proactive approach to sourcing transactions, and extensive network of relationships will provide the potential to access numerous investment opportunities. We believe our management team’s deep industry expertise across our Focus Industries and throughout the capital structure makes a business combination with us an attractive option for companies seeking capital solutions.
Data Driven Analysis of Potential Opportunities. We believe that our management team has an established record of generating investment opportunities. Within targeted subsectors, we expect to employ an initial review of the entire value chain to determine the best risk / reward profiles of the subsector. In addition, we expect to analyze current trends, develop investment theses and create strategies for originating and evaluating investment opportunities. This research-oriented, data-intensive process will allow us to proactively identify trends, find opportunities and execute transactions ahead of potential competitors.
Execution and Structuring Capability. We believe that our management team’s transaction experience and reputation allow it to source and complete transactions requiring complex problem-solving skills and insight. Our management team has helped create
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several multi-billion dollar public and private companies that required these skills and deep industry insights. These types of transactions are typically complex and require creativity, industry knowledge and expertise, rigorous due diligence and extensive negotiation and documentation. Our management team has experience investing in many of our Focus Industries and has developed operational expertise at companies at varying stages of their life cycles. We plan to utilize this experience to help us generate investment opportunities with attractive risk / reward profiles based on their valuations, structural characteristics and relatively low levels of financial leverage.
Significant Value-Add Capability. We believe the industry expertise and broad network of relationships of our management team will allow it to add significant value and therefore be a key selling point to attract high caliber acquisition targets. We plan to market our management team to potential target companies in a number of capacities, including: (i) assisting in setting strategic direction and priorities; (ii) designing specific performance-improvement projects; (iii) helping to identify and recruit managers; (iv) advising on acquisition and financing transactions; (v) contributing market information; (vi) positioning the company products and services with customers and various stakeholders; and (vii) developing a targeted investor relations program. Furthermore, our management team is also experienced in navigating complex regulatory issues that impact many companies that are part of certain subsectors within our Focus Industries. Our management team believes that its ability to identify and implement value creation initiatives has been an essential driver of past performance and will remain central to our acquisition strategy.
Broad and Extensive Experience in Both Public and Private Markets. Our management team has decades of combined operating, investing and financing experience across both public and private markets. We have created some of the leading natural resources and decarbonization companies both in the public and private sector with significant revenue growth in target industries. We believe that this versatility of experience and complementary skills will help us to identify companies that could make successful public market candidates and prepare them to make the transition into robust, publicly traded companies.
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses and, in evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.
| ● | Natural Resources and Decarbonization Focus. We intend to focus on natural resources and decarbonization businesses that are positioned to benefit from macroeconomic and social trends impacting the economy. |
| ● | Established Businesses and Recognized Market Leaders. We expect to target businesses that are market leaders in their respective subsectors within our Focus Industries, and may be better positioned to endure economic downturns, changes in the industry landscape and evolving customer, supplier and competitor preferences. |
| ● | Benefit from Being a Public Company. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and can effectively utilize broader access to capital and the public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company. |
| ● | Experienced Management team. We will seek to partner with an experienced target team that can benefit from the distinct investment, advisory, operational experience, and contacts of our management team in our Focus Industries. |
| ● | Attractive Financial Profile. We will seek to acquire a business that has strong recurring revenues, a margin profile with high steady-state margins or high incremental margins, and / or compelling long-term growth prospects. |
| ● | Leader in Technology Driven Transformation. We will seek to acquire a business or entity with a technological advantage that provides a high barrier to entry for new entrants, a defensible position in intellectual property and presents a low or manageable risk of technological obsolescence. |
| ● | Middle Market Businesses. We believe targeting businesses or entities in the middle market will provide the greatest number of opportunities for investment and will maximize the network, contacts and experience of our management team. It may also provide the optimal platform for further consolidation. |
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| ● | Strong Free Cash Flow Generation or Near-Term Potential. We will seek to acquire a business or entity that already generates, or has the potential to generate, consistent and stable free cash flow. |
| ● | We plan to utilize our management team’s extensive network of contacts, which provides access to differentiated deal flow and significant deal-sourcing capabilities and to use these criteria and guidelines to evaluate acquisition opportunities. However, we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that from time to time 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, 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 or tender offer materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our ability to identify and evaluate a target may be impacted by significant competition among other SPACs in pursuing business combination transaction candidates and significant competition may impact the attractiveness of the acquisition terms that we will be able to negotiate.
Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information about the target and its industry which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds available for us to use to complete another business combination.
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 private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, other securities issuances, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, which requires the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by such shareholders as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at the applicable general meeting of the company. 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.
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We have until the date that is 24 months from the closing of this offering, or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, to consummate our initial business combination. If we anticipate that we may be unable to consummate our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we may seek shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we must consummate our initial business combination. If we seek shareholder approval for an extension, holders of public shares will be offered an opportunity to redeem their shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned thereon (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law. Our initial shareholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering unless we extend the amount of time we have to consummate an initial business combination by obtaining shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. While we do not currently intend to seek such shareholder approval, we may elect to do so in the future. There is no limit on the number of extensions that we may seek. If we do not or are unable to extend the time period to consummate our initial business combination, our Sponsor’s investment in our founder shares and our private placement securities may be worthless.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, 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 earned thereon (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law. We expect the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.00 per public share (regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option), without taking into account any interest or other income earned on such funds. However, we cannot assure you that we will in fact be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors, which may take priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, while we do not currently intend to seek shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination, we may elect to do so in the future. There is no limit on the number of extensions that we may seek; however, we do not expect to extend the time period to consummate our initial business combination beyond 36 months from the closing of this offering.
The Nasdaq listing 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 assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. In the event that we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors (or their respective affiliates or related entities), we, or a committee of independent directors, 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. In addition, pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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 (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,
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depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares 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% fair market value test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the 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% fair market value test.
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 respective affiliates, completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with our Sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, stating that the consideration to be paid by us in 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.
Members of our management team and our independent directors will 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. The low price that our Sponsor, executive officers and directors (directly or indirectly) paid for the founder shares creates an incentive whereby our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we select an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public shareholders. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination and do not hold a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or by such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, the founder shares and private placement warrants may expire worthless, except to the extent they receive liquidating distributions from assets outside the trust account, which could create an incentive for our sponsor, executive officers and directors to complete a transaction even if we select an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public shareholders. 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 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 an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer, among other persons, 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 (a) may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other or (b) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to any other entity. As a result, the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors could materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target.
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Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (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.
Potential Additional Financings
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. If we raise additional funds through equity or convertible debt issuances, our public shareholders may suffer significant dilution and these securities could have rights that rank senior to our public shares. If we raise additional funds through the incurrence of indebtedness, such indebtedness would have rights that are senior to our equity securities and could contain covenants that restrict our operations. Further, as described above, due to the anti-dilution rights of our founder shares, our public shareholders may incur material dilution. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Sponsor Information
Our Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company which was formed to invest in us. Although our Sponsor is permitted to undertake any activities permitted under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act and other applicable law, our Sponsor’s business is focused on investing in our company and it is not anticipated that our sponsor will undertake any material roles or responsibilities in directing and managing our activities.
Our Sponsor currently owns an aggregate of 5,630,000 founder shares, up to 750,000 of which will be surrendered to us for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. The managing member of the Sponsor is Mr. Sorrells, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Sorrells owns membership interests in our Sponsor, representing a portion of the Sponsor’s economic interest in us. The amount of that economic interest will depend on a number of factors, including the number of founder shares and private placement warrants owned by our Sponsor following the consummation of our initial business combination; however, we expect that Mr. Sorrell’s ownership interest in our Sponsor will represent the right to a material number of the securities to be owned by our Sponsor. Our officers, as well as several passive, non-managing individuals and entities, will hold membership interests, directly or indirectly, in our Sponsor. None of the non- managing members of our Sponsor will have any rights to control our Sponsor or to vote or dispose of any securities held by our Sponsor. Of the 5,630,000 founder shares owned by our Sponsor, (i) our officers collectively have an indirect interest in an aggregate of [·] founder shares and (ii) the passive, non-managing members collectively have an indirect interest in an aggregate of [·] founder shares. No other person has a direct or indirect material interest in our sponsor.
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The following table sets forth the payments to be received by our Sponsor and its affiliates from us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and the securities issued and to be issued by us to our Sponsor or its affiliates:
Entity/Individual |
| Amount of Compensation to be Received |
| Consideration Paid or to be Paid |
Sponsor | | | $ | |
| | | $ | |
| | Repayment of loans made to us to cover offering related and organizational expenses | | Up to $250,000 |
Sponsor or an affiliate thereof | | $20,000 per month Working capital loans to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial business combination | | Office space and administrative services provided to us Up to $1,500,000 in working capital loans, which loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at the price of $0.90 per warrant |
Sponsor and our officers or directors, or affiliates thereof | | Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination | | Expenses incurred in connection with identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination |
| (1) | 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 as provided herein. |
Because our Sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, our public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution upon the closing of this offering, assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units. See the section titled “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team — The nominal purchase price paid by our Sponsor and certain of our independent directors for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.” Additionally, our Sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $250,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering, which amount will be repaid upon closing of this offering. We will also pay our Sponsor or an affiliate thereof $20,000 per month for office space and administrative services made available to us, each as described elsewhere in this prospectus.
The 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 for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or any other equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to or in connection with the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such 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, approximately 25% of the sum of (i) the total number of all Class A ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants), plus (ii) all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued, in connection with the closing of the initial business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement-equivalent units issued to our Sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans) minus (iii) any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders in connection with charter amendments prior to an initial business combination or an initial business combination; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
In addition, conversion of up to $1,500,000 in working capital loans made to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial business combination into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $0.90 per warrant may result in material dilution to our public shareholders.
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If we raise additional funds through equity or convertible debt issuances, our public shareholders may suffer significant dilution. In addition, the cashless exercise of the private placement warrants would further increase the dilution to our public shareholders.
Pursuant to a letter agreement to be entered into with us, each of our Sponsor, directors and officers has agreed to restrictions on its ability to transfer, assign, or sell the founder shares and private placement warrants (and the underlying Class A ordinary shares), as summarized in the table below.
Subject Securities |
| Expiration Date |
| Persons Subject |
| Exceptions to Transfer Restrictions |
Founder Shares | | | | Transfers permitted (a) (i) our Sponsor’s members, (ii) the directors or officers of the Company, our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, (iii) any affiliates or family members of the directors or officers of the Company, our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, (iv) any members or partners of our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, or their respective affiliates, or any affiliates of our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, or any employees of such affiliates, (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, 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 permissible beneficiaries of such trust; (f) by private sales or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (g) to us for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; (h) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; (i) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands, by virtue of our Sponsor’s memorandum and articles of association or other constitutional, organizational or formational documents, as amended, upon dissolution of our Sponsor, or by virtue of the constitutional, organization or formational documents of a subsidiary of our Sponsor that holds the relevant securities, upon liquidation or dissolution of such subsidiary; or (j) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, 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 | ||
Private Placement Warrants (and Underlying Class A Ordinary Shares) | | 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination | | | Same as above |
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We may also pay consulting, success or finder fees to our sponsor or a member of our management team, or their respective affiliates in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, and we may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such person or entity a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions. Except as set out in the immediately preceding sentence, no terms for any such arrangements have been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such arrangements.
In addition, in order to facilitate our initial business combination or for any other reason determined by our sponsor in its sole discretion, our sponsor may surrender or forfeit, transfer or exchange our founder shares, private placement warrants or any of our other securities, including for no consideration, as well as subject any such securities to earn-outs or other restrictions, or otherwise amend the terms of any such securities or enter into any other arrangements with respect to any such securities.
Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e), the private placement warrants purchased by the underwriters and/or their permitted designees may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated or the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of this offering except to any member participating in the offering and the officers or partners, registered persons or affiliates thereof except as permitted by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2).
Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at 2100 McKinney Avenue, Suite 1675, Dallas, TX 75201, and our telephone number is (214) 308-5230. 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 dividends 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 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 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.
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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 $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” 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 is equal to or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Finally, after completion of this offering and prior to the consummation of a business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors. As a result, Nasdaq will consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the appointment of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements We currently do not intend to rely on the “controlled company” exemption, but may do so in the future. Accordingly, if we choose to do so, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
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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 |
| 15,000,000 units (or 17,250,000 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-third of one redeemable public warrant. |
| | |
Proposed Nasdaq symbols | | Units: “SVACU” Class A ordinary shares: “SVAC” Public warrants: “SVACW” |
| | |
Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and public warrants | | The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and public 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 CCM, the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its 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 public 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 public warrants. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole public warrant. Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
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Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and public warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K | | In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and public 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 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. |
| | |
Units: | | |
| | |
Number issued and outstanding before this offering | | 0 |
| | |
Number issued and outstanding after this offering | | 15,000,000(1) |
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| | |
Ordinary shares: | | |
| | |
Number issued and outstanding before this offering | | 5,750,000(2)(3) |
| | |
Number issued and outstanding after this offering | | 20,000,000(3)(4) |
| | |
Warrants: | | |
| | |
Number of warrants outstanding before this offering | | 0 |
| | |
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering | | 12,000,000(5) |
| | |
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-third of one redeemable public warrant, with each whole public warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the public warrants upon completion of our initial business combination, which we believe will make us a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. |
(1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares by the holders thereof. |
(2) | 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 the holders thereof depending on the extent 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. |
(4) | Comprised of 15,000,000 public shares and 5,000,000 founder shares, which assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares by the holders thereof. |
(5) | Comprised of 5,000,000 public warrants, 5,333,333 private placement warrants to be sold to the Sponsor in a private placement and 1,666,667 private placement warrants to be sold to the underwriters in a private placement, which assume no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. |
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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 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 either 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, and, in the case of the public warrants only, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described below under “Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. |
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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). 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 a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants does not become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, holders of public warrants will have the right, during any period thereafter when there is no such effective, registration statement, to exercise the public warrants on a cashless basis. Additionally, if, at the time that a public warrant is exercised, our Class A ordinary shares are 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 event of a cashless exercise pursuant to this paragraph, the number of Class A ordinary shares that holders of public warrants will receive will be based on the formula described under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants.” The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, seven 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. |
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Redemption of public warrants | | Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants: ● in whole and not in part; ● at a price of $0.01 per public warrant; ● upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder, which we refer to as the “30-day redemption period;” and ● if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the “closing 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 has been at least $18.00 per share (as adjusted to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a public warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants — Anti-dilution Adjustments”). We will not redeem the public warrants for cash unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period or we have elected to require the exercise of the public warrants on a cashless basis as described below. If and when the public 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. If we call the public warrants for redemption as described in this paragraph, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant following the notice of redemption to do so on a cashless basis. In the event of such a cashless exercise, the number of Class A ordinary shares that holders of public warrants will receive will be based on the formula described under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants — Redemption of public warrants.” If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of Class A ordinary shares to be received upon exercise of the warrants. 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 public warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each public warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its public 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 public warrant as described under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) public warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued. |
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Founder shares | | On March 28, 2025, our Sponsor and our independent directors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 25% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of this offering. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our initial shareholders, 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 their permitted transferees will collectively beneficially own 25% 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, 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 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Our public shareholders may incur immediate and substantial dilution upon such adjustment. Up to 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. 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; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. ● the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
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● our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law (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 officers have agreed to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 5,000,001 additional shares, or approximately 33% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or only two additional shares (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 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; and ● the founder shares are entitled to registration rights as described under “Principal Shareholders — Registration Rights.” | ||
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Transfer restrictions on founder shares | | Our initial shareholders 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their 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 will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the “lock-up.” |
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Founder shares conversion rights | | We have 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like. |
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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; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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 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. |
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Private placement warrants | | Our Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants (or 5,583,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, or $4,800,000 in the aggregate (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The underwriters have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, or $1,500,000 in the aggregate (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant will be exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share and will be identical to the warrants sold in this offering except that private placement warrants (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, (iv) will be entitled to registration rights and (v) with respect to private placement warrants held by the underwriters and/or their respective designees, will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8). If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, the private placement warrants may expire worthless. The private placement warrants to be purchased by the underwriters or their affiliates are deemed underwriters’ compensation by FINRA pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110. For more information, see “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” |
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Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants | | The private placement warrants (and 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.” |
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Proceeds to be held in trust account | | Nasdaq listing rules 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 $156,300,000 in proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, or $179,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, $150,000,000, or $172,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account maintained by [·] acting as trustee. The funds in the trust account will be invested or held only in (i) 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, (ii) uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 24 months from the closing of this offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. For more information about the risk of the company being considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company, see “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks — 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.” |
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Ability to extend time to complete business combination | | If we are unable to complete our initial business combination and do not hold a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or by such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, 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 earned thereon (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein. |
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Anticipated expenses and funding sources | | |
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Conditions to completing our initial business combination | | We will have 24 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve. 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 initial shareholders, executive officers, and directors 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 amounts withdrawn for permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then- outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, 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 earned thereon (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law. Because we may make permitted withdrawals, including of up to 5% of the interest earned on the trust account to fund our working capital requirements, the potential value of the trust account may be negatively impacted. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Nasdaq listing rules require that an 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 assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% fair market value 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 actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public shareholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% fair market value test, as well as the basis for our determinations. 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. |
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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% fair market value test; provided that in the event that our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. | ||
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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, our directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. 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 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 affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions. If our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. To the extent such securities are purchased, such public securities will be not be voted as required by Tender Offers and Schedules Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Question 166.01 promulgated by the SEC. 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 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 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. |
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Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination | | We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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 permitted withdrawals), 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 $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our public warrants. 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. |
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Manner of conducting redemptions | | We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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 the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than we are permitted to redeem, as 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 public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination. |
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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 draft 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. Our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our board of directors, and a majority of our independent directors. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders 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 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 and their permitted transferees will own at least approximately 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to any public shares acquired by them. These voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders, 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. Redemptions of our public shares may be subject to a 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 |
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redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination. | ||
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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 initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public 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. |
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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, 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 business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, 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. |
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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 charter 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 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 at 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 25% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, and 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 Sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, in each case 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 permitted withdrawals), 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 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. |
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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, 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 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. |
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Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination | | Our Sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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 public warrants, which may expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period. Our initial shareholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. However, if our initial shareholders 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 its rights to its 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. If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 24-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 24 months. Any amendment of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning that such an amendment must be approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote (whether in person or by proxy) at a general meeting of the company. Our Sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors |
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may approve, or during any Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, in each case 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals) and not previously released to us pursuant to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. | ||
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Limited payments to insiders | | We are not prohibited from paying any fees (including advisory fees), reimbursements or cash payments to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, including the following payments, all of which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from funds held outside the trust account: ● repayment of an aggregate of up to $250,000 in loans made to us by our Sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; ● payment to our Sponsor or an affiliate thereof of $20,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services; ● engagement of our Sponsor, or one or more affiliates of our Sponsor, as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such persons or entities a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions; ● payment of consulting, success or finder fees to our Sponsor or a member of our management team, or their respective affiliates in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; ● 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 any of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants at a price of $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
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Audit committee | | Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will have established and will maintain an audit committee 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.” |
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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 an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. For example, Christopher Sorrells, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, also serves in those same positions with Spring Valley II and Jeff Schramm, our Chief Financial Officer, also serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the sponsor of Spring Valley II. For more information, see the section entitled “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer, among other persons, 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 (a) may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other or (b) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to any other entity. As a result, the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors could materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers or directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. Our sponsor, officers and directors have complete discretion, subject to applicable fiduciary duties, as to which blank check company they choose to pursue a business combination and the order in which they pursue business combinations for any future blank check companies. As a result, our sponsor, officers and directors may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it may sponsor in any order, which could result in its more recent blank check companies completing business combinations prior to its blank check companies that were launched earlier. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. Our sponsor and members of our management team will directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering, and accordingly, 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, including the fact that they may lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, except to the extent they receive liquidating distributions from assets outside the trust account. Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor will have invested in us an aggregate of |
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approximately $4,824,478 (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), comprised of the approximately $24,748 purchase price for its 5,630,000 founder shares (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture), or approximately $0.004 per share, and the $4,800,000 purchase price for the private placement warrants, or $0.90 per units. In addition, each of our three independent directors will have invested in us approximately $174 for 40,000 founder shares (or approximately $0.004 per share). Accordingly, our management team may be more willing to pursue a business combination with a riskier 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, as our sponsor and members of our management team would likely not receive any financial benefit unless we consummated such business combination. These interests of our officers and directors may affect the consideration paid, terms, conditions and timing relating to a business combination in a way that conflicts with the interests of our public shareholders. Additionally, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and pursuing an initial business combination or completing our initial business combination. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a different business combination over finding a suitable acquisition target for our business combination. For example, if two targets are being evaluated by our management team, and one is more stable and has a better risk or stability profile for our public shareholders, but may take a longer time to diligence and go through the business combination process, while the other has a less favorable risk or stability profile for our public shareholders, but would be easier, quicker and more certain to guide through the business combination process, our management team may decide to choose what they believe to be the quicker and more certain path despite its less favorable risk or stability profile for our public shareholders, as our management team would likely not receive any financial benefit unless we consummated a business combination. Additionally, if members of our management team form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination, the consideration paid, terms, conditions and timing relating to the business combinations of such other special purpose acquisition companies or ventures, and the level of attention paid to by members of our management team to them versus the level of attention paid to us may conflict in a way that is unfavorable to us. Consequently, our directors’ and executive 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, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination. In addition to the above, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including selecting a business combination target and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors — Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.” |
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Additionally, our sponsor and executive officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Further, our sponsor and executive officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we are unable to complete our initial business combination and do not hold a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or by such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve. 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 may expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares, purchased by our sponsor and independent directors for an aggregate of $25,000, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until one year after the completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and executive officers and directors may directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and warrants following this offering, our executive officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or by such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve. In the event our sponsor or members of our management team provide loans to us to finance transaction costs and/or incur expenses on our behalf in connection with an initial business combination, such persons 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 as such loans may not be repaid and/or such expenses may not be reimbursed unless we consummate such business combination. Similarly, if we agree to pay our sponsor or a member of our management team or one of their affiliates a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination, such persons 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 as any such fee may not be paid unless we consummate such business combination. 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 respective affiliates or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors or any of their respective affiliates; accordingly, such affiliated person(s) may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular |
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target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination as such affiliated person(s) would have interests different from our public shareholders and would likely not receive any financial benefit unless we consummated such business combination. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, stating that the consideration to be paid by us in 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. | ||
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Indemnity | | Our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of 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 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 have not conducted any operations or generated any revenues. 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” in this prospectus.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
| ● | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
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| ● | Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination. |
| ● | Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
| ● | Our sponsor 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, it will appoint all of our directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. |
| ● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares and the amount of deferred underwriting compensation may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure, and may substantially dilute your investment in us. |
| ● | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the completion window 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. |
| ● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. |
| ● | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or public warrants, potentially at a loss. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our 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. |
| ● | The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our ordinary at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share. |
| ● | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| ● | If our working capital is insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the duration of the completion window, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
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| ● | Past performance by our management team, our advisors and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company. |
| ● | We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse United States federal income tax consequences to U.S. investor. |
| ● | To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer that we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (based on our management team’s ongoing assessment of all factors related to our potential status under the Investment Company Act), instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account at a bank until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation. As a result, following the liquidation of investments in the trust account, we would likely receive less interest on the funds held in the trust account, which would likely reduce the dollar amount our public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation. |
| ● | Depending on the details of our initial business combination, a U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with any redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares in connection with such initial business combination. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | Our search for an initial business combination, and any target business with which we may ultimately consummate an initial business combination, may be materially adversely affected by current global geopolitical conditions resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. |
| ● | Military or other conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East or elsewhere may lead to increased volume and price volatility for publicly traded securities, or affect the operations or financial condition of potential target companies, which could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination. |
| ● | We may reincorporate in or transfer by way of continuation to another jurisdiction which may result in taxes imposed on shareholders and/or public warrant holders. |
| ● | The other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. |
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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, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks
We have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are an exempted 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 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.
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, Nasdaq listing rules 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 will 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. 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 — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Shareholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination” for additional information.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial shareholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public shareholders in connection with an initial business combination, 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 in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 5,000,001 additional shares, or 33.3% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or only two additional shares (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 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 and their permitted transferees will own at least 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares at the time of any such shareholder vote (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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.
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Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek 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.
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 commissions 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. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would not allow us 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. 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. 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.
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period. 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 such time period. 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.
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 $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants may expire worthless.
Our Sponsor and our directors and officers have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, geopolitical instability emanating from the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine as well as tensions in the Middle East following Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, 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, geopolitical stability may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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), subject to applicable law; 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. Because we may make permitted withdrawals, including of up to 5% of the interest earned on the trust account to fund our working capital requirements, the potential value of the trust account may be negatively impacted. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than $10.00 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants may 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 $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 24-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 24 months. Any amendment of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning that such an amendment must be approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote (whether in person or by proxy) at a general meeting of the company. If we seek shareholder approval to extend the initial 24-month period in which to complete an initial business combination to a later date, we will offer our public shareholders the right to have their public ordinary shares redeemed for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, as described in greater detail in this prospectus.
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Our search for an initial business combination, and any target business with which we may ultimately consummate an initial business combination, may be materially adversely affected by current global geopolitical conditions resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and conflicts in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.
United States and global markets are experiencing volatility and disruption following the geopolitical instability resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the recent escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. In response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) deployed additional military forces to eastern Europe, and the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries have announced various sanctions and restrictive actions against Russia, Belarus and related individuals and entities, including the removal of certain financial institutions from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment system. Certain countries, including the United States, have also provided and may continue to provide military aid or other assistance to Ukraine and to Israel, increasing geopolitical tensions among a number of nations. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and conflicts in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, particularly the escalation of the Israel-Hamas and Israel-Iran conflicts, and the resulting measures that have been taken, and could be taken in the future, by NATO, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel and its neighboring states and other countries have created global security concerns that could have a lasting impact on regional and global economies. Although the length and impact of the ongoing conflicts are highly unpredictable, they could lead to market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions and increased cyber-attacks against U.S. companies. Additionally, any resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets. Any of the abovementioned factors, or any other negative impact on the global economy, capital markets or other geopolitical conditions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the conflicts in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, particularly the escalation of the Israel-Hamas and Israel-Iran conflicts and subsequent sanctions or related actions, could adversely affect our search for an initial business combination and any target business with which we may ultimately consummate an initial business combination. The extent and duration of the ongoing conflicts, resulting sanctions and any related market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial, particularly if current or new sanctions continue for an extended period of time or if geopolitical tensions result in expanded military operations on a global scale. Any such disruptions may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this section. If these disruptions or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate an initial business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we may ultimately consummate an initial business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
Military or other conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East or elsewhere may lead to increased volume and price volatility for publicly traded securities, or affect the operations or financial condition of potential target companies, which could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Military or other conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East or elsewhere may lead to increased volume and price volatility for publicly traded securities, or affect the operations or financial condition of potential target companies, and to other company or industry-specific, national, regional or international economic disruptions and economic uncertainty, any of which could make it more difficult for us to identify a business combination target and consummate an initial business combination on acceptable commercial terms, or at all.
Recent increases in inflation in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for us to consummate a business combination.
Recent increases in inflation in the United Stated and elsewhere may be leading to increased price volatility in publicly traded securities, including ours, and may lead to other national, regional and international economic disruptions, any of which could make it more difficult for us to consummate a business combination.
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 years, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. 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
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coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may increase the likelihood of closing our initial 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 affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. 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 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 affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. 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 affiliates will select which shareholders to enter into private transactions with.
The purpose of such purchases would be to (1) increase the likelihood of closing the business combination or (2) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the consummation of an initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. To the extent that any public shares are purchased such purchases will be in compliance with all of the requirements set forth in Tender Offers and Schedules Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Question 166.01 promulgated by the SEC, including that such public shares will not be voted. 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.
Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. Additionally, in the event our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates were to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:
| ● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
| ● | if our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates were to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through our redemption process; |
| ● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would include a representation that any of our securities purchased by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction; |
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| ● | our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to our securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and |
| ● | we would disclose in a Form 8-K, before our security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items: |
| ● | the amount of our securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
| ● | the purpose of the purchases by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates; |
| ● | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
| ● | the identities of our security holders who sold to our Sponsor, directors, officers and/or any of their respective affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of our security holders (e.g., 5% security holders) who sold to our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates; and |
| ● | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
We may not be able to complete an initial business combination since such initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirement, including foreign investment regulations and review by government entities such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), or may be ultimately prohibited.
The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company, and is not controlled by, nor has substantial ties with any non-U.S. person. Our initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirements by governmental entities, or ultimately prohibited. For example, CFIUS has authority to review direct or indirect foreign investments in U.S. companies. Among other things, CFIUS is empowered to require certain foreign investors to make mandatory filings, to charge filing fees related to such filings, and to self-initiate national security reviews of foreign direct and indirect investments in U.S. companies if the parties to that investment choose not to file voluntarily. In the case that CFIUS determines an investment to be a threat to national security, CFIUS has the power to unwind or place restrictions on the investment. Whether CFIUS has jurisdiction to review an acquisition or investment transaction depends on — among other factors — the nature and structure of the transaction, including the level of beneficial ownership interest and the nature of any information or governance rights involved. For example, investments that result in “control” of a U.S. business by foreign person always are subject to CFIUS jurisdiction. CFIUS’s expanded jurisdiction under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 and implementing regulations that became effective on February 13, 2020 further includes investments that do not result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign person but afford certain foreign investors certain information or governance rights in a U.S. business that has a nexus to “critical technologies,” “critical infrastructure” and/or “sensitive personal data.”
If a particular proposed initial business combination with a U.S. business falls within CFIUS’s jurisdiction, we may determine that we are required to make a mandatory filing or that we will submit to CFIUS review on a voluntary basis, or to proceed with the transaction without submitting to CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing the transaction. CFIUS may decide to block or delay our proposed initial business combination, impose conditions with respect to such initial business combination or request the President of the United States to order us to divest all or a portion of the U.S. target business of our initial business combination that we acquired without first obtaining CFIUS approval, which may limit the attractiveness of, delay or prevent us from pursuing certain target companies that we believe would otherwise be beneficial to us and our shareholders. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited and we may be adversely affected in terms of competing with other special purpose acquisition companies which do not have similar foreign ownership issues. In addition, certain federally licensed businesses may be subject to rules or regulations that limit foreign ownership.
The process of government review, whether by CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy. Because we have only a limited time to complete our initial business combination, our failure to obtain any required approvals within the requisite time period may require us to liquidate. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the applicable time period required under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including as a result of extended regulatory review of a potential initial business combination, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public
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shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account and 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 event, our shareholders will miss the opportunity to benefit from an investment in a target company and the appreciation in value of such investment. Additionally, our warrants may be 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 $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants may expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement securities, 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 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 $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants may 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 $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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 or such attractive targets may not be interested to consummate a business combination with a SPAC due to a negative public perception of mergers involving SPACs. 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 preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns (including a negative public perception of mergers involving SPACs), 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.
If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of this offering, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of this offering, 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
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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 24 months following the closing of this offering; 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. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants may 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 $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement securities 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 securities, only approximately $2,600,000 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 $700,000 (excluding underwriting commissions), 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 $700,000, 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 affiliates is under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us in such circumstances. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants may 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 $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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.
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If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency 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 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 or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our 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 or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency 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.
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, including events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or non-performance by financial institutions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, or our prospects.
The funds in our operating account and our trust account will be held in banks or other financial institutions and will be invested or held only in (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 24 months from the closing of this offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. For more information about the risk of the company being considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company, see “— 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.” Our cash held in non- interest bearing and interest-bearing accounts may exceed any applicable Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance limits. Should events, including limited liquidity, defaults, non- performance or other adverse developments occur with respect to the banks or other financial institutions that hold our funds, or that affect financial institutions or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, the value of the assets in our trust account could be impaired, which could have a material impact on our operating results, liquidity, financial condition and prospects. For example, on March 10, 2023, the FDIC announced that Silicon Valley Bank had been closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. We cannot guarantee that the banks or other financial institutions that will hold our funds will not experience similar issues.
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If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
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:
On January 24, 2024, the SEC adopted a series of new rules relating to SPACs. The SEC’s adopted rules do not provide a safe harbor for SPACs from the definition of “investment company” under the Investment Company Act. Instead, the SEC’s adopting release provided guidance describing circumstances in which a SPAC could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including as a result of its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete an initial business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account will be invested or held only in (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 24 months from the closing of this offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. If our facts and circumstances change over time, we will update our disclosure to reflect how those changes impact the risk that we may be considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company. We can give no assurance that a claim will not be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company.
Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our 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 offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior thereto or to redeem
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100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe; or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares.
We are aware of litigation against certain special purpose acquisition companies asserting that notwithstanding the foregoing, those special purpose acquisition companies should be considered investment companies. Although we believe that these claims are without merit, we cannot guarantee that we will not be deemed to be an investment company and thus 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, may require us to otherwise change our operations and may hinder our ability to complete an initial business combination or may result in our liquidation and the winding up of our operations. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination and are required to liquidate, our public shareholders would lose their opportunity to invest in a target business or businesses through our initial business combination, including any price appreciation of the combined company’s securities following such initial business combination, and may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account as well as our warrants may expire worthless.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
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; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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. Accordingly, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
Because we are not limited to a particular industry or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
We may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company of any size (subject to our satisfaction of the 80% of net assets test) and in any business, industry or geographic location. 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.
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
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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 $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants may expire worthless.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants may expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants may expire worthless.
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.
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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.
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.
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 Class A 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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We may be able to complete only one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement securities, 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 gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement securities will provide us with approximately $156.3 million (or approximately $179.3 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (which includes $6,000,000 (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate 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 $700,000 (other than underwriting commissions) relating to this offering)).
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:
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our 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 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. 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
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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.
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 who attend and vote 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 public 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 public warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision (ii) removing or reducing the Company’s ability to redeem the public warrants and, if applicable, a corresponding amendment to the Company’s ability to redeem the private placement warrants or (iii) 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 public warrants under the warrant agreement in any material respect, (b) the terms of the warrants may be amended with the vote or written consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and private placement warrants, voting together as a single class, to allow for the warrants to be, or continue to be, as applicable, classified as equity in our financial statements and (c) all other modifications or amendments to our warrant agreement with respect to (i) the public warrants require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants, and (ii) the private placement warrants require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 50% of the then 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.
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.
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 private placement securities 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
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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, who will collectively beneficially own 25% 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.
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 securities 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 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 in the form of proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, other securities issuances, or a combination of the foregoing. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate.
In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our directors, officers or 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 $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants may expire worthless.
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 and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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, 2026. 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
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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.
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.
Risks Relating to our Securities
We may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price which is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may issue shares to investors in private placement transactions (so-called PIPE transactions). The purpose of such issuances will be to enable us to provide sufficient liquidity to the post-business combination entity. The price of the shares we issue may therefore be less, and potentially significantly less, than the market price for our shares at such time.
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. 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.
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. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or any Extension Period, or (B) with respect to any other provision
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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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, 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.
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 public 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 standards set forth in the Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. In general, we must maintain an average global market capitalization and a minimum of 400 public holders. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders of our unrestricted securities. 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:
| ● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| ● | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| ● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and public warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares and public 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 blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on 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.
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Changes in international trade policies, tariffs and treaties affecting imports and exports may have a material adverse effect on our search for an initial business combination target or the performance or business prospects of a post-business combination company.
There have recently been significant changes to international trade policies and tariffs affecting imports and exports. Any significant increases in tariffs on goods or materials or other changes in trade policy could negatively affect our search for a target and/or our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Recently, the U.S. has implemented a range of new tariffs and increases to existing tariffs. In response to the tariffs announced by the U.S., other countries have imposed, are considering imposing, and may in the future impose new or increased tariffs on certain exports from the United States. There is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and other countries with respect to trade policies, taxes, government regulations and tariffs. and we cannot predict whether, and to what extent, current tariffs will continue or trade policies will change in the future.
Tariffs, or the threat of tariffs or increased tariffs, could have a significant negative impact on certain businesses (either due to domestic businesses’ reliance on imported goods or dependence on access to foreign markets, or foreign businesses’ reliance on sales into the United States). In addition, retaliatory tariffs could have a significant negative impact on foreign businesses that rely on imports from the United States, and domestic businesses that rely on exporting goods internationally. These tariffs and threats of tariffs and other potential trade policy changes could negatively affect the attractiveness of certain initial business combination targets, or lead to material adverse effects on a post-business combination company. Among other things, historical financial performance of companies affected by trade policies and/or tariffs may not provide useful guidance as to the future performance of such companies, because future financial performance of those companies may be materially affected by new U.S. tariffs or foreign retaliatory tariffs, or other changes to trade policies. The business prospects of a particular target for a business combination could change even after we enter into a business combination agreement, as a result of tariffs or the threat of tariffs that may have a material impact on that target’s business, and it may be costly or impractical for us to terminate that business combination agreement. These factors could affect our selection of a business combination target.
We may not be able to adequately address the risks presented by these tariffs or other potential trade policy changes. As a result, we may deem it costly, impractical or risky to complete an initial business combination with a particular target or with a target in a particular industry or from a particular country. Consequently, the pool of potential target companies may be reduced, which could impair our ability to identify a suitable target and to complete an initial business combination. If we complete an initial business combination with such a target, the post-business combination company’s operations and financial results could be adversely affected as a result of tariffs or changes to trade policies, which may cause the market value of the securities of the post-business combination company to decline.
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.
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If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per- share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public 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 in the best interests of the company under the circumstances.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
Our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, 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 respective indemnity obligations and believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our Sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn for working capital purposes and 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 the Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
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If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months of the closing of this offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve or during any Extension Period, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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 wind up, 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.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 24-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 24 months. Any amendment of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning that such an amendment must be approved by at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote (whether in person or by proxy) at a general meeting of the company. If we seek shareholder approval to extend the initial 24-month period in which to complete an initial business combination to a later date, we will offer our public shareholders the right to have their public ordinary shares redeemed for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, as described in greater detail in this prospectus.
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 under Cayman Islands law and may be liable for a fine of up to approximately $18,300 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
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. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any public warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the public warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the public warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the public warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such public warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such public warrant and such public warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who
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acquired their public 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.
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. 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 public warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis. However, no public 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 public 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. Additionally, if, at the time that a public warrant is exercised, our Class A ordinary shares are 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 event of a cashless exercise pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise of a public warrant will be based on the formula described under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants.”
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders, the underwriters 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, the underwriters and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such shares, warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants, and warrants issued upon conversion of up to $1,500,000 in working capital loans, and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of any 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, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital warrants (if any) or their permitted transferees are registered for resale.
Members of our management team and board of directors have significant experience as founders, board members, officers, executives or employees of other companies. Certain of those persons have been, may be, or may become, involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including related to those companies or otherwise. The defense or prosecution of these matters could be time-consuming and could divert our management’s attention, and may have an adverse effect on us, which may impede our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
During the course of their careers, members of our management team and board of directors have had significant experience as founders, board members, officers, executives or employees of other companies. As a result of their involvement and positions in these companies, certain of those persons have been, may be or may in the future become involved in litigation, investigations or other
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proceedings, including relating to the business affairs of such companies, transactions entered into by such companies, or otherwise. Individual members of our management team and board of directors also may become involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings involving claims or allegations related to or as a result of their personal conduct, either in their capacity as a corporate officer or director or otherwise, and may be personally named in such actions and potentially subject to personal liability. Any such liability may or may not be covered by insurance and/or indemnification, depending on the facts and circumstances. The defense or prosecution of these matters could be time-consuming. Any litigation, investigations or other proceedings and the potential outcomes of such actions may divert the attention and resources of our management team and board of directors away from identifying and selecting a target business or businesses for our initial business combination and may negatively affect our reputation, which may impede our ability to complete an initial business combination.
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.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 undesignated preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 173,000,000 and 15,000,000 (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 does not take into account the shares reserved for issuance 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 — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants — Redemption of public warrants”. 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; |
| ● | 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 public warrants; and |
| ● | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Holders of our founder shares 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 will beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, and 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 vote to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason. Holders of our public shares will have no right
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to vote on the appointment of directors during such time; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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.
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. In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial shareholders 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 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.
In addition, our board of directors is comprised of directors who will generally serve a three-year term. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, our Sponsor and initial shareholders, because of their beneficial ownership, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, holders of our founder shares will exert significant influence over actions requiring a shareholder vote at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
We may make permitted withdrawals from the interest earned on the trust account to fund our working capital requirements and/or to pay our taxes, which may negatively impact the potential value of the trust account as well as the cash remaining for the combined company following the consummation of our initial business combination.
Unlike many other SPACs, we are permitted to withdraw 5% of the interest earned on the trust account to fund our working capital requirements and/or to pay our taxes. Such permitted withdrawals can only be made (x) from interest and not from the principal held in the trust account and (y) only to the extent such interest is in the amount sufficient to cover the permitted withdrawal amount.
Because we may make permitted withdrawals, the potential value of the trust account as well as the cash remaining for the combined company following the consummation of the business combination may be negatively impacted, and shareholders who choose to redeem their shares may receive less in connection with such redemptions than they would receive if we did not make such permitted withdrawals.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants.
Our public warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between [·], as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the public 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 public warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision (ii) removing or reducing the Company’s ability to redeem the public warrants and, if applicable, a corresponding amendment to the Company’s ability to redeem the private placement warrants or (iii) 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 public warrants under the warrant agreement in any material respect, (b) the terms of the warrants may be amended with the vote or written consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and private placement warrants, voting together as a single class, to allow for the warrants to be or continue to be, as applicable, classified as equity in our financial statements and (c) all other modifications or amendments to our warrant agreement with respect to (i) the public warrants require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and (ii) the private placement warrants require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder of public warrants if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of
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such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant. In addition, because we may make permitted withdrawals, including of up to 5% of the interest earned on the trust account to fund our working capital requirements, the potential value of the trust account as well as the cash remaining for the combined company following the consummation of the business combination, and therefore the value of the warrants, may be negatively impacted.
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 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.
Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares.
Upon the closing of this offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). This is different than some other similarly situated bank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
We may redeem your unexpired public warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your public warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per public warrant if, among other things, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a public warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants — Anti-dilution Adjustments”) 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. If and when the public 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 public warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the public warrants. Redemption of the issued and outstanding public warrants could force you to: (1) exercise your public warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your public warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your public warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the
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outstanding public warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your public warrants.
Our management’s ability to require holders of our public warrants to exercise such public warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the public warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise their public warrants for cash.
If we call our public warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described elsewhere in this prospectus has been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its public warrants (including any public warrants held by our Sponsor, officers, directors or their permitted transferees) to do so on a cashless basis. If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised their public warrants for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in us.
Our public warrants, founder shares and private placement warrants 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 public warrants to purchase 5,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or up to 5,750,000 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 warrants to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 (or 5,583,333 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) Class A ordinary shares (or 320,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at $11.50 per share. Our initial shareholders currently hold 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent 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, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into private placement warrants, at the price of $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. 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 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: (1) they will not be redeemable by us; (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 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. In addition, with respect to private placement warrants held by the underwriters and/or their designees, such private placement warrants will be subject to the lock-up and registration rights limitations imposed by FINRA Rule 5110 and will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8).
Because each unit contains one-third of one public warrant and only a whole public warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one public warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole public warrants will trade. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole public 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 public warrants upon completion of a business combination since the public warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for a third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole public 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 public warrant to purchase one whole share.
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A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike many blank check companies, if:
| (1) | 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; |
| (2) | 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 |
| (3) | 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, and, in the case of the public warrants only, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described below under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ Warrants — Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriters, 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 public warrants underlying the units, include:
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.
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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.
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 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 fully developed 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.
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 three-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 Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.
Information regarding performance by our management team and their affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team and their 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 our management team or their affiliates or any related investment’s performance as
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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 businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Our officers are engaged in several other business endeavors for which they may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Certain of our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs, which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management — Directors and Officers.”
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, Christopher Sorrells, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff Schramm, our Chief Financial Officer. 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 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. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with 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
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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. 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.
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. For example, Christopher Sorrells, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, also serves in those same positions with Spring Valley II and Jeff Schramm, our Chief Financial Officer, also serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the sponsor of Spring Valley II. 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.
Our directors and officers also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to 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.
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 and Officers,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
Our directors, officers, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with either of our Sponsor and 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.
Affiliates of our Sponsor have invested in a diverse set of industries. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would make an attractive target for such other affiliates.
In addition, members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares following this offering, as set forth in “Principal Shareholders,” 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.
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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 and our directors or officers which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our directors and officers with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor and our directors and officers. Certain of our directors and officers also serve as officers and 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, our 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 — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — 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 that is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor and our 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.
Since our Sponsor, officers and directors and the underwriters will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), and because our Sponsor, officers and directors may profit substantially from a business combination as a result of their ownership of founder shares even under circumstances where our public shareholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination, including in connection with the shareholder vote in respect thereto.
On March 28, 2025, our Sponsor and three independent directors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares. Up to 750,000 of the founder shares are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Our initial shareholders will collectively beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, and 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 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). The founder shares may be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination.
In addition, our Sponsor has committed to purchase, an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants (or 5,583,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, or $4,800,000 in the aggregate (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The underwriters have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, or $1,500,000 in the aggregate (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
Given the differential in the purchase price paid for the founder shares as compared to the initial public offering price of the public shares and the substantial number of Class A ordinary shares that holders of our founder shares would receive upon conversion of the founder shares upon a business combination, the founder shares may have significant value after the business combination even if our Class A ordinary shares trade below the initial public offering price and holders of our public shares have a substantial loss on their investment. Our initial shareholders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers.
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The personal and financial interests of our Sponsor and our directors and officers and any holders of our founder shares or our private placement securities 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 and may result in a misalignment of interests between the holders of our founder shares and our officers and directors, on the one hand, and our public shareholders, on the other. These risks may become more acute as the deadline to complete our initial business combination nears.
In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at a purchase price of approximately $0.004 per share, the holders of our founder shares and certain of our directors and officers that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public shareholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their Class A ordinary shares (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). For example, a holder of 1,000 founder shares would have paid approximately $4.00 to purchase such shares. At the time of an initial business combination, such holder would be able to convert such founder shares into 1,000 Class A ordinary shares, and would receive the same consideration in connection with our initial business combination as a public shareholder for the same number of Class A ordinary shares. If the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares on a post-combination basis (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination) were to decrease to $5.00 per Class A ordinary share, such holder of our founder shares would obtain a profit of approximately $4,996 on account of the 1,000 founder shares that the holder had converted into Class A ordinary shares in connection with the initial business combination. By contrast, a public shareholder holding 1,000 Class A ordinary shares acquired in this offering would lose approximately $5,000 in connection with the same transaction.
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 were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
The nominal purchase price paid by our Sponsor and certain of our independent directors for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are offering our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit and the amount in our trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.00 per public share. However, prior to this offering, our Sponsor and independent directors paid 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 upon the consummation of our initial business combination, when the founder shares are converted into public shares. For example, the following table shows the dilutive effect of the founder shares on the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination, assuming that our equity value at that time is $144,000,000 which is the amount we would have for our initial business combination in the trust account after payment of $6,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised, no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account, and no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and without taking into account any other potential impacts on our valuation at such time, such as the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs, any equity issued or cash paid to the target’s sellers or other third parties, or the target’s business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects, as well as the value of our public and private warrants. At such valuation, each of our ordinary shares would have an implied value of $7.20 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, which would be an approximate 28% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $10.00.
Public shares |
| | 15,000,000 |
Founder shares |
| | 5,000,000 |
Total shares |
| | 20,000,000 |
Total funds in trust available for initial business combination (less up to 4% deferred underwriting commissions) | | $ | 144,000,000 |
Initial implied value per public share | | $ | 10.00 |
Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination | | $ | 7.20 |
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The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Upon the closing of this offering, our Sponsor and independent directors will have invested in us an aggregate of $4,825,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $4,800,000 purchase price paid for the private placement warrants. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 5,000,000 founder shares would have an aggregate value of $50,000,000. Even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares was as low as approximately $0.47 per share and the shares underlying the private placement warrants were worthless, the value of the founder shares and the private placement warrants would be equal to the Sponsor’s and the independent directors’ initial investment in us. As a result, our Sponsor, and our independent directors are likely to be able to recoup their investment in us and make a substantial profit on that investment, even if our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, our management team, which owns interests in our Sponsor, may have an economic incentive that differs from that of the public shareholders to pursue and consummate an initial business combination rather than to liquidate and to return all of the cash in the trust account to the public shareholders, even if that business combination were with a riskier or less-established target business. For the foregoing reasons, you should consider our management team’s financial incentive to complete an initial business combination when evaluating whether to redeem your shares prior to or in connection with the initial business combination.
We may approve an amendment or waiver of the letter agreement that would allow our Sponsor to directly, or members of our Sponsor to indirectly, transfer founder shares and private placement warrants in a transaction in which the Sponsor removes itself as our sponsor before identifying a business combination, which may deprive us of key personnel.
While there is no current intention to do so, and the members of our management team and Sponsor have not done so with any previously formed special purpose acquisition companies, we may approve an amendment or waiver of the letter agreement that would allow the Sponsor to directly, or members of our Sponsor to indirectly, transfer founder shares and private placement warrants in a transaction in which the Sponsor removes itself as our Sponsor before identifying a business combination. As a result, there is a risk that our Sponsor and our officers and directors may divest their ownership or economic interests in us or in our Sponsor, which would likely result in our loss of certain key personnel, including Christopher Sorrells. There can be no assurance that any replacement sponsor or key personnel will successfully identify a business combination target for us, or, even if one is so identified, successfully complete such business combination.
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 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. 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 our control of the target business.
Our initial business combination will require approval of a majority of our board of directors, as well as a majority of our independent directors.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our initial business combination will require the approval of a majority of our board of directors and, under Nasdaq rules, our initial business combination will also require the
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approval of a majority of our independent directors. Unless we receive the requisite board member approvals, we will not be able to enter into a definitive merger or similar agreement relating to our initial business combination.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
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.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| ● | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets; |
| ● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| ● | complex withholding taxes on holders of our Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| ● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| ● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| ● | longer payment cycles; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| ● | rates of inflation; |
| ● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| ● | cultural and language differences; |
| ● | employment regulations; |
| ● | crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; |
| ● | deterioration of political relations with the United States; |
| ● | obligatory military service by personnel; and |
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| ● | government appropriation of assets. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of the company, and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination could remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
General Risk Factors
We have a working capital deficiency and a weak cash position.
As of May 21, 2025, we had no cash and a working capital deficiency of $(36,902). 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. 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.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering 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, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet of the company demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable. 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.”
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
On January 24, 2024, the SEC adopted a series of new rules relating to SPACs requiring, among other items, (i) additional disclosures relating to SPAC business combination transactions; (ii) additional disclosures relating to dilution and to conflicts of interest involving sponsors and their affiliates in both SPAC initial public offerings and SPAC initial business combinations; (iii) the use of projections by SPACs in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; and (iv) both the SPAC and the target company’s status as co-registrants on de-SPAC transaction registration statements. In addition, the SEC’s adopting release provided guidance describing circumstances in which a SPAC could become subject to regulation under the Investment
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Company Act, including as a result of its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals. Compliance with such rules and related guidance may increase the costs and the time needed to negotiate and complete an initial business combination, may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination or otherwise impair our ability to complete a business combination.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after 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.
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 — Material U.S. Federal Income Taxation for 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 — Material U.S. Federal Income Taxation for 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 such 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(and if the start-up exception may be applicable, potentially not until after the two taxable years following). Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor upon written request 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 any event. We urge U.S. Holders to consult their 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 — Material U.S. Federal Income Taxation for U.S. Holders — Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”
If a U.S. person is treated as owning at least 10% of our stock, such person may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
If a U.S. Holder (as defined in the section of this prospectus captioned “Income Tax Considerations — Material U.S. Federal Income Taxation for U.S. Holders”) is treated as owning (directly, indirectly or constructively) at least 10% of the value or voting power of our stock, such holder may be treated as a “United States shareholder” with respect to us if we are a “controlled foreign corporation,” (“CFC”), for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A non-U.S. corporation is considered a CFC if more than 50% of (1) the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of such corporation entitled to vote, or (2) the total value of the stock of such corporation is owned, or is considered as owned by applying certain constructive ownership rules, by 10% “United States shareholders” on any day during the taxable year of such non-U.S. corporation.
If we are a CFC, 10% “United States shareholders” may be subject to adverse income inclusion and reporting requirements with respect to us. No assurance can be provided that we will assist holders in determining whether we are treated as a CFC or whether any holder is treated as a 10% “United States shareholder” with respect to us or furnish to any holder information that may be necessary to comply with reporting and tax payment obligations with respect to our status as a CFC.
The Company’s business, investments and operations and shareholders’ post-tax returns may be negatively affected due to taxes.
We intend to structure our business combination to maximize returns for shareholders in as efficient a manner as is practicable. Accordingly, the Company will need to make certain assumptions regarding taxation. However, if these assumptions are not correct, taxes may be imposed with respect to the Company’s assets, or the Company may be subject to tax on its income, profits, gains or
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distributions (whether on a liquidation, redemption or otherwise) in a particular jurisdiction or jurisdictions in excess of taxes that were anticipated. The Company also may become subject to tariffs in excess of rates that were anticipated. In addition, the taxation consequences of subscribing for, purchasing, holding or disposing of Class A ordinary shares or warrants, including of the receipt of any distributions that may be paid by the Company (whether on a liquidation, redemption or otherwise) will depend on the laws and tax authority practices to which a shareholder is subject. Any of these factors could adversely affect the post-tax returns for shareholders (or shareholders in certain jurisdictions). Any change in laws or tax authority practices could also adversely affect any post-tax returns to shareholders. In addition, the Company may incur costs in taking steps to mitigate any such adverse effect on the post-tax returns for shareholders.
On June 16, 2025, the Senate Finance Committee released its version of the tax provisions of H.R. 1, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on May 22, 2025. It cannot be determined with certainty whether such proposed legislation will be enacted and if it were enacted, the precise form it will take.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, subject to requisite shareholder approval by special resolution under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, 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 a shareholder or warrant holder in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident (or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity), in which the target company is located, or in which we reincorporate. 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 to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
If our initial business combination involves a company organized under the laws of the United States (or any subdivision thereof), a U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with any redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares after or in connection with such initial business combination.
The Code provides for, among other things, a new 1% U.S. federal excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded U.S. corporations (the “stock buyback tax”), subject to certain exceptions. If applicable, the amount of the stock buyback tax is generally 1% of the aggregate fair market value of any stock repurchased by the corporation during a taxable year, net of the aggregate fair market value of certain new stock issuances by the repurchasing corporation during the same taxable year. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS have released preliminary guidance that would potentially cause a non-U.S. corporation’s U.S. subsidiaries to be subject to the stock buyback tax with respect to any share repurchases made by the non-U.S. corporation under certain circumstances.
As an entity incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company, the stock buyback tax is currently not expected to apply to redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares (absent any regulations or other additional guidance that may be issued in the future). However, in connection with an initial business combination involving a company organized under the laws of the United States (or any subdivision thereof), it is possible that we domesticate and continue as a Delaware corporation prior to certain redemptions. Because we expect that, following such a domestication, our securities would continue to trade on Nasdaq, in such a case we could be subject to the stock buyback tax with respect to any subsequent redemptions (including redemptions in connection with the initial business combination) that are treated as repurchases for this purpose. In all cases, whether and to what extent we would be subject to the stock buyback tax will depend on a number of factors, including (i) the structure of the initial business combination, including the extent to which the initial business combination involves a U.S. corporation and the extent to which we issue shares in the initial business combination or otherwise during the same taxable year that are eligible to offset any redemptions or other repurchases, (ii) the fair market value of the shares redeemed and (iii) the extent such redemptions could be treated as dividends and not as repurchases. The applicability of the stock buyback tax to us could be further affected by the content of any regulations, clarifications or other additional guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department that may be issued and applicable to the redemptions.
Any stock buyback tax that becomes payable as a result of any redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares (or other shares into which such Class A ordinary shares may be converted) in connection with our initial business combination or otherwise would be payable by us and not by the redeeming holder. To the extent such taxes are applicable, the amount of cash available to pay
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redemptions or to transfer to the target business in connection with our initial business combination may be reduced, which could result in our inability to meet conditions in the agreement relating to our initial business combination related to a minimum cash requirement, if any, or otherwise result in the shareholders of the combined company (including any of our shareholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with the initial business combination) to economically bear the impact of such stock buyback tax.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 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 equaled or 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.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, upon the listing of our shares, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
After completion of this offering, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual,
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group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| ● | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of Nasdaq; |
| ● | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
Cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents could adversely affect our business by causing a disruption to our operations, a compromise or corruption of our confidential information and confidential information in our possession and/or damage to our business relationships, any of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and operating results.
We and our Sponsor and its affiliates face increasingly frequent and sophisticated cyber and security threats, with attacks ranging from those common to businesses generally to those that are more advanced and persistent, which may target us because we are affiliated with an alternative asset management firm and may hold confidential and other price sensitive information about existing and potential investments. We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of our Sponsor and its third party vendors, and other third parties. Cyber attacks and other security threats could originate from a wide variety of sources, including cyber criminals, nation state hackers, hacktivists and other outside parties. As a result, we may face a heightened risk of a security breach or disruption with respect to sensitive information resulting from an attack by computer hackers, foreign governments or cyber terrorists.
The efficient operation of our business is dependent on computer hardware and software systems, as well as data processing systems and the secure processing, storage and transmission of information, which are vulnerable to security breaches and cyber incidents. A cyber incident is considered to be any adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our information resources. These incidents may be an intentional attack or an unintentional event and could involve gaining unauthorized access to our information systems for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. In addition, we and our employees may be the target of fraudulent emails or other targeted attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary or sensitive information. The result of these incidents may include disrupted operations, misstated or unreliable financial data, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, litigation and damage to our business relationships. Any processes, procedures and internal controls we may implement to mitigate cybersecurity risks and cyber intrusions, as well as our increased awareness of the nature and extent of a risk of a cyber-incident, will not guarantee that a cyber-incident will not occur or that our financial results, operations or confidential information will not be negatively impacted by such an incident, especially because the cyber-incident techniques change frequently or are not recognized until launched and because cyber-incidents can originate from a wide variety of sources. We may not have sufficient funding and resources to comply with evolving cybersecurity regulations and to continually monitor and enhance our cybersecurity procedures and controls.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some statements contained in this prospectus are forward-looking in nature. Our forward-looking statements and risk factors include, but are not limited to, statements and risk factors 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,” “intends,” “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 and risk factors in this prospectus may include, for example, statements and risk factors about:
| ● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| ● | our ability to complete our initial business combination, which is impacted by various factors; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses or of markets or 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 or otherwise conflicting contractual obligations in connection with our business or in approving or consummating our initial business combination; |
| ● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| ● | the ability of our directors and officers to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| ● | the potential liquidity and trading of our public securities; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | global geopolitical conditions resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the recent escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the upcoming elections in the United States in 2024; |
| ● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| ● | our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements and risk factors 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 15,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering will be used as set forth in the following table together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement securities.
|
| Without |
| Over-Allotment |
| ||
| | Over-Allotment | | Option | | ||
|
| Option |
| Exercised | | ||
Gross proceeds | | | | |
| |
|
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) | | $ | 150,000,000 | | $ | 172,500,000 |
|
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered to the Sponsor in the private placement |
| | 4,800,000 |
| | 5,025,000 | |
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered to CCM in the private placement(2) |
| | 1,500,000 |
| | 1,725,000 | |
[Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered to [●] in the private placement](2) |
| | [●] |
| | [●] | |
Total gross proceeds | | $ | 156,300,000 | | $ | 179,250,000 | |
Estimated offering expenses(3) | |
|
| |
|
| |
Underwriting (excluding deferred commission portion)(4) | | $ | 3,000,000 | | $ | 3,450,000 | |
Legal fees and expenses | |
| 250,000 | |
| 250,000 | |
Accounting fees and expenses | |
| 50,000 | |
| 50,000 | |
Printing and engraving expenses | |
| 40,000 | |
| 50,000 | |
SEC and FINRA expenses | |
| 68,948 | |
| 68,948 | |
Roadshow expenses | |
| 20,000 | |
| 20,000 | |
Exchange listing fees | |
| 85,000 | |
| 85,000 | |
Miscellaneous expenses(4) | |
| 186,052 | |
| 186,052 | |
Total estimated offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)(7) | | $ | 700,000 | | $ | 700,000 | |
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses | | $ | 152,600,000 | | $ | 175,100,000 | |
Held in trust account(5) | | $ | 150,000,000 | | $ | 172,500,000 | |
% of public offering size | |
| 100 | % |
| 100 | % |
Not held in trust account(2) | | $ | 2,600,000 | | $ | 2,600,000 | |
The following table shows the use of the approximately $2,600,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account(5).
|
| Amount |
| % of Total |
| |
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combination | | $ | 500,000 |
| 19.2 | % |
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations | | $ | 200,000 |
| 7.7 | % |
Directors and officers insurance premiums | | $ | 400,000 |
| 15.4 | % |
Administrative fee | | $ | 480,000 |
| 18.5 | % |
Continued exchange listing fees | | $ | 85,000 |
| 3.3 | % |
Other miscellaneous expenses | | $ | 935,000 |
| 36.0 | % |
Total | | $ | 2,600,000 |
| 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) | CCM will fund the purchase of the private placement warrants with $0.10 per unit of its upfront underwriting fee. |
| (3) | A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from the Sponsor of up to $250,000 as described in this prospectus. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $2,600,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. As of May 21,2025, there was $10,420 outstanding under the promissory note with the Sponsor. These expenses are estimates only. In the event that offering expenses, including amounts payable to repay loans under the promissory note, are more than as set forth |
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| 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. |
| (4) | The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to $0.40 per unit, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the overallotment option is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters in this offering based on the amount of funds remaining in the trust account after shareholder redemptions of public shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. See “Underwriting” for additional information regarding deferred underwriting commissions. |
| (5) | 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, which we may access for permitted withdrawals. Based upon current interest rates, estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $6,000,000 per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes an interest rate of 4.0% 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, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates 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 $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. 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. |
Nasdaq listing rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering, $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full), including $6,000,000 (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will, upon the consummation of this offering, be placed in a U.S.-based trust account maintained by [·] acting as trustee. The funds in the trust account will be invested or held only in (i) 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, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest- bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. For more information about the risk of the company being considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company, see “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks — 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.” Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $6,000,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 4.0% 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 for working capital purposes and 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or
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pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient for a portion of working capital and 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. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on 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 affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us. Prior to the closing of this offering, our Sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $250,000 under an unsecured promissory note, dated March 28, 2025. This promissory note is expected to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2025 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $700,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. As of May 21, 2025, there was $10,420 outstanding under such promissory note.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates 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. Upon consummation of this offering, we may repay any loans made to us by our Sponsor, if any, to cover offering-related and organizational expenses. In the event that following this offering we obtain working capital loans from our Sponsor to finance transaction costs related to our initial business combination, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. 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. Additionally, we may reimburse our Sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an 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 Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their 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 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 transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. 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
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transaction subject to the going- private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, 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 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 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 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.
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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 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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 Class A ordinary share, assuming no value is attributed to the public warrants we are offering pursuant to this prospectus, and the pro forma net tangible book value per ordinary share 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 Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of issued and outstanding ordinary shares.
The below calculations (A) assume that (i) no ordinary shares are issued to shareholders of a potential business combination target as consideration or issuable by a post-business combination company, for instance under an equity or employee share purchase plan, (ii) no ordinary shares and convertible equity or debt securities are issued in connection with additional financing that we may seek in connection with an initial business combination, and (iii) no working capital loans are converted into private placement warrants, as further described in this prospectus, and (B) assumes the issuance of 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or 17,250,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) and 5,750,000 founder shares (up to 750,000 of which are assumed to be forfeited in the scenario in which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full). The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering.
At May 21, 2025, our net tangible book value was $(36,902), or approximately $(0.01) per Class B ordinary share. Assuming various redemption scenarios and after giving effect to the sale of 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, 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 May 21, 2025 would have been the following to the public shareholders on a per-share basis immediately after this offering:
As of May 21, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offering Price of |
| 25% of Maximum | | 50% of Maximum |
| 75% of Maximum |
| Maximum | ||||||||||||||||
$10.00 per Unit | | Redemption | | Redemption | | Redemption | | Redemption | ||||||||||||||||
| | | | | Difference | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||
| | | | | between | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||
| | | | | Public | | | | | Difference | | | | | Difference | | | | | Difference | ||||
| | | | | NTBV and | | | | | between | | | | | between | | | | | between | ||||
| | | | | Public | | | | | NTBV and | | | | | NTBV and | | | | | NTBV and | ||||
| | | | | Offering | | | | | Offering | | | | | Offering | | | | | Offering | ||||
NTBV |
| NTBV |
| Price |
| NTBV |
| Price |
| NTBV |
| Price |
| NTBV |
| Price | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||||||
| | Assuming Full Exercise of Over-Allotment Option | ||||||||||||||||||||||
$7.31 | | $ | 6.79 | | $ | 3.21 | | $ | 5.94 | | $ | 4.06 | | $ | 4.37 | | $ | 5.63 | | $ | 0.45 | | $ | 9.55 |
| | Assuming No Exercise of Over-Allotment Option | ||||||||||||||||||||||
$7.32 | | $ | 6.80 | | $ | 3.20 | | $ | 5.96 | | $ | 4.04 | | $ | 4.39 | | $ | 5.61 | | $ | 0.49 | | $ | 9.51 |
For purposes of presenting the Maximum Redemption scenario, we have reduced our NTBV after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units) by $150,000,000 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 business days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or shareholders meeting, including interest, divided by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering).
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For each of the redemption scenarios above, the NTBV was calculated as follows:
|
| | |
| | |
| 25% of Maximum |
| 50% of Maximum |
| 75% of Maximum |
| Maximum |
| ||||||||||||||||
| | No Redemptions | | Redemptions | | Redemptions | | Redemptions | | Redemptions |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| | Without | | With | | Without | | With | | Without | | With | | Without | | With | | Without | | With |
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| | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- | | Over- |
| ||||||||||
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| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| Allotment |
| ||||||||||
Public offering price | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | |
Net tangible book deficit before this offering | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
| ( | |
Increase attributable to public shareholders | |
| 7.33 | |
| 7.32 | |
| 6.81 | |
| 6.80 | |
| 5.97 | |
| 5.95 | |
| 4.40 | |
| 4.38 | |
| 0.50 | |
| 0.46 | |
Pro forms net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement shares | |
| 7.32 | |
| 7.31 | |
| 6.80 | |
| 6.79 | |
| 5.96 | |
| 5.94 | |
| 4.39 | |
| 4.37 | |
| 0.49 | |
| 0.45 | |
Dilution to public shareholders | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | |
Percentage of dilution to public shareholders | |
| 26.80 | % |
| 26.90 | % |
| 32.00 | % |
| 32.10 | % |
| 40.40 | % |
| 40.60 | % |
| 56.10 | % |
| 56.30 | % |
| 95.10 | % |
| 95.50 | % |
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Numerator: | |
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Net tangible book deficit before this offering | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | | $ | ( | |
Net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants(1) | |
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Plus: Offering costs accrued for or paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value | |
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Less: Deferred underwriting commissions | |
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Less: overallotment liability | |
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Less: Amounts paid for redemptions(2) | |
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| ( | |
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| | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | | $ | | |
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Denominator: | |
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Ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering | |
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Ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised | |
| ( | |
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Ordinary shares offered | |
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Less Ordinary shares redeemed | |
| — | |
| — | |
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| (1) | Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of approximately $700,000 (excluding deferred underwriting commissions). See “Use of Proceeds.” |
| (2) | Upon the consummation of our initial business combination, the deferred underwriting commissions would be paid as follows: $0.40 per unit on all units sold including those sold pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions, but such $0.40 per unit shall be due solely on amounts remaining in the trust account following all properly submitted shareholder redemptions in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination See also “Underwriting” for additional information regarding underwriting compensation. |
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CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth our capitalization at May 21, 2025 and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our 15,000,000 units in this offering for $150,000,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the sale of 5,333,333 private placement warrants for $4,800,000 (or $0.90 per private placement warrant) and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:
| | March 31, 2025 | ||||
|
| Actual |
| As Adjusted | ||
Notes payable to related party(1) | | $ | 10,420 | | $ | — |
Deferred underwriting commissions | | $ | — | | $ | 6,000,000 |
Over-allotment liability | | $ | — | | $ | 158,400 |
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, subject to redemption, 0 and 15,000,000 shares which are subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively(2) | | $ | — | | $ | 150,000,000 |
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively | |
| — | |
| — |
Class A ordinary shares, 200,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively | |
| — | |
| — |
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized, 5,750,000 and 5,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively | | $ | 575 | | $ | 500 |
Additional paid-in capital | | $ | (24,425) | | $ | — |
Accumulated deficit | | $ | (16,620) | | $ | (3,550,520) |
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit) | | $ | 8,380 | | $ | (3,550,020) |
Total capitalization(3) | | $ | 18,800 | | $ | 152,608,380 |
| (1) | Our sponsor may loan us up to $250,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the repayment of any loans received from our sponsor out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As of March 31, 2025, we had borrowed $10,420 under the promissory note with our sponsor. |
| (2) | Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, for cash at a per share price 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. |
| (3) | Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares. |
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a newly incorporated blank check company, incorporated 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. 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 preferred shares in a business combination, including the issuance of forward purchase securities:
| ● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering; |
| ● | may subordinate the rights of holders of ordinary shares if preferred 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 are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present 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 public 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 Class A 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 |
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| ● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at May 21, 2025, we had no cash, a working capital deficiency of $(36,902) and deferred offering costs of $45,282. 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.
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 unaudited interim financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus. 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 $25,000 paid by our Sponsor to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our Sponsor (a portion of which were subsequently transferred to our three independent directors) and up to $250,000 in loans from our Sponsor, under an unsecured promissory note. As of May 21, 2025, there was $10,420 outstanding under such promissory note. We estimate that the net proceeds from (1) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $700,000 and underwriting commissions of $3,000,000 (or up to $3,450,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $6,000,000 (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (2) the sale of the private placement securities for an aggregate purchase price of $6,300,000 (or $6,750,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) will be $152,600,000 (or $175,100,000 if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $150,000,000 or $172,500,000 if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full, including $6,000,000 (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate 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 or held only in (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. The remaining $2,600,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $700,000 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 $700,000, 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 permitted withdrawals and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) and the proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest earned on the funds in the trust account for working capital purposes 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 estimate that we will have available to us $2,600,000 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, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or
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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, any of its affiliates 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 $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our Sponsor and the underwriters. 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 to include approximately $500,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combinations; $200,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $400,000 for payment of directors and officers insurance premiums; $85,000 for continued exchange listing fees; $240,000 for office space and administrative support; and $1,175,000 for other miscellaneous expenses.
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.
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, 2026. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with
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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:
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 independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement securities held in the trust account will be invested or held only in (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. 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
On March 28, 2025, our Sponsor and three independent director nominees paid an aggregate of $25,000 to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for the issuance of 5,750,000 founder shares, or approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 25% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants).
Up to 750,000 of the founder shares are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will collectively beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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 25% of our issued and ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants).
Our Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants (or 5,583,000 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, or $4,800,000 in the aggregate (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
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In addition, the underwriters have committed to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, or $1,500,000 in the aggregate (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
The private placement warrants are identical to the units sold in this offering except that private placement warrants (including the underlying Class A ordinary shares) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and will be entitled to registration rights. A portion of the purchase price of the private placement securities will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, the private placement securities (and the underlying securities) may expire worthless.
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.
Members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, as set forth in “Principal Shareholders,” 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, 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 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.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our Sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $250,000 under an unsecured promissory note, dated March 28, 2025. This promissory note is expected to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2025 and the closing of this offering. The loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $700,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. As of May 21, 2025, there was $10,420 outstanding under such promissory note.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates 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. Upon consummation of this offering, we may repay any loans made to us by our Sponsor, if any, to cover offering-related and organizational expenses. In the event that following this offering we obtain working capital loans from our Sponsor to finance transaction costs related to our initial business combination, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. 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. Additionally, we may reimburse our Sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination.
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
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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 will enter 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.”
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of May 21, 2025, 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
We are a recently incorporated blank check company incorporated 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 as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, had any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.
We will seek to capitalize on the significant experience and vast network of our management team to complete our initial business combination. Although we may pursue our initial business combination in any business, industry or geographic location, we currently intend to focus on opportunities that capitalize on the expertise and ability of our management team, particularly our executive officers, to identify, acquire and operate a business in our Focus Industries of natural resources and decarbonization. Our management team has been investing and advising in our Focus Industries for over 25 years and our targeted themes include, but are not limited to:
| ● | energy resources — with a focus on oil and gas exploration and production (E&P), oilfield services and equipment and biofuels; |
| ● | metals and mining — including critical metals (rare earths) and uranium; and |
| ● | decarbonization — clean energy generation (nuclear, hydrogen, solar and wind), energy storage, grid infrastructure (technologies to support an aging and intermittent grid), resource optimization (digitization and energy efficiency), carbon capture (utilization and storage), environmental services (waste management, pollution control and recycling) and transportation (electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles). |
We believe our management team’s collective background and the favorable macro and social trends disrupting our Focus Industries will provide an opportunity to execute a potentially transformational business combination.
We believe that there are significant attractive investment opportunities in natural resources as well as in our core decarbonization theme. Growth in the natural resources industry is being driven by a series of macroeconomic, demographic, technological and geopolitical trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to the growth of natural resources include global economic growth and industrialization. In addition, various demographic, technological and geopolitical trends, such as the “electrification of everything”, digitalization and technology growth (cloud computing, AI, data centers, and crypto mining) as well as conflicts and trade rivalries are driving the need for critical natural resources.
In addition, the movement to decarbonize carbon intensive industries is being driven by a series of macroeconomic and social trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to growth in the decarbonization industry include urbanization, population growth, increased government spending and increased regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local levels. In addition, various social trends, such as the expanding focus on ESG practices and business models, as well as ESG increasingly becoming a core mandate for fund managers, are leading to an accelerated global focus on decarbonization. As a result, we believe the decarbonization industry has the potential to undergo profound changes similar to other industries in the past, such as the transportation industry with airline deregulation in the 1970s and the telecom industry following the emergence of wireless technology in the 1990s.
We believe that we are well-positioned to identify attractive businesses in our Focus Industries that would benefit from access to the public markets and the diverse skill set of our management team. We intend to focus on evaluating established companies with leading competitive positions, experienced management teams, attractive financial profiles and robust long-term potential for growth and profitability. We believe many businesses in our Focus Industries could benefit from access to the public markets but have been unable to do so due to a number of factors, including the time required to conduct a traditional initial public offering, market volatility and pricing uncertainty. Our objective is to consummate our initial business combination with such a business and enhance stakeholder value by identifying and recruiting management, pursuing additional acquisitions, implementing operational improvements and expanding its product offerings and geographic footprint. We intend to utilize our management team’s experience, reputation and contacts across the industry to achieve this objective.
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Our management team also formed and co-sponsored Spring Valley I and Spring Valley II, both special purpose acquisition companies similar to our company that were formed to consummate an initial business combination:
| ● | Spring Valley I (2020): Target (Nuscale Power, LLC). Spring Valley I completed its initial public offering in November 2020 at approximately $230 million. Spring Valley I experienced aggregate redemptions of 8,599,631 public shares in connection with the consummation of its business combination. Spring Valley I’s business combination with Nuscale closed in May 2022. Nuscale is an industry-leading provider of proprietary and innovative advanced nuclear SMR technology. Shares of Nuscale trade on the NYSE under the symbol “SMR”, and the price of the common stock has ranged from $1.81 to $32.30 following the consummation of the business combination, with a closing price of $24.00 on May 15, 2025. |
| ● | Spring Valley II (2022): Spring Valley II completed its initial public offering in October 2022 at approximately $230 million. The SPAC term was extended twice and experienced aggregate redemptions of 20,786,571 public shares in connection with its extensions. Spring Valley II currently trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SVII”, “SVIIW” and “SVIIR”. |
On January 10, 2024, Spring Valley II held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in lieu of an annual general meeting to vote to approve, among other things, to amend Spring Valley II’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which the Company must consummate an initial merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses from 15 months from the closing of the IPO to 36 months from the closing of the IPO. Spring Valley II must consummate a business combination by October 17, 2025, which may be further extended upon shareholder approval. In connection with the vote to approve the extension to 36 months from the closing of the IPO, holders of 8,362,234 Class A ordinary shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.85 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $90,726,470.51. Spring Valley II’s targeted sectors include, but are not limited to, renewable energy (with a focus on solar and wind, energy storage and other decarbonization technologies), resource optimization (including energy efficiency and digitization), environmental services (including waste management, pollution control and recycling) and grid infrastructure (technologies to support an aging and intermittent grid) in the United States and other developed countries. The closing price of Spring Valley II’s units was [$11.21] on July 31, 2025.
On July 31, 2025, Spring Valley II and Eagle Energy Metals Corp. (“Eagle”) announced their execution of a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated July 30, 2025, pursuant to which, among other things, Eagle would become a public company.
Business Strategy
Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company in our Focus Industries that builds upon the vast industry experience and expertise of our management team.
We expect to develop our pipeline of opportunities for a potential business combination through our management team’s over 100 cumulative years of experience, deep relationships and extensive network of corporate executives, board members, venture capital and private equity firms, family offices, investment bankers, lawyers, investors and other service providers to our Focus Industries. We have an extensive history of launching successful investment platforms through proactive and highly selective sourcing of potential targets by analyzing the entire value chain to determine the best balance of risk and reward across each segment. Utilizing this approach, we have helped build large public and private platforms in the global natural resources and decarbonization markets.
Our selection process will leverage our management team’s broad and deep relationship network, distinct industry experiences and extensive deal-sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities. We expect to develop this network through our management team’s broad experience, with demonstrated success in both investing in and operating businesses across a variety of industries and at numerous stages of these companies’ life cycles. We have developed a distinctive combination of capabilities, which includes:
| ● | an established record of building industry-leading companies and strong ability to deliver shareholder value over an extended time period; |
| ● | experience using acquisitions to grow companies during periods of both economic growth and decline by using extensive deal-sourcing and differentiated transaction execution/structuring capabilities; |
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| ● | experience deploying value creation strategies, including recruiting talented personnel, implementing system upgrades to back-office systems, and delivering operating efficiency by implementing an analytical based approach to business metrics; and |
| ● | extensive capital markets experience across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership. |
We intend to focus our efforts on opportunities where our management team’s strategic vision, operating expertise, deep relationships and capital markets experience can be catalysts to enhance the growth, competitive position and financial upside in an initial business combination. We intend to identify and execute an initial business combination within our Focus Industries in the United States or other developed countries, although we may pursue targets in any business, industry or geographical location. Our management team has an established history in identifying and capitalizing on key trends that have shaped the global decarbonization and energy markets and has helped build leading platforms to scale within the marketplace.
Our Competitive Strengths
Our intent is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that complements the experience of our management team and can benefit from our distinct combination of skills in investing, financing, advising and operating. Our management team has a substantial deal-making skillset developed throughout their collective careers and has created significant shareholder value across several high-profile transactions, including:
| ● | As lead investor in 2006, Mr. Sorrells brought together a combination of strategic and financial partners to lead a $100.0 million investment for the sole purpose of creating Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGI), one of the largest global biodiesel and renewable diesel companies. At the time, this investment was noted as one of the largest investments in biodiesel in North America and helped transform an emerging industry into a growing and vibrant sector. Renewable Energy Group, Inc.’s revenues grew from approximately $85.0 million in 2008 to over $3.0 billion in 2021 via organic growth and an aggressive acquisition strategy. In addition, the stock price for Renewable Energy Group, Inc. appreciated significantly since its initial public offering in January 2012 of $10.00 per share to the $61.50 acquisition price paid by Chevron. |
| ● | From 2008 to 2012, as Chief Executive Officer and director, Mr. Thompson successfully led Power- One, Inc. through restructuring, and helped the company increase its revenue from approximately $537.5 million in 2008 to approximately $1.0 billion in 2012 and become one of the largest renewable energy inverter suppliers worldwide. In July 2013, Mr. Thompson successfully completed the sale of Power-One, Inc. to ABB (NYSE: ABB) for approximately $1.0 billion in equity value. In 2007, as Chief Financial Officer of American Power Conversion Corporation (Nasdaq: APCC), Mr. Thompson helped negotiate the sale of the company to Schneider Electric SA (Paris: SU.PA) for approximately $6.0 billion in enterprise value. |
| ● | Mr. Buzby has spent the last 20 years of his career innovating business models and financial structures to accelerate the adoption of clean energy. As the founding investor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at SunEdison (Nasdaq: SUNE), Mr. Buzby created the commercial solar PPA in 2002, building one of the largest commercial solar developers before its sale to MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. in 2009. Utilizing that knowledge in 2007 to help launch SunRun as an investor and director with a residential version of the PPA, Mr. Buzby helped create a leading market share in residential solar in the United States in 2018 with an approximately $1.9 billion market capitalization as of June 2025 (Nasdaq: RUN). The increasing adoption of solar energy that he pioneered allowed Mr. Buzby to become the founding investor, and now Chairman, of Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM), so that solar, wind and energy storage resources could be increasingly scaled and integrated with the broader infrastructure; again, creating a market-leading company. Stem, Inc. completed a merger with Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. in April 2021. |
| ● | Ms. Frodl served as the Global Executive Director of Ecomagination at General Electric Company from 2012 to 2017, and repositioned the company’s sustainable technology strategy into a multi- faceted platform for innovation and global growth. From 2005 through 2016, GE Ecomagination’s cumulative revenues reached $270 billion. In 2017, the Ecomagination portfolio was comprised of 74 Ecomagination qualified products and solutions, including onshore and offshore wind, gas engines, gas turbines, hybrid gas turbine, GEnx and LEAP engines, LEDs, hydropower, solar, solar inverters, EV charging infrastructure, Tier 4 locomotives and battery storage. |
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Among these transactions, we have helped pioneer business models and technologies and have deployed assets that have changed the way we produce or transport energy and power while contributing to the significant growth in clean energy and power. We expect to draw upon this vast set of experiences with the goal of affecting a business combination and building a market-leading business.
With respect to the above, past performance of our management team or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of future performance. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.” For a list of our executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such officers and the company, please refer to “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”
Industry Opportunity
We believe our management team’s extensive and diverse experience will help us to effectively evaluate targets across our Focus Industries. We believe natural resources and decarbonization are attractive for several reasons:
Large Target Market. According to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2024 under the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), global energy demand is expected to continue to rise through 2035, with electricity demand increasing by nearly 1,000 TWh per year — equivalent to adding the electricity consumption of Japan annually. Historically, growth in energy demand has been met primarily by fossil fuels. While STEPS anticipates ongoing contributions from fossil fuels, it projects that renewables and clean energy sources will play a dominant role going forward. Renewable power generation capacity is expected to grow from 4,250 GW today to nearly 10,000 GW by 2030. Meeting this demand will require substantial investment: annual global energy investment is projected to reach $3.2 trillion by 2030, with approximately $2.1 trillion directed toward clean energy technologies and $1.1 trillion toward fossil fuel-related infrastructure.
We believe energy demand projections may continue to increase as the market gains a deeper understanding of several global technological trends:
| ● | “Electrification of everything” — The shift from fossil fuel-based systems to electric-powered alternatives across transportation, buildings, and industry. Critical metals and rare earth elements, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium are expected to play a vital role in enabling this transition. According to the IEA, if the net zero emissions by 2050 is met, mineral demand for clean energy technologies would more than triple by 2050, reaching nearly 40 million tonnes (Mt). |
| ● | Artificial intelligence and machine learning — The rapid rise of AI and ML and the resulting increase of data center demand have led to a significant rise in energy consumption. According to McKinsey & Company, the global demand for data center capacity is expected to grow at an annual rate of up to 22 percent from 2023 to 2030, reaching an annual demand of up to 219 GW. |
| ● | Cryptocurrency (or crypto), blockchain and other digital assets — Crypto, particularly Bitcoin, is known for its significant energy consumption due to the computational power required for mining and transaction verification. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) estimates that global electricity usage associated with Bitcoin mining ranged from 67 to 240 TWh in 2023, with a point estimate of 120 TWh. This energy demand is expected to grow as the popularity and usage of crypto increases. |
Favorable Trends. Growth in the natural resources industry is being driven by a series of macroeconomic, demographic, technological and geopolitical trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to this growth include global economic expansion and industrialization. In addition, various demographic, technological and geopolitical trends, such as the “electrification of everything”, digitalization and technology growth (cloud computing, AI, data centers, and crypto mining) and conflicts and trade rivalries are driving the need for critical natural resources.
The decarbonization industry is defined by significant growth in a set of dynamic and changing industries. We believe this growth is being fueled by a series of macroeconomic and social trends. Macroeconomic trends contributing to growth in the decarbonization industry include urbanization, population growth, increased government spending and increased regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local levels. In addition, various social trends, such as the increased focus on ESG practices and business models as
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well as ESG increasingly becoming a core mandate for fund managers, are leading to an increased global focus on decarbonization, climate change and a reduced carbon footprint.
Broad Universe of Targets. We intend to focus our investment efforts across our Focus Industries. We believe the anticipated growth in the industries and the related sectors will present a substantial number of actionable opportunities with the required scale that fit our acquisition criteria. According to the industry source Pitchbook, there were over 10,800 companies operating in the decarbonization industry alone as of June 2025.
High Barriers to Entry. Success in natural resources and decarbonization is driven by a myriad of global regulations, government spending and technological breakthroughs. We believe our management team’s experience in these industries over the past 25 years provides a significant amount of proprietary domain expertise and know-how in evaluating investment opportunities in a difficult-to-navigate industry. Further, our management team has spent considerable time navigating the complex regulatory environment inherent in the decarbonization industry, and its familiarity with the nuances of the regulatory aspect of the industry provides a differentiated competitive advantage.
Investment Approach
Upon completion of this offering, our management team plans to commence an extensive outreach program to its network and industry relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities. We intend to capitalize on the following competitive advantages in our pursuit of a target company:
Proactive and Proprietary Transaction Sourcing. We believe that our management team’s 100+ cumulative years of deal experience, history of building leading platforms, proactive approach to sourcing transactions, and extensive network of relationships will provide the potential to access numerous investment opportunities. We believe our management team’s deep industry expertise across our Focus Industries and throughout the capital structure makes a business combination with us an attractive option for companies seeking capital solutions.
Data Driven Analysis of Potential Opportunities. We believe that our management team has an established record of generating investment opportunities. Within targeted subsectors, we expect to employ an initial review of the entire value chain to determine the best risk / reward profiles of the subsector. In addition, we expect to analyze current trends, develop investment theses and create strategies for originating and evaluating investment opportunities. This research-oriented, data-intensive process will allow us to proactively identify trends, find opportunities and execute transactions ahead of potential competitors.
Execution and Structuring Capability. We believe that our management team’s transaction experience and reputation allow it to source and complete transactions requiring complex problem-solving skills and insight. Our management team has helped create several multi-billion dollar public and private companies that required these skills and deep industry insights. These types of transactions are typically complex and require creativity, industry knowledge and expertise, rigorous due diligence and extensive negotiation and documentation. Our management team has experience investing in many of our Focus Industries and has developed operational expertise at companies at varying stages of their life cycles. We plan to utilize this experience to help us generate investment opportunities with attractive risk / reward profiles based on their valuations, structural characteristics and relatively low levels of financial leverage.
Significant Value-Add Capability. We believe the industry expertise and broad network of relationships of our management team will allow it to add significant value and therefore be a key selling point to attract high caliber acquisition targets. We plan to market our management team to potential target companies in a number of capacities, including: (i) assisting in setting strategic direction and priorities; (ii) designing specific performance-improvement projects; (iii) helping to identify and recruit managers; (iv) advising on acquisition and financing transactions; (v) contributing market information; (vi) positioning the company products and services with customers and various stakeholders; and (vii) developing a targeted investor relations program. Furthermore, our management team is also experienced in navigating complex regulatory issues that impact many companies that are part of certain subsectors within our Focus Industries. Our management team believes that its ability to identify and implement value creation initiatives has been an essential driver of past performance and will remain central to our acquisition strategy.
Broad and Extensive Experience in Both Public and Private Markets. Our management team has decades of combined operating, investing and financing experience across both public and private markets. We have created some of the leading natural resources and
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decarbonization companies both in the public and private sector with significant revenue growth in target industries. We believe that this versatility of experience and complementary skills will help us to identify companies that could make successful public market candidates and prepare them to make the transition into robust, publicly traded companies.
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses and, in evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.
| ● | Natural Resources and Decarbonization Focus. We intend to focus on natural resources and decarbonization businesses that are positioned to benefit from macroeconomic and social trends impacting the economy. |
| ● | Established Businesses and Recognized Market Leaders. We expect to target businesses that are market leaders in their respective subsectors within our Focus Industries, and may be better positioned to endure economic downturns, changes in the industry landscape and evolving customer, supplier and competitor preferences. |
| ● | Benefit from Being a Public Company. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and can effectively utilize broader access to capital and the public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company. |
| ● | Experienced Management Team. We will seek to partner with an experienced target team that can benefit from the distinct investment, advisory, operational experience, and contacts of our management team in our Focus Industries. |
| ● | Attractive Financial Profile. We will seek to acquire a business that has strong recurring revenues, a margin profile with high steady-state margins or high incremental margins, and / or compelling long-term growth prospects. |
| ● | Leader in Technology Driven Transformation. We will seek to acquire a business or entity with a technological advantage that provides a high barrier to entry for new entrants, a defensible position in intellectual property and presents a low or manageable risk of technological obsolescence. |
| ● | Middle Market Businesses. We believe targeting businesses or entities in the middle market will provide the greatest number of opportunities for investment and will maximize the network, contacts and experience of our management team. It may also provide the optimal platform for further consolidation. |
| ● | Strong Free Cash Flow Generation or Near-Term Potential. We will seek to acquire a business or entity that already generates, or has the potential to generate, consistent and stable free cash flow. |
| ● | We plan to utilize our management team’s extensive network of contacts, which provides access to differentiated deal flow and significant deal-sourcing capabilities and to use these criteria and guidelines to evaluate acquisition opportunities. However, we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that from time to time 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, 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 or tender offer materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our ability to identify and evaluate a target may be impacted by significant competition among other SPACs in pursuing business combination transaction candidates and significant competition may impact the attractiveness of the acquisition terms that we will be able to negotiate.
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Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information about the target and its industry which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds available for us to use to complete another business combination.
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 private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, other securities issuances, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, which requires the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by such shareholders as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at the applicable general meeting of the company. 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.
We have until the date that is 24 months from the closing of this offering, or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, to consummate our initial business combination. If we anticipate that we may be unable to consummate our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we may seek shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we must consummate our initial business combination. If we seek shareholder approval for an extension, holders of public shares will be offered an opportunity to redeem their shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned thereon (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law. Our initial shareholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering unless we extend the amount of time we have to consummate an initial business combination by obtaining shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. While we do not currently intend to seek such shareholder approval, we may elect to do so in the future. There is no limit on the number of extensions that we may seek. If we do not or are unable to extend the time period to consummate our initial business combination, our sponsor’s investment in our founder shares and our private placement securities may be worthless.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, 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 earned thereon (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding
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public shares, subject to applicable law. We expect the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.00 per public share (regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option), without taking into account any interest or other income earned on such funds. However, we cannot assure you that we will in fact be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors, which may take priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, while we do not currently intend to seek shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination, we may elect to do so in the future. There is no limit on the number of extensions that we may seek; however, we do not expect to extend the time period to consummate our initial business combination beyond 36 months from the closing of this offering. If we seek shareholder approval to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination there is no predetermined or set duration for the amount of time we may seek under each vote, nor are there any conditions to the potential extensions, such as the payment of additional funds into the trust account by our Sponsor. If we determine not to or are unable to extend the time period to consummate our initial business combination or fail to obtain shareholder approval to extend the completion window, our sponsor’s investment in our founder shares and our private placement warrants may be worthless.
The Nasdaq listing 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 assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. In the event that we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors (or their respective affiliates or related entities), we, or a committee of independent directors, 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. In addition, pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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 (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. 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% fair market value test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the 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% fair market value test.
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 respective affiliates, completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, stating that the consideration to be paid by us in 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.
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Members of our management team and our independent directors will 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. The low price that our sponsor, executive officers and directors (directly or indirectly) paid for the founder shares creates an incentive whereby our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we select an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public shareholders. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination and do not hold a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or by such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, the founder shares and private placement warrants may expire worthless, except to the extent they receive liquidating distributions from assets outside the trust account, which could create an incentive for our sponsor, executive officers and directors to complete a transaction even if we select an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public shareholders. 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 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 an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer, among other persons, 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 (a) may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other or (b) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to any other entity. As a result, the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors could materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (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.
Potential Additional Financings
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. If we raise additional funds through equity or convertible debt issuances, our public shareholders may suffer significant dilution and these securities could have rights that rank senior to our public shares. If we raise additional funds through the incurrence of indebtedness, such indebtedness would have rights that are senior to our equity securities and could contain covenants that restrict our operations. Further, as described above, due to the anti-dilution rights of our founder shares, our public shareholders may incur material dilution. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on
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our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity- linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
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, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their capital stock, shares or other equity securities in the target business for our shares or for a combination of our shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with 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 $1.235 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 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 equaled or 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 from this offering and the sale of the private placement securities initially in the amount of $144,000,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $6,000,000 in the aggregate of deferred underwriting fees (or $165,600,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
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Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations 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, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemptions of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post- transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any business combination target 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.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq listing 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 assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters’ fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% fair market value 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% fair market value test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
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In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information, which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
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.
Under Nasdaq listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| ● | we issue Class A ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of Class A ordinary shares then outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
| ● | any of our directors, officers or substantial security holders (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 |
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| otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares (or securities convertible into or exercisable for ordinary shares) could result in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or |
| ● | 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.
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
| ● | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
| ● | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
| ● | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
| ● | other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
| ● | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
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 affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. 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 affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. In the event our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates determine to undertake any such transactions, such transactions could have the effect of influencing the vote necessary to approve such transaction. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions. They will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such 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. In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold and any shares purchased during this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Any shares purchased from public shareholders by the initial shareholders or their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving a business combination transaction. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, 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 certain trades 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 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
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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 such transaction could be to (1) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such public warrants on any matters submitted to the public warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (2) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. To the extent such securities are purchased, such public securities will be not be voted as required by Tender Offers and Schedules Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Question 166.01 promulgated by the SEC.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their 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 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 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 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 affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of ordinary shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
In the event our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates were to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:
| ● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
| ● | if our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates were to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through our redemption process; |
| ● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would include a representation that any of our securities purchased by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction; |
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| ● | our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to our securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and |
| ● | we would disclose in a Form 8-K, before our security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items: |
| ● | the amount of our securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
| ● | the purpose of the purchases by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates; |
| ● | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
| ● | the identities of our security holders who sold to our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of our security holders (e.g., 5% security holders) who sold to our Sponsor, directors, officers and/or any of their respective affiliates; and |
| ● | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
See “Risk Factors — If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may increase the likelihood of closing our initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.”
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders Upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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 permitted withdrawals), 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 $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its public shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our public warrants. 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.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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.
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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 the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than we are permitted to redeem, as 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:
| ● | 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 draft 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.
Our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our board of directors, and a majority of our independent directors. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders 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 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. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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 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.
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Redemptions of our public shares may be subject to a 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, 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, 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 agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve 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 initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a 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 draft 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.
In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many 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
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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 business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our Sponsor, our directors and officers have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve to complete our initial business combination, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such 24-month period, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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), subject to applicable law; 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 public warrants, which may expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period.
Our initial shareholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. However, if our initial shareholders 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 24-month time period.
Our Sponsor, our directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to a written 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, in each case 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
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cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares.
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 $625,000 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 for working capital purposes, permitted withdrawals or 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 securities, 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 $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public 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 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 in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. 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 registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, 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 other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, 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 their respective indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce their
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respective indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our Sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our Sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to an estimated $2,600,000 from the proceeds of this offering, and the sale of the private placement securities, 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 $700,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $700,000, 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 or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency 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 $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency 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 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, 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.
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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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law 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:
| ● | prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination at a 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 permitted withdrawals), 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 permitted withdrawals), in each case subject to the limitations described herein; |
| ● | our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our board of directors, and a majority of our independent directors; |
| ● | if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company; |
| ● | if our initial business combination is not consummated within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and |
| ● | 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 shareholders 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; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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.
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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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law.
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| Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination |
| Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates |
| Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination |
Calculation of redemption price | | Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a 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 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 $10.00 per share), including interest (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), 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 any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their 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 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. | | If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. |
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Impact to remaining shareholders | | 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. |
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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 |
| Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Escrow of offering proceeds | | Nasdaq listing rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering be deposited in a trust account. $150,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering will be deposited into a U.S.- based trust account maintained by [•] acting as trustee. | | Approximately $126,900,000 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 | | $150,000,000 of the net offering proceeds held in trust will be invested or held only in (i) 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, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 24 months from the closing of this offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. | | 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 | | 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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| Terms of Our Offering |
| Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business | | Nasdaq listing 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 assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters’ fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account). | | 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 | | The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and public warrants 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 CCM, the representative of the underwriters, informs 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. | | No trading of the units or the underlying ordinary shares and public warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. |
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Exercise of the warrants | | 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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| Terms of Our Offering |
| Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Election to remain an investor | | We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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 permitted withdrawals, 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 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 draft 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. Our initial business combination must be approved by each a majority of our board of directors, and a majority of our independent directors. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders 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. | | 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 escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. |
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| Terms of Our Offering |
| Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Business combination deadline | | If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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. | | 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 |
| Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Release of funds | | Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us for permitted withdrawals, 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 to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, or 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, subject to applicable law. | | 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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Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote on 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 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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| Terms of Our Offering |
| Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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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 initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. 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 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 initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. | | 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. |
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, 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 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.
Conflicts of Interest
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, 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 law and any other applicable fiduciary duties. 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
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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. For more information, see the section entitled “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”
In addition, members of our management team, our board of directors and advisors will directly or indirectly own founder shares following this offering, as set forth in “Principal Shareholders,” 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 directors and officers presently have, 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. For example, Christopher Sorrells, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, also serves in those same positions with Spring Valley II and Jeff Schramm, our Chief Financial Officer, also serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the sponsor of Spring Valley II. 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, or in the case of a non-compete restriction, may not present such opportunity to us at all, 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, based on the other companies with which our directors and officers are affiliated and their respective businesses, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to 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 registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, 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 respective 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 2100 McKinney Avenue, Suite 1675, Dallas, TX 75201. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two officers and do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A ordinary shares and public 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
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Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.
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. 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, 2026 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 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 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 $1.235 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 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 equaled or 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 capacities as such.
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MANAGEMENT
Directors, Director Nominees and Officers
Name |
| Age |
| Title |
|
Christopher Sorrells | | 56 | | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | |
Jeff Schramm | | 55 | | Chief Financial Officer | |
Robert Kaplan | | 52 | | Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development | |
David Buzby | | 65 | | Independent Director Nominee | |
Debora Frodl | | 59 | | Independent Director Nominee | |
Richard Thompson | | 76 | | Independent Director Nominee | |
Our directors, director nominees and officers are as follows:
Christopher Sorrells has served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since our inception.
Mr. Sorrells has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spring Valley II since its inception in January 2021. Mr. Sorrells served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Spring Valley I from its inception in November 2020 until the closing of the Nuscale merger in May 2022 at which time Mr. Sorrells began serving as a member of the board of directors of the post-closing company, Nuscale Power Corporation, until May 2024. Mr. Sorrells has been an investor, operator, advisor, and board member in the Natural Resources and Decarbonization industries for over 30 years. Mr. Sorrells served as Lead Director and Chairman of the compensation committee for Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGI) until the completion of its merger with Chevron Corporation for $3.1 billion in June 2022, having previously served as Vice Chairman of its board and led the $100 million financing in 2006 to create the company, ultimately witnessing revenues increase from approximately $85 million in 2008 to over $3.0 billion in 2021, via organic growth and an aggressive acquisition strategy. In addition, the stock price for REGI appreciated significantly following its initial public offering in January 2012 of $10 per share to the $61.50 acquisition price paid by Chevron. Previously, Mr. Sorrells served as a Managing Director and then as an Operating Partner of NGP Energy Technology Partners (“NGP ETP”), an affiliate of Natural Gas Partners (“NGP”), a leading energy private equity fund with $25 billion of capital commitments, which he helped grow into one of the most successful Decarbonization-focused private equity funds. Mr. Sorrells and/or his former firms including NGP ETP have invested in over 30 Natural Resource and Decarbonization platforms in a broad range of companies across those industries, including Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGI), Power- One, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: PWER), Caminus Corporation (formerly Nasdaq: CAMZ), Waste Resource Management, Inc. (sold to Ridgewood Infrastructure), TPI Composites, Inc. (Nasdaq: TPIC) and others. In addition to leading investments, Mr. Sorrells has held a number of board positions for numerous public and private firms, including ENGlobal Corporation, groSolar (which was later sold to EDF Renewables Inc.), Community Energy (which was later sold to AES Corporation), GSE Systems, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: GVP before being sold to Pelican Energy Partners) and Living Earth (which was later sold to Bain Capital Double Impact). As an operator, Mr. Sorrells has held a variety of senior executive leadership roles at Natural Resource and Decarbonization-focused companies including serving as Chief Operating Officer and Director of GSE Systems, Inc. Mr. Sorrells started his career in the energy, power and decarbonization industries as an investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney in 1996 and later at Banc of America Securities LLC where he created one of the first decarbonization-focused investment banking teams in 2000. Mr. Sorrells received his Master of Accounting from the University of Southern California, an M.B.A. from The College of William and Mary and a B.A. from Washington and Lee University. We believe Mr. Sorrells’ significant experience in the Sustainability industry in both private and public companies makes him well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
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and Water Treatment specialty chemical businesses. During his time at Kemira he was a key member of the acquisition team acquiring the Pulp & Paper chemicals business from Lanxess (LXS.DE) and the Pulp & Paper business from FinnChem USA. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Schramm began his career at Milliken & Company in various roles starting in Accounting, Controllership and later served as Financial Planning & Analysis Manager in Procurement where he helped significantly reduce raw material cost. Mr. Schramm earned a B.S. in Corporate Finance and Investment Management from the University of Alabama, and an M.B.A from LaGrange College.
David Buzby will serve on our board of directors upon the closing of this offering. Mr. Buzby has over 30 years of business experience in sustainability, renewable energy, and technology, including forming several billion-dollar public companies in the Sustainability industry as well as raising over $1 billion of co-investment from institutional investors over a period of 30 years. Currently, Mr. Buzby is Chairman of the board of directors of Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM), a leading energy storage/grid services company in North America, where he has served since 2010. He also currently serves as the Chairman of Wondrwall Holdco Ltd., a UK-based provider of software to integrate the hardware and grid systems needed to electrify and decarbonize the home. He has also served on the board of directors of Spring Valley II since the completion of its initial public offering in October 2022. In addition, he was an early investor and board member in Sunrun Inc. (Nasdaq: RUN) from 2008 through 2012, helping lead the company to complete its initial public offering in 2015. Mr. Buzby was also a founding investor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, of SunEdison (Nasdaq: SUNE) helping create one of North America’s leading solar developers before selling the company to MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) in 2009. Mr. Buzby was also a founding investor and board member and chair of the audit committee of ValueClick (NASD: VCLK) which conducted its initial public offering in 2000 and subsequently later sold to Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS) in 2014. Mr. Buzby has held other board seats of both public and private companies and held various senior executive roles in numerous companies, including Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Buzby received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Middlebury College. We believe Mr. Buzby’s significant experience in the Sustainability industry in both private and public companies makes him well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Deborah Frodl will serve on our board of directors upon the closing of this offering. Ms. Frodl has over 38 years of international business experience. Mr. Frodl was a senior executive with General Electric Company. From 2012 to 2017, Ms. Frodl served as the Global Executive Director of Ecomagination. Ms. Frodl repositioned this sustainable technology strategy into one of multi-faceted innovation and expansive global growth. From 2010 to 2012, Ms. Frodl served as GE’s Chief Strategy Officer and Global Alternative Fuels Leader where she pioneered the business strategy to decarbonize the commercial fleet industry through alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure technologies. From 2005 to 2010, Ms. Frodl served as Chief Commercial Officer of GE Capital Fleet Services, from 2004 to 2005, as Chief Marketing Officer of GE Capital Commercial Equipment Finance and from 2002 to 2004, as Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital Dealer Finance. From 1999 to 2004, Ms. Frodl served as Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital Public Finance. Currently Ms. Frodl serves on the board of directors for ITC Holdings Corp., and is an operating partner for Greenbelt Capital Partners. She has also served on the board of directors for Renewable Energy Group, Inc., Spring Valley Acquisition Corporation, and Spruce Power Holdings Corporation where she was Chair of the Board. In 2024, she was recognized by Board Prospects as a “100 Women Leaders in the Boardroom”, in 2023 by Twin Cities Business as an “Outstanding Director” and in 2019 by Directors & Boards as a “Director to Watch”. Ms. Frodl has been recognized by Green Building & Design as 2017 “Woman in Sustainability Leadership,” Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment as 2014 “Woman of the Year,” Connected World Magazine as 2013 “Top Women in M2M.” She holds an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and BSBA from Minnesota State University. We
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believe Ms. Frodl’s significant experience in the Sustainability industry in several public company roles makes her well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Number, Terms of Office and Appointment of Directors and Officers
Our board of directors will consist of [five] members. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote to appoint all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted to Class A ordinary shares prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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. Each of our directors will hold office for a three-year term. 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).
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
Nasdaq listing standards 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 other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We have three “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of David Buzby, Deborah Frodl and Richard Thompson is an independent director under applicable SEC rules and the Nasdaq listing standards.
Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
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Officer and Director Compensation
None of our directors or officers has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. In [·], 2025, each of our independent director nominees purchased 40,000 founder shares from us, in each case for a purchase price of approximately $0.004 per share. 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.
We are not prohibited from paying any fees (including advisory fees), reimbursements or cash payments to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, including the following payments, all of which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from funds held outside the trust account:
| ● | repayment of an aggregate of up to $250,000 in loans made to us by our Sponsor to cover offering- related and organizational expenses; |
| ● | reimbursement for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us by an affiliate of our sponsor, in an amount equal to $20,000 per month; |
| ● | payment of consulting, success or finder fees to our sponsor or a member of our management team, or their respective affiliates in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination |
| ● | we may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such person or entity a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions; |
| ● | 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 any of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.90 per unit at the option of the lender. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
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. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers after the completion of our initial business combination will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors.
We are not party to any agreements with our directors and officers that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules we will establish three standing committees — an audit committee in compliance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act, a compensation committee and a nominating committee, each comprised of independent directors. Under Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1), a company listing in connection with its initial public offering is permitted to phase in
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its compliance with the independent committee requirements. We do not intend to rely on the phase-in schedules set forth in Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1).
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 are expected to be David Buzby, Deborah Frodl and Richard Thompson. [·] is expected to serve as chairman of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Allan Chou 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:
| ● | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; |
| ● | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| ● | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
| ● | reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the independent registered public accounting firm has with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
| ● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| ● | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| ● | obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
| ● | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations;” |
| ● | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
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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 David Buzby, Deborah Frodl and Richard Thompson. [·] 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:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
| ● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
| ● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| ● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| ● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| ● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
| ● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| ● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter 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 and Corporate Governance Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be David Buzby, Deborah Frodl and Richard Thompson. [·] will serve as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. We will adopt a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which will detail the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
| ● | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
| ● | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
| ● | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of Inc company; and |
| ● | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
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The charter will also provide that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our 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.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Clawback Policy
We will adopt a compensation recovery policy that is compliant with Nasdaq listing rules as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.
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. You will be able to review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of our Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. 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 in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC or on our website, if we establish one, and keep such information on the website for at least 12 months. 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:
| ● | 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; |
| ● | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| ● | duty to not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| ● | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| ● | 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 |
| ● | 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
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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.
In addition, members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares following this offering, as set forth in “Principal Shareholders,” 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.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, directors, or officers or advisors, or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with either of 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 that is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
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.
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, 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 third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law and any other applicable fiduciary duties.
Our directors and officers presently have, 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, or in the case of a non- compete restriction, may not present such opportunity to us at all, 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.”
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
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director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, based on the other companies with which our directors and officers are affiliated and their respective businesses, and assuming that Spring Valley II is able to successfully complete its business combination, 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.
Potential investors should also be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:
| ● | 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. |
| ● | 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 and Officers.” |
| ● | Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed 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. Additionally, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. However, if our initial shareholders (or any of our directors, officers or affiliates) acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial shareholders 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30- trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Since our directors and officers may directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and warrants and will directly or indirectly own founder shares following this offering, our directors and officers 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 directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | Our Sponsor and members of our management team will directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering, and accordingly, 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. Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor will have invested in us an aggregate of approximately $4,824,478 (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), comprised of the approximately $24,748 purchase price for its 5,630,000 founder shares (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture), or approximately $0.004 per share, and the $4,800,000 purchase price for the private placement warrants, or $0.90 per units. Each of our officers owns interest in our sponsor. In addition, each of our three independent directors will have invested in us approximately $174 for 40,000 founder shares (or approximately $0.004 per share). Accordingly, our management team may be more willing to pursue a business combination with a riskier 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. |
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| ● | In the event our Sponsor or members of our management team provide loans to us to finance transaction costs, or out-of-pocket reimbursement of expenses, in connection with an intended initial business combination and/or incur expenses on our behalf in connection with an initial business combination, 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 as such loans may not be repaid and/or such expenses may not be reimbursed unless we consummate such business combination. |
| ● | We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, directors or members of our management team; accordingly, such affiliated person(s) 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 as such affiliated person(s) would have interests different from our public shareholders and would likely not receive any financial benefit unless we consummated such business combination. |
| ● | We may engage our Sponsor, or one or more affiliates as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions. In the event our Sponsor, or one or more affiliates provides any such services after this offering, such person(s) would have a conflict of interest if a portion of its compensation from this offering is dependent on completion of 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 similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our directors and officers and certain of our affiliates currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:
Individual |
| Entity |
| Entity’s Business |
| Affiliation |
Christopher Sorrells | | Spring Valley II | | SPAC | | Chairman and CEO |
Robert Kaplan | | Spring Valley II | | SPAC | | Chief Financial Officer |
David Buzby | | Spring Valley II | | SPAC | | Director |
| | Stem, Inc. | | Energy storage/grid services | | Chairman |
| | | | | | |
| | Wondrwall Holdco Ltd. | | Software | | Chairman |
Deborah Frodl | | ITC Holdings Corp. | | Energy | | Director |
| | Greenbelt Capital Partners | | Private equity investments | | Operating Partner |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, directors, officers or advisors, or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with either of 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 that is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. In addition, pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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, 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. Any shares purchased from public shareholders by the initial shareholders directors and officers or their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving a business combination transaction. Additionally, in the event our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase shares from public shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. See “Permitted purchases of our securities by our affiliates” for more information.
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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 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.
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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:
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 (i) the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares, and (ii) there are 20,000,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.
|
| Before Offering |
| After Offering |
| ||||
| | | | Approximate | | | | Approximate |
|
| | Number of | | Percentage of | | Number of | | Percentage of |
|
| | Shares | | Outstanding | | Shares | | Outstanding |
|
| | Beneficially | | Ordinary | | Beneficially | | Ordinary |
|
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) |
| Owned(2) |
| Shares |
| Owned |
| Shares |
|
Spring Valley Acquisition III Sponsor, LLC(3) |
| 5,630,000 |
| | % | 4,880,000 |
| 24.4 | % |
Christopher Sorrells(3) |
| 5,630,000 |
| | % | 4,880,000 |
| 24.4 | % |
Jeff Schramm(4) |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| — | |
David Buzby |
| 40,000 |
| * |
| 40,000 |
| * | |
Debora Frodl |
| 40,000 |
| * |
| 40,000 |
| * | |
Richard Thompson |
| 40,000 |
| * |
| 40,000 |
| * | |
All directors and officers as a group (5 individuals) |
| 5,750,000 |
| 100 | % | 5,000,000 | (5) | 25.0 | % |
*Less than one percent.
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, 2100 McKinney Ave., Suite 1675, Dallas, Texas 75201. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such 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.” |
| (3) | Christopher Sorrells, our |
| (4) | Mr. Schramm has an |
| (5) | Represents 5,000,000 founder shares directly held by our initial shareholders, excluding up to 750,000 founder shares that will be forfeited depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. |
Immediately after this offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 25% of the then issued and outstanding ordinary shares (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, and also assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering) and will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business
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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 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 to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 25% of our issued and ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants and also assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering).
Our Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants or (5,583,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $4,800,000 (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The underwriters have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $1,500,000 (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The private placement warrants are identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, the private placement warrants may expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below. In addition, the private placement warrants to be purchased by the underwriters and/or their permitted designees, are deemed underwriters’ compensation by FINRA and are subject to limitations in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the units being sold in this offering.
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.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreement with us to be entered into by our initial shareholders, 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public 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 Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) (i) our Sponsor’s members, (ii) the directors or officers of the Company, our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, or the underwriters, (iii) any affiliates or family members of the directors or officers of the Company, our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, or the underwriters, (iv) any members or partners of our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, the underwriters or their respective affiliates, or any affiliates of our Sponsor, our Sponsor’s members, the underwriters or any employees of such affiliates, (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, 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 permissible beneficiaries of such trust; (f) by private sales or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (g) to us for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; (h) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; (i) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands, by virtue of our Sponsor’s memorandum and articles of association or other constitutional, organizational or formational documents, as amended, upon dissolution of our Sponsor, or by virtue of the constitutional, organization or formational documents of a subsidiary of our Sponsor that holds the relevant securities, upon liquidation or dissolution of such
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subsidiary, or the organizational documents of the underwriters upon dissolution of the underwriters; or (j) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, 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 (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.
Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e), the private placement warrants purchased by the underwriters and/or their permitted designees may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated or the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of this offering except to any member participating in the offering and the officers or partners, registered persons or affiliates thereof or as otherwise permitted by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). In addition, for as long as the private placement warrants re held by the underwriters and/or their permitted designees, they may not be exercised after five years from the commencement of sales of this offering.
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of this offering, (ii) private placement warrants, which will be issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering, and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants, and (iii) warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, and the Class A ordinary shares underlying any such private placement warrants, 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. 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 “piggyback” 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 “— Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” Notwithstanding the foregoing, the underwriters and/or their designees may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights more than five and seven years, respectively, after the commencement of sales of this offering and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion. 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
On March 28, 2025, our Sponsor and our independent directors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 25% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private warrants).
Up to 750,000 of the founder shares are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will collectively beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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 25% of our issued and ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants).
Our Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants or (5,583,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $4,800,000 (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
In addition, the underwriters have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $1,500,000 (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in this offering except that private placement warrants (including the underlying Class A ordinary shares) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and will be entitled to registration rights. A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, the private placement warrants (and the underlying Class A ordinary shares) may expire worthless.
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.
Members of our management team, our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, as set forth in “Principal Shareholders,” 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.
We will reimburse our sponsor (or an affiliate thereof) in an amount equal to $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us. 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 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.
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Prior to the closing of this offering, our Sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $250,000 under an unsecured promissory note, dated March 28, 2025. This promissory note is expected to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2025 and the closing of this offering. The loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $700,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. As of May 21, 2025, there was $10,420 outstanding under such promissory note.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates 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 $0.90 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. 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.
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 will enter 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 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 or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. In addition, pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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We are not prohibited from paying any fees (including advisory fees), reimbursements or cash payments to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, including the following payments, all of which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from funds held outside the trust account:
| ● | repayment of an aggregate of up to $250,000 in loans made to us by our Sponsor to cover offering- related and organizational expenses; |
| ● | reimbursement for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us by our sponsor or an affiliate, in an amount equal to $20,000 per month; |
| ● | engagement of our Sponsor, or one or more affiliates of our Sponsor, as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such persons or entities a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions; |
| ● | 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 any of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.90 per unit 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 securities not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
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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 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, and 1,000,000 undesignated preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes the material terms of our share capital 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.
Public Units
Each public unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable public warrant. Each whole public 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 public warrant holder may exercise its public warrants only for a whole number of the company’s Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole public warrant may be exercised at any given time by a public warrant holder.
The Class A ordinary shares and public warrants comprising the public units are expected 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 CCM, the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its 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 public 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 public 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 public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole public warrant.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and public 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 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 20,000,000 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 the holders thereof), comprising:
| ● | 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units being offered in this offering; and |
| ● | 5,000,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees. |
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 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants).
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, and holders of our Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business
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combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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. The members of our board of directors will each generally serve a term of three 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. 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; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. 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 at least 90% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 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, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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 permitted withdrawals), 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 $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial 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 with respect to their founder shares.
Unlike many 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
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companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Our initial business combination must be approved by each of a majority of our board of directors, and a majority of our independent directors. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. However, the participation of our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their 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, 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 without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares”. 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 our initial 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, our initial shareholders 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 in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 5,000,001 additional shares, or 33.3% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or only two additional shares (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 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. 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.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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), subject to applicable law, 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 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 their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law.
However, if our initial shareholders, directors 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.
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If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 24-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 24 months. Any amendment of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning that such an amendment must be approved by holders of at least two-thirds of the holders of our ordinary shares who attend and vote (whether in person or by proxy) at a general meeting of the company. If we seek shareholder approval to extend the initial 24-month period in which to complete an initial business combination to a later date, we will offer our public shareholders the right to have their public ordinary shares redeemed for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, as described in greater detail in this prospectus.
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, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, 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 permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, 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; provided, however, that if all of the founder shares are converted prior to the date of the initial business combination, the holders of our public shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors; (2) founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; (3) our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law (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, 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 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.
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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary
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shares for cash, securities or other property. For more information on the exceptions, see “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.”
Except in certain limited circumstances, no member of our Sponsor may transfer all or any portion of its membership interests in our Sponsor. For more information, see “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.”
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there shall be entered therein:
| ● | 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; |
| ● | whether voting rights are attached to the share in issue; |
| ● | the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and |
| ● | 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 person who has agreed to become a member and who is registered in the register of members is deemed, as a matter of Cayman Islands law, to be a member. Furthermore, under the Companies Act, the registration of any person in the register of members as holder of any shares is prima face evidence of such person having 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 1,000,000 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.
Warrants
Public Warrants
Each whole public 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 public warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole public warrant may be exercised at a given time by a public warrant holder. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or
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trade a whole public warrant. The public warrants will expire seven 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 public warrant and will have no obligation to settle such public warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available, including in connection with a cashless exercise permitted as described. Except as described below, no public 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 public 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 public warrant, the holder of such public warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such public warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised public warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such public 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 a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants does not become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, holders of public warrants will have the right, during any period thereafter when there is no such effective registration statement, to exercise the public warrants on a cashless basis. Additionally, if, at the time that a public warrant is exercised, if our Class A ordinary shares are 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 event of a cashless exercise pursuant to the preceding paragraph, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the public 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 “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. 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 public warrants. Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the public warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at a price of $0.01 per public warrant; |
| ● | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each public warrant holder; and |
| ● | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments”) 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 public warrant holders. |
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We will not redeem the public 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 public warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period or we have elected to require the exercise of the public warrants on a cashless basis as described below. If and when the public 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 warrants even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
If we call the warrants for redemption as described in this paragraph, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant following the notice of redemption to do so on a cashless basis. In the case of such a cashless exercise, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the public 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 “fair market value” less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. 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 redemption is sent to the holders of the public warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of Class A ordinary shares to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case.
We have established the $18.00 per share (as adjusted) redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the public warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each public warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its public 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 to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a public warrant as described under the heading “— Anti-dilution Adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 public warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption procedures and cashless exercise.
A holder of a public 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 public warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) 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 public warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares. A rights offering made to 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 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 public warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay to 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 public 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 per share (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
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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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (C) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the public 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 subdivision 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 public 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 public warrants is adjusted, as described above, the public warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the public 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 public 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 either of 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 public 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 prices described above under “— Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “— Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
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 public warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the public 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 public warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their public 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 public 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
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(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 public warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the public 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 public warrant.
The public warrants will be issued in registered form under the warrant agreement between [·], as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that (a) the terms of the public 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 public warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision (ii) removing or reducing the Company’s ability to redeem the public warrants or (iii) 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 public warrants under the warrant agreement in any material respect, (b) the terms of the warrants may be amended with the vote or written consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to allow for the warrants to be, or continue to be, as applicable, classified as equity in our financial statements and (c) all other modifications or amendments to our warrant agreement with respect to (i) the public warrants require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants, and (ii) the private placement warrants require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be 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 warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The public warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their public warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the public 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 public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade.
We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement 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 we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Securities — 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.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Private Placement Warrants
With certain limited exceptions, 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 and they will not be redeemable by us. For more information on the exceptions, see “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” Except in certain limited circumstances, no member of our Sponsor may
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transfer all or any portion of its membership interests in our Sponsor. For more information, see “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.”
Sponsor, its permitted transferees, and the underwriters have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis and have certain registration rights described herein. In addition, with respect to private placement warrants held by the underwriters and/or their respective designees, such private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8) and the underwriters may not exercise their single demand and unlimited “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years after the commencement of sales of this offering. 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 holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the 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 “historical fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, the “historical 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 the private placement warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis is because it is not known at this time whether the holders 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 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 public 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 the private placement warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
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 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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 [·]. We have agreed to indemnify [·] 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 662∕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 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; (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 must (and any dissenting shareholder may) file a petition with the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands 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
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company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not 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 and 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. In the Cayman Islands, these are commonly referred to as a “scheme of arrangement”, which may be tantamount to a merger. The procedures of a scheme of arrangement are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States. For a shareholder scheme, the arrangement in question must be approved by each class of shareholders with whom the arrangement is to be made who represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, and for a creditor scheme, the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of creditors, in each case, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a 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; |
| ● | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
| ● | the arrangement is such as a business-person would reasonably approve; and |
| ● | 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. Mourant Ozannes (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 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 |
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| ● | 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.
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:
| ● | an exempted company does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies; |
| ● | an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection; |
| ● | an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting; |
| ● | an exempted company may issue shares with no par value; |
| ● | 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); |
| ● | an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
| ● | an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and |
| ● | an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
As used above, “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).
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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 who attend and vote 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) (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.
Our initial shareholders, who collectively will beneficially own 25% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, and also 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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, or 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 that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm 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; |
| ● | 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 assets held in trust (excluding any deferred underwriter fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account); |
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| ● | 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 24 months from the closing of this offering or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals) and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, 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. |
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 who attend and vote 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 “DPA”) based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
In this subsection, “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refers to Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III or our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
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 DPA (“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 of on an ongoing basis or to comply with legal and regulatory obligations
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to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPA, 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 DPA, 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 DPA or 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); 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.
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 US, 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 DPA.
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.
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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.
Economic Substance
The Cayman Islands, together with several other non-European Union jurisdictions, have introduced legislation aimed at addressing concerns raised by the Council of the European Union and the OECD as to offshore structures engaged in certain activities which attract profits without real economic activity. The International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act (As Revised) (the “Substance Act”) came into force in the Cayman Islands in January 2019, introducing certain economic substance requirements for in- scope Cayman Islands entities which are engaged in certain geographically mobile business activities (“relevant activities.”)
As we are a Cayman Islands exempted company, compliance obligations include filing annual notifications, in which need to state whether we are carrying out any relevant activities and if so, whether we have satisfied economic substance tests to the extent required under the Substance Act. It is anticipated that we will not be engaging in any “relevant activities” and will therefore not be required need to meet the economic substance requirements tests or will otherwise be subject to more limited substance requirements. However, as it is a relatively new regime, it is anticipated that the Substance Act will evolve and be subject to further clarification and amendments. Failure to satisfy applicable requirements may subject us to penalties under the Substance Act.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual general meetings.
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 20,000,000 (or 23,000,000 if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) ordinary shares issued and outstanding (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). Of these shares, the 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or 17,250,000 Class A ordinary 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 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. In addition, all of the outstanding private placement warrants (6,999,999 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised and 7,499,999 warrants if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) will be 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.
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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:
| ● | 1% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares then issued and outstanding, which will equal 200,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 230,000 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:
| ● | the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and |
| ● | at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
As a result, our initial shareholders will be able to sell their founder shares pursuant to Rule 144 without registration, one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration Rights
The holders of (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of this offering, (ii) private placement warrants which will be issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants, and (iii) any warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans 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 “piggyback” 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.” Notwithstanding the foregoing, the underwriters and/or their designees may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years after the commencement of sales of this offering and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
We have applied to list our Class A ordinary shares, units and public warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “SVAC,” “SVACU” and “SVACW,” 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 public warrants are eligible to trade separately, we
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anticipate that the Class A ordinary shares and public warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. The closing of this offering is contingent upon the successful listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq.
INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a discussion of Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations relevant to an investment in our units, ordinary shares and public 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 discussion does not deal with all possible tax consequences relating to an investment in our ordinary shares and public warrants, such as the tax consequences under state, local and other tax laws.
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 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, corporation or capital gains tax and no estate duty, inheritance tax or gift tax.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of the warrants. An instrument of transfer in respect of a warrant is stampable if it is executed in or brought into the Cayman Islands.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of our Class A ordinary shares or on an instrument of transfer in respect of our Class A ordinary shares.
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 received an undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (“Tax Concessions Act”), 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 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 any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Act.
Material U.S. Federal Income Taxation for U.S. Holders
General
The following is a discussion of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the ownership and disposition of our units (each consisting of one ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable public warrant) that are purchased in this offering by 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 public warrant components of the unit.
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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 the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). This discussion assumes that the ordinary shares and public 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 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, nor does it consider all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to the ownership and disposition of a unit or its components by a prospective investor in light of its particular circumstances, including:
| ● | financial institutions or financial services entities; |
| ● | broker-dealers; |
| ● | taxpayers that are subject to the mark-to-market accounting rules; |
| ● | tax-exempt entities; |
| ● | governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof; |
| ● | insurance companies; |
| ● | regulated investment companies; |
| ● | real estate investment trusts; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | persons that acquired our securities pursuant to an exercise of employee share options, in connection with employee share incentive plans or otherwise as compensation or in connection with services; |
| ● | persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, constructive sale, hedging, conversion or other integrated or similar transaction; |
| ● | partnerships or other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities; or |
| ● | U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar. |
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 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 partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership, or other pass-through entity, for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner, member or other beneficial owner in such partnership or other pass-through entity will generally depend upon the status of the partner, member or other beneficial owner, the activities of the entity, and certain determinations made at the partner, member or other beneficial owner level. Partners, members or other beneficial owners of a partnership or other pass-through entity holding our securities are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our securities.
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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. Such provisions may be repealed, revoked, modified or subject to differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis, which could result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. Accordingly, 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.
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.
EACH PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR SECURITIES IS URGED TO CONSULT ITS TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO SUCH INVESTOR OF THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY U.S. FEDERAL NON-INCOME, STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-U.S. TAX LAWS.
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, and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable public 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 public 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 public 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 public warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the ordinary share and the public warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of the ordinary share and the public 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 public 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.
Taxation of Distributions
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, if we pay distributions to U.S. Holders, such distributions will generally constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of such earnings and profits will generally 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. In the event that we do not maintain calculations of our earnings and profits under U.S. federal income tax principles, a U.S. Holder should expect that all distributions will be reported as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Any distribution paid by us that constitutes a dividend will be taxable to a corporate U.S. Holder at regular rates and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to domestic corporations in respect of dividends received from other domestic corporations. With respect to non-corporate U.S. Holders, under tax laws currently in effect and subject to certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations) 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 and certain holding period and 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. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the ordinary shares
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described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements for this purpose. U.S. Holders should consult their 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 that has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. However, the 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 or through a decrease to the exercise price), including as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of our ordinary shares that 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 will generally recognize capital gain or loss. The amount of gain or loss recognized will generally 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 public 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 public warrants based upon the then fair market values of the ordinary shares and the public warrants included in the units) and (2) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its ordinary shares or public warrants so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its ordinary shares or warrants will generally 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 public warrant, respectively, 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 a public 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 prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements for this purpose. 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.
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 (in either case referred to herein as a “redemption”), 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) relative to all of our ordinary shares outstanding both before and after such redemption. The redemption of ordinary shares will generally 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
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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 the warrant. 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. Because, prior to our initial business combination, the ordinary shares may not be considered voting stock, it is unclear whether this test could be satisfied by a U.S. Holder. 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 is 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.
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 will generally not recognize gain or loss upon the exercise of a warrant. An ordinary share acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant for cash will generally have a tax basis equal to the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrant, increased by the amount paid to exercise 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 will generally 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. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, 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” within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(E) of the Code. In either tax-free situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the ordinary shares received would generally equal the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants. If a cashless exercise is 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 a cashless exercise is 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 will be treated as a taxable exchange. In such event, a portion of the warrants to be exercised on a cashless basis could, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, be deemed to have been surrendered in consideration for the exercise price of the remaining warrants, which would e deemed to be exercised. For this purpose, a U.S. Holder could be deemed to have surrendered warrants with an aggregate value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, the U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the exercise price for the total number of the warrants deemed exercised and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, 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 the warrant, as described above under “— Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price of such warrants. 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.
Because of 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.
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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 — 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 will generally 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.”
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 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 is uncertain and will not be known until after the close of our current taxable year and, possibly, after the close of our two subsequent taxable years. Depending upon the structure and domicile of a company we acquire in a business combination, it is possible that our taxable year may close at approximately the same time as the closing date, which would result in a short taxable year. 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 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 for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder held (or was deemed to hold) ordinary shares or a mark-to-market election, each as described below, such holder will generally be subject to special rules with respect to:
| ● | any gain recognized by the U.S. Holder on the sale or other disposition of its ordinary shares or warrants; and |
| ● | 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 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, such U.S. Holder’s holding period for the ordinary shares). |
Under these rules:
| ● | 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; |
| ● | 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 |
| ● | 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 with respect to our ordinary shares (but not our warrants) by making a timely QEF election (if eligible to do so) or QEF election with a purging election (as described below) 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 may generally 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 will generally 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 will generally 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. One type of purging election creates a deemed sale of such shares at their fair market value. Any gain recognized in this deemed sale 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 this election, the U.S. Holder will have additional basis (to the extent of any gain recognized on the deemed sale) and, solely for purposes of the PFIC rules, a new holding period in the ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the warrants. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors as to the application of the rules governing purging elections to their particular circumstances (including a potential separate “deemed dividend” purging election that may be available if we are a controlled foreign corporation).
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 (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 upon written request 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 will generally 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 should generally 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
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meet the test for PFIC status in those 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 us 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 will generally 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. 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. If made, a mark-to-market election would be effective for the taxable year for which the election was made and for all subsequent taxable years unless the ordinary shares cease to qualify as “marketable stock” for purposes of the PFIC rules or the IRS consented to the revocation of the election. U.S. Holders should consult their 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 would generally 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. Failure to do so, if required, will extend the statute of limitations until such required information is furnished to the IRS.
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. In addition, 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 comply with either of these reporting requirements and fail to do so may be subject to substantial penalties, and the period
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of limitations on assessment and collection of U.S. federal income taxes will be extended in the event of a failure to comply. 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
Payments with respect to our ordinary shares and proceeds from the sale, exchange, redemption or other taxable disposition of our ordinary shares or warrants may be subject to information reporting to the IRS and possible backup withholding. Backup withholding will not apply, however, to a U.S. Holder who furnishes a correct taxpayer identification number and makes other required certifications, or who is otherwise exempt from backup withholding and establishes such exempt status. U.S. Holders who are required to establish their exempt status may be required to provide such certification on IRS Form W-9.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Amounts withheld as backup withholding may be credited against a U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, and a U.S. Holder generally may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules by timely filing the appropriate claim for refund with the IRS and furnishing any required information. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the application of backup withholding and the availability of and procedure for obtaining an exemption from backup withholding in their particular circumstances.
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UNDERWRITING
CCM is acting as the lead book-running manager and representative of the underwriters of this offering. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus, each underwriter named below has severally agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to such underwriter, the number of units set forth opposite the underwriters’ name.
| | Number |
Underwriters |
| of Units |
Cohen & Company Capital Markets |
| [●] |
| | [●] |
Total |
| 15,000,000 |
The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units in this offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below.
We have granted to the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 2,250,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The option may be exercised only to cover any over-allotments of units.
The underwriters propose to offer the units initially at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selling group members at the price less a selling concession of $ per unit.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
| | Per Unit | | Total | ||||||||
| | Without |
| With |
| Without |
| With | ||||
|
| Over-allotment |
| Over-allotment |
| Over-allotment |
| Over-allotment | ||||
Underwriting Discounts and Commissions paid by us | | $ | 0.60 | | $ | 0.60 | | $ | 9,000,000 | | $ | 10,350,000 |
| (1) | Includes $0.20 per unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate (or up to $3,450,000 if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full), payable to the underwriters upon the closing of this offering, of which (i) $0.010 per unit will be paid to the underwriters in cash and (ii) $0.10 per unit will be used by the underwriters to purchase private placement warrants; and (b) up to $0.40 per unit, or up to $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or up to $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the overallotment option is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be deposited into a trust account located in the United States and released to the underwriters for their own account only upon the completion of an initial business combination, but such $0.40 per unit shall be due solely on amounts remaining in the trust account following all properly submitted shareholder redemptions in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. |
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window and subsequently liquidate, the trustee and the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account upon liquidation, and (ii) that the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals ), to the public shareholders.
We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $700,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain of their out-of-pocket costs for this offering up to an aggregate reimbursement allowance of $ , including, but not limited to, legal fees related to the review by FINRA.
The representative has informed us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.
Private Placement Warrants
The underwriters have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commissions to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, or $1,500,000 in the aggregate (or $1,750,000 in the aggregate if the
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underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants being sold in this offering except as described elsewhere in this prospectus. The private placement warrants and underlying Class A ordinary shares have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to lock-up, registration and termination restrictions. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e), the private placement warrants purchased by the underwriters and/or their permitted designees may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of this offering except to any member participating in this offering and the officers or partners, registered persons or affiliates thereof except as permitted by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). The underwriters and/or their permitted designees will have resale registration rights but may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights beyond five and seven years, respectively, after the commencement of sales of this offering and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion.
Lock-up
We, our Sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of CCM, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares, subject to certain exceptions. CCM in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice, other than in the case of the officers and directors, which shall be with notice. Our Sponsor, officers and directors are also subject to separate transfer restrictions on their founder shares and private placement warrants pursuant to the letter agreement described herein.
Our initial shareholders 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 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their 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 will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares.
Except in certain limited circumstances, no member of the Sponsor may transfer all or any portion of its membership interests in the Sponsor, including the non-managing sponsor investors who may not transfer all or any portion of their membership units in the Sponsor. For more information, see “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and 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 saleable 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.”
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities under the Securities Act or contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in that respect.
Listing
We expect our units to be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “SVACU” commencing on or promptly after the date of this prospectus, 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 “SVAC” and “SVACW”, respectively.
Determination of Offering Price
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and CCM. The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than
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would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
Stabilization and Other Transactions
In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over- allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
| ● | Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum. |
| ● | Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriters of units in excess of the number of units the underwriters are obligated to purchase, which creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of units over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing units in the open market. |
| ● | Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of units to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option. If the underwriters sell more units than could be covered by the over-allotment option, a naked short position, the position can only be closed out by buying units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering. |
| ● | Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions. |
These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. As a result, the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the Nasdaq or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.
Other Terms
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage any underwriter to provide any services for us after this offering, but we may do so at our discretion. However, any underwriter may introduce us to potential target businesses, provide financial advisory services to us in connection with a business combination or assist us in raising additional capital in the future, including by acting as a placement agent in a private offering or underwriting or arranging debt financing. If any underwriter provides 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 underwriter and no fees for such services will be paid to any underwriter prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering. 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. Any fees we may pay the underwriters or their affiliates for services rendered to us after this offering may be contingent on the completion of a business combination and may include non-cash compensation. The underwriters or their affiliates that provide these services to us may have a potential conflict of interest given that the underwriters are entitled to the deferred portion of their underwriting compensation for this offering only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified timeframe.
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Our 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, including in connection with acting in an advisory capacity or as a potential financing source in conjunction with our potential acquisition of a company. 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.
A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The representative may agree to allocate a number of units to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters and selling group members that will make Internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.
Selling Restrictions
NOTICE TO INVESTORS
The units are offered for sale in the United States, Europe, Asia and other jurisdictions where it is lawful to make such offers. The underwriters have represented and agreed that they have not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.
Australia
This document does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Australia’s Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the “Corporations Act”) of Australia. This document has not been lodged with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and is only directed to the categories of exempt persons set out below. Accordingly, if you receive this document in Australia:
You confirm and warrant that you are either:
| ● | a “sophisticated investor” under section 708(8)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act; |
| ● | a “sophisticated investor” under section 708(8)(c) or (d) of the Corporations Act and that you have provided an accountant’s certificate to the company which complies with the requirements of section 708(8)(c)(i) or (ii) of the Corporations Act and related regulations before the offer has been made; or |
| ● | a “professional investor” within the meaning of section 708(11)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act. |
To the extent that you are unable to confirm or warrant that you are an exempt sophisticated investor or professional investor under the Corporations Act any offer made to you under this document is void and incapable of acceptance.
You warrant and agree that you will not offer any of the shares issued to you pursuant to this document for resale in Australia within 12 months of those securities being issued unless any such resale offer is exempt from the requirement to issue a disclosure document under section 708 of the Corporations Act.
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European Economic Area
In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area (each a “Member State”), no securities have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in that Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation, except that offers of securities may be made to the public in that Member State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:
| (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 underwriters for any such offer; or |
| (c) | in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, |
provided that no such offer of securities shall require the issuer or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any securities 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 securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any securities, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.
United Kingdom
No securities have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in the United Kingdom prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the securities which has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority, except that the securities may be offered to the public in the United Kingdom at any time:
| (a) | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the U.K. Prospectus Regulation; |
| (b) | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in Article 2 of the U.K. Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representative for any such offer; or |
| (c) | in any other circumstances falling within section 86 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the “FSMA”), provided that no such offer of securities shall require the issuer or any manager to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the U.K. Prospectus Regulation. |
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any securities in the United Kingdom means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any securities, 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.
In the United Kingdom, this prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors (as defined under Article 2 of the U.K. Prospectus Regulation that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities or other persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order or (iii) persons to whom an 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 any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as a “relevant person”). In the United Kingdom, the securities are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United
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Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.
Hong Kong
The underwriters and their affiliates have not (1) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our securities 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 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 securities which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the 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.
Japan
The underwriters will not offer or sell any of our securities directly or indirectly in Japan or to, or for the benefit of any Japanese person or to others, for re-offering or re-sale directly or indirectly in Japan or to any Japanese person, except in each case pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Securities and Exchange Law of Japan and any other applicable laws and regulations of Japan. For purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese person” means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.
Singapore
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of our securities may not be circulated or distributed, nor may our securities be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to any person in Singapore other than (1) to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”)) pursuant to Section 274 of the SFA, (2) to a relevant person (as defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA) pursuant to Section 275(1) of the SFA, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A) of the SFA, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA and (where applicable) Regulation 3 of the Securities and Futures (Classes of Investors) Regulations 2018, or (3) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA. In the event that you are not an investor falling within any of the categories set out above, please return this document immediately. You may not forward or circulate this document to any other person in Singapore.
Where the securities are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is: (a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor as defined in Section 4A of the SFA) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor, securities or securities based derivatives contracts (each term as defined in Section 2(1) of the SFA) of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the securities pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA, except: (1) to an institutional investor or to a relevant person, or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(i)(B) of the SFA; or (2) where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or (3) where the transfer is by operation of law; or (4) as specified in Section 276(7) of the SFA; or (5) as specified in Regulation 37A of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Securities and Securities-based Derivatives Contracts) Regulations 2018 of Singapore.
Any reference to the SFA is a reference to the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore and a reference to any term as defined in the SFA or any provision in the SFA is a reference to that term or provision as modified or amended from time to time including by such of its subsidiary legislation as may be applicable at the relevant time.
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Notification under Section 309B of the SFA: The securities are prescribed capital markets products (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018) and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).
Germany
Each person who is in possession of this prospectus is aware that no German sales prospectus (Verkaufsprospekt) within the meaning of the Securities Sales Prospectus Act (Wertpapier- Verkaufsprospektgesetz, the “Act”) of the Federal Republic of Germany has been or will be published with respect to our securities. In particular, each underwriter has represented that it has not engaged and has agreed that it will not engage in a public offering (offentliches Angebot) within the meaning of the Act with respect to any of our securities otherwise then in accordance with the Act and all other applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
France
The securities are being issued and sold outside the Republic of France and that, in connection with their initial distribution, it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell, directly or indirectly, any securities to the public in the Republic of France, and that it has not distributed and will not distribute or cause to be distributed to the public in the Republic of France this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the securities, and that such offers, sales and distributions have been and will be made in the Republic of France only to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) in accordance with Article L.411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code and decrét no. 98-880 dated October 1, 1998.
Netherlands
Our securities may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered in or from the Netherlands as part of their initial distribution or at any time thereafter, directly or indirectly, other than to, individuals or legal entities situated in The Netherlands who or which trade or invest in securities in the conduct of a business or profession (which includes banks, securities intermediaries (including dealers and brokers), insurance companies, pension funds, collective investment institution, central governments, large international and supranational organizations, other institutional investors and other parties, including treasury departments of commercial enterprises, which as an ancillary activity regularly invest in securities; hereinafter, “Professional Investors”); provided that in the offer, prospectus and in any other documents or advertisements in which a forthcoming offering of our securities is publicly announced (whether electronically or otherwise) in The Netherlands it is stated that such offer is and will be exclusively made to such Professional Investors.
Individual or legal entities who are not Professional Investors may not participate in this offering of our securities, and this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our securities may not be considered an offer or the prospect of an offer to sell or exchange our securities.
Canada
This prospectus constitutes an “exempt offering document” as defined in and for the purposes of applicable Canadian securities laws. No prospectus has been filed with any securities commission or similar regulatory authority in Canada in connection with the offer and sale of the securities. No securities commission or similar regulatory authority in Canada has reviewed or in any way passed upon this prospectus or on the merits of the securities and any representation to the contrary is an offence.
Representations of Purchasers
By purchasing securities in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:
| ● | the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the securities without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws as it is an “accredited investor” as defined under National Instrument 45 – 106 — Prospectus Exemptions or Section 73.3 of the Securities Act (Ontario), as applicable; |
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| ● | the purchaser is a “permitted client” as defined in National Instrument 31 – 103 — Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations; |
| ● | where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent; and |
| ● | the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions. |
Conflicts of Interest
Canadian investors are advised that this prospectus has been prepared in reliance on section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33 – 105 Underwriting Conflicts (“NI 33 – 105”). Pursuant to section 3A.3 of NI 33 – 105, this prospectus is exempt from the requirement that the issuer and the underwriter(s) provide investors with certain conflicts of interest disclosure pertaining to “connected issuer” and/or “related issuer” relationships that may exist between the issuer and the underwriter(s) as would otherwise be required pursuant to subsection 2.1(1) of NI 33 – 105.
Statutory Rights of Action
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser of these securities in Canada 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.
Enforcement of Legal Rights
All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.
Taxation and Eligibility for Investment
Any discussion of taxation and related matters contained in this prospectus does not purport to be a comprehensive description of all of the tax considerations that may be relevant to a Canadian investor when deciding to purchase the securities and, in particular, does not address any Canadian tax considerations. No representation or warranty is hereby made as to the tax consequences to a resident, or deemed resident, of Canada of an investment in the securities or with respect to the eligibility of the securities for investment by such investor under relevant Canadian federal and provincial legislation and regulations. Canadian purchasers of securities should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the securities in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the securities for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.
Cayman Islands
This prospectus is an offer to sell only the shares offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. We are not making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted or where the person making the offer or sale is not qualified to do so or to any person to whom it is not permitted to make such offer or sale. For the avoidance of doubt, no invitation or offer, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our securities.
Switzerland
The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, or SIX, or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing
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prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the issuer or the securities have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, or FINMA, and the offer of securities has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes, or CISA. The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of securities.
Israel
This document does not constitute a prospectus under the Israeli Securities Law, 5728-1968, or the Securities Law, and has not been filed with or approved by the Israel Securities Authority. In the State of Israel, this document is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, and any offer of the shares is directed only at, investors listed in the first addendum, or the Addendum, to the Israeli Securities Law, consisting primarily of joint investment in trust funds, provident funds, insurance companies, banks, portfolio managers, investment advisors, members of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, underwriters, venture capital funds, entities with equity in excess of NIS 50 million and “qualified individuals,” each as defined in the Addendum (as it may be amended from time to time), collectively referred to as qualified investors (in each case purchasing for their own account or, where permitted under the Addendum, for the accounts of their clients who are investors listed in the Addendum). Qualified investors will be required to submit written confirmation that they fall within the scope of the Addendum, are aware of the meaning of same and agree to it.
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LEGAL MATTERS
Greenberg Traurig, LLP, is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and public warrants. Appleby (Cayman) Ltd., our Cayman Islands 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, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Houston, Texas, is acting as counsel to the underwriters.
EXPERTS
The financial statements of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III as of May 21, 2025 and for the period from March 12, 2025 (inception) through May 21, have been audited by WithumSmith+Brown, PC, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on the report of such firm given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
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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INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Financial Statements for Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III:
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholder of Spring
Valley Acquisition Corp. III:
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) as of May 21, 2025, and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholder’s equity, and cash flows for the period from March 12, 2025 (inception) through May 21, 2025, 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 May 21, 2025, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from March 12, 2025 (inception) through May 21, 2025, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2025.
New York, New York
August 4, 2025
F-2
SPRING VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. III
BALANCE SHEET
MAY 21, 2025
ASSETS |
| |
|
Current Assets |
| |
|
Prepaid expenses | | $ | 25,000 |
Total Current Assets | |
| 25,000 |
Deferred offering costs | |
| 45,282 |
Total Assets | | $ | 70,282 |
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER’S EQUITY | |
|
|
Current Liabilities | |
|
|
Accrued expenses | | $ | 6,200 |
Accrued offering costs | |
| 45,282 |
Promissory note – related party | |
| 10,420 |
Total Current Liabilities | |
| 61,902 |
Commitments and contingencies (Note 6) Shareholder’s Equity: | |
|
|
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | |
| — |
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | |
| — |
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding(1) | |
| 575 |
Additional paid-in capital | |
| 24,425 |
Accumulated deficit | |
| (16,620) |
Total Shareholder’s Equity | |
| 8,380 |
Total Liabilities and Shareholder’s Equity | | $ | 70,282 |
| (1) | Includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised (Note 5). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
SPRING VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM MARCH 12, 2025 (INCEPTION) THROUGH MAY 21, 2025
Formation, general and administrative costs |
| $ | 16,620 |
Net Loss | | $ | (16,620) |
Weighted average Class B ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1) | |
| 5,000,000 |
Basic and diluted net loss per Class B ordinary shares | | $ | (0.00) |
| (1) | Excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised (Note 5). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
SPRING VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDER’S EQUITY
FOR THE PERIOD FROM MARCH 12, 2025 (INCEPTION) THROUGH MAY 21, 2025
|
| |
| | |
| Additional |
| | |
| Total | ||
| | Class B | | Paid-In | | Accumulated | | Shareholder’s | ||||||
| | Ordinary Shares | | Capital | | Deficit | | Equity | ||||||
|
| Shares |
| Amount | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance as of March 12, 2025 (inception) | | — | | $ | — | | $ | — | | $ | — | | $ | — |
Class B ordinary shares issued to Initial Shareholders(1) |
| 5,750,000 | |
| 575 | |
| 24,425 | |
| — | |
| 25,000 |
Net loss |
| — | |
| — | |
| — | |
| (16,620) | |
| (16,620) |
Balance as of May 21, 2025 |
| 5,750,000 | | $ | 575 | | $ | 24,425 | | $ | (16,620) | | $ | 8,380 |
| (1) | Includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised (Note 5). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
SPRING VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM MARCH 12, 2025 (INCEPTION) THROUGH MAY 21, 2025
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
| |
|
Net loss | | $ | (16,620) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | |
|
|
Payment of expenses through promissory note-related party | |
| 10,420 |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |
|
|
Accrued expenses | |
| 6,200 |
Net cash used in operating activities | |
| — |
Net Change in Cash | |
| — |
Cash – beginning of the period | |
| — |
Cash – end of the period | | $ | — |
Non-cash investing and financing activities: | |
|
|
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs | | $ | 45,282 |
Prepaid costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares | | $ | 25,000 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
NOTE 1 — ORGANIZATION AND PLAN OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted corporation on March 12, 2025. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (“Business Combination”).
The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of completing a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of May 21, 2025, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 12, 2025 (inception) through May 21, 2025 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Public Offering of 15,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 17,250,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of an aggregate of 5,333,333 Private Placement Warrants (“Private Placement Warrants”) (or 5,583,333 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per Private Placement Warrant, or $4,800,000 in the aggregate (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. The underwriters, Cohen & Company Capital Markets (“CCM”), have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 Private Placement Warrants (or 1,916,667 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, or $1,500,000 in the aggregate (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of 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 the Private Placement Securities, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward completing a Business Combination. The Company must complete its initial Business Combination with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the Permitted Withdrawals and any deferred underwriting commissions held in the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into a Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination. Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Securities, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and invested or held only in (i) U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries, (ii) uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of (i) the completion of a Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company’s shareholders, as described below. No later than 24 months after the closing of the Proposed Public Offering or such earlier liquidation date as the Company’s board of directors may approve, or such later time as provided for in any amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (an “Extension Period”), subject to applicable law, the amounts held in the Trust Account will be held as cash or cash items, including in demand deposit accounts.
The Company will provide its shareholders 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 general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or
F-7
(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. The shareholders will be entitled to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the amount held in the Trust Account (initially $10.00 per share), calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of a Business Combination, including any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations or funds for working capital requirements (up to 5% of the interest earned on the Trust Account), (“Permitted Withdrawals”). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s public warrants. The Class A ordinary shares will be recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”
If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, it receives an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law approving a Business Combination, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who vote at a general meeting of the Company. If a shareholder vote is not required under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and file tender offer documents containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased in or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination and to waive its redemption rights with respect to any such shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a Business Combination. 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 a proposed Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provides 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 more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares without the Company’s prior written consent.
The Initial Shareholders have agreed to (i) waive its redemption rights with respect to its private placement shares in connection with the completion of the initial business combination, (ii) waive its redemption rights with respect to its private placement shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the obligation to allow redemption in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering or such earlier liquidation date as the Company’s board of directors may approve, or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to its private placement shares if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within the prescribed timeframe. In addition, the Sponsor has agreed to vote any private placement shares held by it in favor of the initial Business Combination.
The Company will have until 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the “Combination Period”) to complete a Business Combination. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes and permitted withdrawals, if any, 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 liquidation distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, liquidate and
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dissolve, subject in each case to its 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 liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Shareholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the initial amount held in the Trust Account ($10.00).
The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company, if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or by a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $10.00 per Public Share or (2) 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 trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account 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”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than the Company’s independent auditors), 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.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of May 21, 2025, the Company had no cash and a working capital deficiency of $(36,902). Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements — Going Concern,” as of May 21, 2025, the Company does not have sufficient liquidity to meet its current obligations. However, management has determined that the Company has access to funds from the Sponsor, and the Sponsor has the financial ability to provide such funds that are sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering or a minimum of one year from the date of issuance of these financial statements. The Company cannot assure that its plans to raise capital or to consummate an Initial Business Combination will be successful.
Risks and Uncertainties
The United States and global markets are experiencing volatility and disruption following the geopolitical instability resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas conflict. In response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) deployed additional military forces to eastern Europe, and the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries have announced various sanctions and restrictive actions against Russia, Belarus and related individuals and entities, including the removal of certain financial institutions from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication payment system. Certain countries, including the United States, have also provided and may continue to provide military aid or other assistance to Ukraine and to Israel, increasing geopolitical tensions among a number of nations. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the Israel-Hamas conflict and the resulting measures that have been taken, and could be taken in the future, by NATO, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel and its neighboring states and other countries have created global security concerns that could have a lasting impact on regional and global economies. Although the length and impact of the ongoing conflicts are highly unpredictable, they could lead to market disruptions, including significant
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volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions and increased cyberattacks against U.S. companies. Additionally, any resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets.
Any of the above mentioned factors, or any other negative impact on the global economy, capital markets or other geopolitical conditions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and subsequent sanctions or related actions, could adversely affect the Company’s search for an initial business combination and any target business with which the Company may ultimately consummate an initial business combination.
NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions 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, 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 a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial 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.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
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Deferred Offering Costs
The Company complies with the requirements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC 340-10-S99 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A, “Expenses of Offering.” Deferred offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering. FASB ASC 470-20, “Debt with Conversion and Other Options,” addresses the allocation of proceeds from the issuance of convertible debt into its equity and debt components. The Company applies this guidance to allocate Proposed Public Offering proceeds from the Units between Class A ordinary shares and warrants, using the residual method by allocating Proposed Public Offering proceeds first to assigned value of the warrants and then to the Class A ordinary shares. Offering costs allocated to the Public Shares will be charged to temporary equity, and offering costs allocated to Public Warrants (as defined below) and Private Placement Warrants will be charged to shareholder’s equity as the Public and Private Placement Warrants (as defined below), after management’s evaluation, will be accounted for under equity treatment.
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”). ASC 740 requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carryforwards. ASC 740 additionally requires a valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
ASC 740 also clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of May 21, 2025. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
The Company is considered an exempted Cayman Islands Company and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the Cayman Islands or the United States. As such, the Company’s tax provision was zero for the period presented.
Net Loss per Class B Ordinary Shares
Net loss per Class B ordinary shares is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period, excluding ordinary shares subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 750,000 Class B ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised (see Note 5). At May 21, 2025, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per Class B ordinary shares is the same as basic loss per Class B ordinary shares for the period presented.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
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Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging.” For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statement of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date. The underwriters’ over-allotment option is deemed to be a freestanding financial instrument indexed on the contingently redeemable shares and will be accounted for as a liability pursuant to ASC 480 if not fully exercised at the time of the Proposed Public Offering.
Warrant Instruments
The Company will account for the Public and Private Placement Warrants to be issued in connection with the Proposed Public Offering and the private placement in accordance with the guidance contained in FASB ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging.” Accordingly, the Company evaluated and will classify the warrant instruments under equity treatment at their assigned values. There are no Public or Private Placement Warrants currently outstanding as of May 21, 2025.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In November 2023, the FASB issued Accounts Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures”. The amendments in this ASU require disclosures, on an annual and interim basis, of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), as well as the aggregate amount of other segment items included in the reported measure of segment profit or loss. The ASU requires that a public entity disclose the title and position of the CODM and an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measure(s) of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources. Public entities will be required to provide all annual disclosures currently required by Topic 280 in interim periods, and entities with a single reportable segment are required to provide all the disclosures required by the amendments in this ASU and existing segment disclosures in Topic 280. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU 2023-07 on March 12, 2025, date of incorporation.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
NOTE 3 — PROPOSED PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company will offer for sale up to 15,000,000 Units (or 17,250,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable public warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
NOTE 4 — PRIVATE PLACEMENT
The Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 Private Placement Warrants (or 5,583,333 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per Private Placement Warrant, or $4,800,000 in the aggregate (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. The underwriters, CCM, have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 Private Placement Warrants (or 1,916,667 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, or
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$1,500,000 in the aggregate (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering.
Each whole public warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Securities will be added to the net proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Securities held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants expire worthless.
NOTE 5 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On March 28, 2025, the Sponsor and independent directors (“Initial Shareholders”) paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover the Company’s certain of offering and formation costs in exchange for 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”) issued to the Initial Shareholders.
The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised, so that the number of Founder Shares will collectively represent 25% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering.
The Initial Shareholders have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination; and (B) subsequent to a 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, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On March 28, 2025, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $250,000. The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2025 or (i) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. As of May 21, 2025, there was $10,420 outstanding under the Promissory Note.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, any of their respective affiliates or certain of the Company’s directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans, but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.09 per warrant. As of May 21, 2025, there are no Working Capital Loans outstanding.
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NOTE 6 — COMMITMENTS
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) Founder Shares, (ii) private placement warrants, which will be issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants and (iii) warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the Proposed Public Offering requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to Class A ordinary shares). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain piggyback registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company 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 registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments at the Proposed Public Offering price, less the underwriting commissions.
The underwriters will be entitled to (1) an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate (or $3,450,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), of which (i) $0.10 per unit will be paid to the underwriters in cash and (ii) $0.10 per Unit will be used by the underwriters to purchase Private Placement Warrants, and (2) a deferred fee of $0.40 per Unit, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the overallotment option is exercised in full). 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 and will be based on the amount of funds remaining in the Trust Account after shareholder redemptions of public shares in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination.
NOTE 7 — SHAREHOLDER’S EQUITY
Preference Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $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. At May 21, 2025, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Class A Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At May 21, 2025, there were no Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
Class B Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At May 21, 2025, there were 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding (see Note 5), of which an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares are subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised so that the number of Founder Shares will equal 25% of the Company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Proposed Public Offering.
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Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders except as otherwise required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of a Business Combination or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment.
Warrants — Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire seven years from the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a Public Warrant and will have no obligation to settle such Public Warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is available, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or 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 is available.
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of a Business Combination, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of a Business Combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if the 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, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of Public Warrants — Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at a price of $0.01 per Public Warrant; |
| ● | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
| ● | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to warrant holders. |
The Company will not redeem the warrants for cash unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of 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 or the Company has elected to require the exercise of the public warrants on a cashless basis. If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise
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its redemption right even if the Company is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
If the Company calls the warrants for redemption as described in this paragraph, its management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant following the notice of redemption to do so on a cashless basis. In the case of such a cashless exercise, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the Public 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 “fair market value” less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. 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 redemption is sent to the holders of the public warrants. If its management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A ordinary shares to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case.
The Company has established the $18.00 per share (as adjusted) redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the public warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and the Company issues a notice of redemption of the Public Warrants, each Public Warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its Public 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 well as the $11.50 Public Warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of its Initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by its board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to either of 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 its Initial Business Combination on the date of the completion of its 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 its initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the public 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 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The Private Placement Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable.
NOTE 8 — SEGMENT INFORMATION
ASC Topic 280, “Segment Reporting,” establishes standards for companies to report in their financial statement information about operating segments, products, services, geographic areas, and major customers. Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise that engage in business activities from which it may recognize revenues and incur expenses, and for which separate financial information is available that is regularly evaluated by the Company’s CODM, or group, in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance.
The Company’s CODM has been identified as the Chief Financial Officer, who reviews the assets, operating results, and financial metrics for the Company as a whole to make decisions about allocating resources and assessing financial performance. Accordingly, management has determined that there is only one reportable segment.
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The CODM assesses performance for the single segment and decides how to allocate resources based on net income (loss) that also is reported on the statement of operations as net income (loss). The measure of segment assets is reported on the balance sheet as total assets. When evaluating the Company’s performance and making key decisions regarding resource allocation, the CODM reviews several key metrics included in the net loss and total assets, which include the following:
| | For the Period From | |
| | March 12, 2025 (Inception) | |
|
| Through May 21, 2025 | |
Formation, general and administrative costs | | $ | 16,620 |
Formation, general and administrative costs are reviewed and monitored by the CODM to manage and forecast cash to ensure enough capital is available to complete the Initial Public Offering and eventually a business combination. The CODM also reviews formation, general and administrative costs to manage, maintain and enforce all contractual agreements to ensure costs are aligned with all agreements and budget. Formation, general and administrative costs, as reported on the statement of operations, are the significant segment expenses provided to the CODM on a regular basis.
NOTE 9 — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date, up to August 4, 2025, the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
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15,000,000 Units
Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
, 2025
Sole Book-Running Manager
Cohen & Company Capital Markets
Until , 2025 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our ordinary shares, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
Legal fees and expenses |
| 250,000 |
Accounting fees and expenses | | 50,000 |
Printing and engraving expenses | | 40,000 |
SEC and FINRA expenses | | 61,375 |
Roadshow expenses | | 20,000 |
Exchange listing fees | | 85,000 |
Miscellaneous expenses(1) | 193,625 | |
Total offering expenses | 700,000 |
(1) | This amount represents additional expenses that may be incurred by the Company in connection with the offering over and above those specifically listed above, including transfer agent and trustee fees. |
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, willful neglect, civil 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.
On May [●], 2025, our Sponsor and our independent directors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Such securities were issued in connection with the Registrant’s incorporation pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 25% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants).
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Up to 750,000 of the founder shares are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will collectively beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants). 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 25% of our issued and ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants).
Our Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants or (5,583,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per private placement warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $4,800,000 (or $5,025,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
In addition, the underwriters have committed to use a portion of their underwriting discount and commission to purchase an aggregate of 1,666,667 private placement warrants (or 1,916,667 private placement warrants in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.90 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $1,500,000 (or $1,725,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
The foregoing purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of our initial public offering. The issuances 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.
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Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) | Exhibits. The following exhibits are being filed herewith: |
Exhibit |
| Description |
1.1* | | Form of Underwriting Agreement |
3.1* | | Memorandum and Articles of Association dated March 12, 2025 |
3.2* | | Form of Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association |
4.1* | | Specimen Unit Certificate |
4.2* | | Specimen Class A Ordinary Share Certificate |
4.3* | | Specimen Warrant Certificate (included in Exhibit 4.4) |
4.4* | | Form of Warrant Agreement between [·] and the Registrant |
5.1* | | Opinion of Appleby (Cayman) Ltd. |
5.2* | | Opinion of Greenberg Traurig, LLP |
10.1* | | Promissory Note, dated March 28, 2025, issued to Spring Valley Acquisition III Sponsor, LLC |
10.2* | | Form of Subscription Agreement, dated March 26, 2025 |
10.3* | | Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant, its directors and officers and Spring Valley Acquisition III Sponsor, LLC |
10.4* | | Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between [·] and the Registrant |
10.5* | | Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the Registrant and certain security holders |
10.6* | | Form of Private Placement Warrant Subscription Agreement between the Registrant and Spring Valley Acquisition III Sponsor, LLC |
10.7* | | Form of Private Placement Warrant Subscription Agreement between the Registrant and Cohen and Company Capital Markets, a division of Cohen & Company Securities, LLC |
10.8* | | Form of Indemnity Agreement |
10.9* | | Form of Administrative Services Agreement |
14* | | Form of Code of Ethics and Business Conduct |
23.1 | | |
23.2* | | Consent of Appleby (Cayman) Ltd., Cayman Islands (included in Exhibit 5.1) |
23.3* | | Consent of Greenberg Traurig, LLP (included in Exhibit 5.2) |
24 | | Power of Attorney (included on signature page to the initial filing of this Registration Statement) |
99.1* | | Consent of David Buzby |
99.2* | | Consent of Debora Frodl |
99.3* | | Consent of Richard Thompson |
99.4* | | Audit Committee Charter |
99.5* | | Compensation Committee Charter |
99.6* | | Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter |
107 | |
* | To be filed by amendment. |
(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 underwriters at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriters to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser. |
(b) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act 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 |
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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. |
(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 Dallas, State of Texas, on the 4th day of August, 2025.
| Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III | ||
| | | |
| By: | /s/ Christopher Sorrells | |
| | Name: | Christopher Sorrells |
| | Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
| | | (Principal Executive Officer) |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned constitutes and appoints Christopher Sorrells and Jeff Schramm, each acting alone, his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for such person and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this Registration Statement on Form S-1 (including all pre-effective and post- effective amendments and registration statements filed pursuant to Rule 462 under the Securities Act of 1933), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that any such attorney-in-fact and agent, or his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
| Position |
| Date |
| | | | |
/s/ Christopher Sorrells | | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | | |
Christopher Sorrells | | (Principal Executive Officer) | | August 4, 2025 |
| | | | |
/s/ Jeff Schramm | | Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and | | |
Jeff Schramm | | Accounting Officer) | | August 4, 2025 |
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 6(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, the undersigned has signed this amended registration statement, solely in its capacity as the duly authorized representative of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, in Dallas, Texas, on the 4th day of August, 2025.
| By: | /s/ Christopher Sorrells | |
| | Name: | Christopher Sorrells |
| | Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
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Exhibit 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We hereby consent to the use in the Prospectus constituting a part of this Registration Statement on Form S-1 of our report dated August 4, 2025, relating to the financial statements of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III as of May 21, 2025 and for the period from March 12, 2025 (inception) through May 21, 2025, which is contained in that Prospectus. We also consent to the reference to our firm under the caption “Experts” in the Prospectus.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC | |
| |
New York, New York | |
August 4, 2025 | |