Infleqtion, Inc S-1/A, filed May 9, 2025
Infleqtion, Inc. (INFQ)
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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8, 2025.
Registration No. 333-286799
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Amendment No. 1
to
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Churchill Capital Corp X
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
| Cayman Islands | 6770 | 86-1946291 | ||
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | (IRS Employer Identification Number) |
640 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (212) 380-7500
(Address, including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)
Jay Taragin
c/o Churchill Capital Corp X
640 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (212) 380-7500
(Name, Address, including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
Copies to:
| Douglas S. Ellenoff, Esq. Stuart Neuhauser, Esq. Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP 1345 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10105 (212) 370-1300 |
Joel L. Rubinstein, Esq Daniel E. Nussen, Esq. White & Case LLP 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 (212) 819-8200 |
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 | ☐ | |||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ | |||
| Emerging growth company | ☒ | |||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
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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 MAY 8, 2025
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
$300,000,000
Churchill Capital Corp X
30,000,000 Units
Churchill Capital Corp X is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, 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. We may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry.
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-fourth of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. Subject to the terms and conditions described in this prospectus, we may redeem the warrants for cash once the warrants become exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 4,500,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.
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 at a per-share price described herein, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below 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 amounts withdrawn to fund our working capital requirements, subject to an annual limit of $1,000,000, and to pay our taxes (“permitted withdrawals”)), divided by the number of then outstanding Class A ordinary shares that were sold as part of the units in this offering. We will have 24 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination (or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering; no redemption rights shall be offered to our public shareholders in connection with any such extension from 24 months to 27 months if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering) or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, to consummate an initial business combination, which we refer to herein as the completion window. If we anticipate that we may be unable to consummate our initial business combination within such 24-month period (or up to 27 months if we extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combination in accordance with the terms described in this prospectus), 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 (less permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (or such later date as approved by our shareholders), 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 (less 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. See “Summary — The Offering — Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination” on page 31 and “Summary — The Offering — Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination” on page 37 for more information.
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 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 shares sold in this offering without our prior consent. 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. See “Summary—The Offering—Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold shareholder vote” on page 35 for further discussion on certain limitations on redemption rights.
Our sponsor, Churchill Sponsor X LLC, has M. Klein Associates Inc., as its managing member, and is an affiliate of M. Klein and Company, LLC. Our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these units throughout this prospectus as the private placement units. Each private placement warrant contained in the private placement units is exercisable to purchase one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and will not expire except upon liquidation, as described in this prospectus. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us. Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares (as defined below). For so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA rules.
Our sponsor owns 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares (up to 1,125,000 of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), which it purchased for an aggregate of $25,000. We refer to these Class B ordinary shares as the founder shares throughout this prospectus. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holders thereof, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment and forfeiture as provided herein. Because our sponsor acquired the Class B ordinary shares at a nominal price of $.003 per share, our public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution upon the closing of this offering. Further, the Class A ordinary shares issuable in connection with the conversion of the Class B ordinary shares may result in material dilution to our public shareholders due to the anti-dilution rights of our Class B ordinary shares that may result in an issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities (as described herein), are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (including any Class A ordinary shares issued pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued to the sponsor), 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
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to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement-equivalent units and their underlying securities issued to our sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans). If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial shareholders, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment or removal of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable 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 applicable law or stock exchange rule, holders of our Class A ordinary shares and holders of our Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. In addition, to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside of the Cayman Islands, including the adoption of the organizational documents for such jurisdiction, our board of directors will be able to approve such continuation and organizational documents without the vote of any holders of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Collectively, the sponsor’s 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, its 300,000 private Class A ordinary shares and the 75,000 private placement warrants underlying its private placement units will represent 20.6% of all ordinary shares outstanding, assuming that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised and assuming forfeiture of 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares. See “Summary—The Offering—Sponsor Information” for further discussion on our sponsor’s and our affiliates’ securities and compensation on page 11; “Summary — The Offering — Transfer restrictions on founder shares” on page 23, “Summary — The Offering— Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights” on page 24, “Summary — The Offering — Appointment of directors; voting rights” on page 21, “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Management Team — The nominal purchase price paid by our initial shareholders 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” on page 86, and “— General Risk Factors — We may issue additional ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, as a result of the anti- dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.” on page 95 and “Dilution” on page 107.
As more fully discussed in “Management — Conflicts of Interest” on page 167, 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. 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 within 24 months from the closing of this offering(or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for 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, 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, the founder shares and private placement units and their constituent securities 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. Upon consummation of this offering or thereafter, we will repay up to $600,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses. Additionally, we will reimburse the managing member of our sponsor in an amount equal to $30,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us, as described elsewhere in this prospectus. 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 units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of our sponsor. Additionally, prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business. We may also engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets or providing financial advisory services, and may pay such affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. Additionally, following consummation of a business combination, members of our management team will be entitled to reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. As a result, there may be actual or potential material conflicts of interest between our sponsor, officers, directors and their affiliates (including M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners) on one hand, and purchasers in this offering on the other. See the sections titled “Summary – Sponsor Information” on page 11 and “Management — Conflicts of Interest” on page 167 for more information.
BTIG, LLC will be admitted as a member of our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering and will be allocated interests in our sponsor corresponding to 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants. We intend to apply to list our units on the Nasdaq Global Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “ CCCXU “ on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. We expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising 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 BTIG, LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to certain conditions. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “CCCX” and “CCCXW,” respectively.
We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements.
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See the section of this prospectus “Risk Factors” beginning on page 53.
Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
No offer or invitation, whether directly or indirectly, is being or may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for any of our securities.
| Per Unit | Total | |||||||
| Price to the Public |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 300,000,000 | ||||
| Underwriting commissions(1) |
$ | 0.10 | $ | 3,000,000 | ||||
| Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
$ | 9.90 | $ | 297,000,000 | ||||
| (1) | $0.10 per unit, or $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), is payable in cash to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions and will be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriters only upon the completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. |
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| The following table summarizes the equity compensation we will cause to be paid and acquisitions of equity deemed underwriting compensation by FINRA. |
| Without Option to Purchase Additional Units(1) |
With Option to Purchase Additional Units(1) | |||
| Upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of cash underwriting discount |
300,000 founder shares | 345,000 founder shares | ||
| Investment by Condor Investments VI(1)(2) |
50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares |
50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares | ||
| Total: | 500,000 founder shares and 50,000 private placement units |
545,000 founder shares and 50,000 private placement units |
| (1) | All founder shares and private placement units to be received by BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI in this table will initially be received in the form of interests in our sponsor corresponding to such securities. |
| (2) | Condor Investments VI will pay $500,000 in exchange for its purchase of sponsor interests corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. For more information on the relationship between BTIG LLC and Condor Investments VI, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting.” |
See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting” on page 216 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement units described in this prospectus, $300.0 million, or $345.0 million if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.
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.
The following table illustrates the difference between the public offering price per unit and our net tangible book value per share (NTBV), as adjusted to give effect to this offering and assuming the redemption of our public shares at varying levels and the exercise in full and no exercise of the over-allotment option. See the section titled “Dilution” on page 107 for more information.
| As of December 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| Offering Price of $10.00 per Unit |
25% of Maximum |
50% of Maximum |
75% of Maximum |
Maximum Redemption | ||||||||||||
| NTBV | NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price | ||||||||
| Assuming Full Exercise of Over-Allotment Option | ||||||||||||||||
| $7.92 |
$7.41 | $2.59 | $6.55 | $3.45 | $4.94 | $5.06 | $0.05 | $9.95 | ||||||||
| Assuming No Exercise of Over-Allotment Option | ||||||||||||||||
| $7.90 |
$7.38 | $2.62 | $6.51 | $3.49 | $4.90 | $5.10 | $0.00 | $10.00 | ||||||||
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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the 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 was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. Additionally, 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. As a result, there may be actual or potential material conflicts of interest between our sponsor, officers and directors and their affiliates (including M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners) on one hand, and purchasers in this offering on the other. See the sections titled “Proposed Business — Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” on page 135 and “Management — Conflicts of Interest” on page 167 for more information.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about , 2025.
Book-Running Manager:
BTIG, LLC
Prospectus dated , 2025.
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We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained in the prospectus, and neither we nor the underwriters take any responsibility, and can provide you no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information others give to 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.
Churchill Capital Corp X
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| Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
118 | |||
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| F-1 |
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This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| • | “we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to Churchill Capital Corp X, a Cayman Islands exempted company; |
| • | “amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that the company will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, as amended and/or restated from time to time; |
| • | “Companies Law” are to the Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| • | “completion window” refers to the period following the completion of this offering at the end of which, if we have not completed our initial business combination, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions and as further described herein. The completion window ends (i) 24 months from the closing of this offering (or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve), or 27 months from the closing of this offering (or such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve) if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering; or (ii) such other time period in which we must consummate an initial business combination pursuant to an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; |
| • | “directors” are to our directors (including our director nominees named in this prospectus); |
| • | “equity-linked securities” are to any securities of our company or any of our subsidiaries which are convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, equity securities of our company or such subsidiary, including any private placement of equity or debt; |
| • | “founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by, and issued to, our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion thereof at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holders thereof, as described herein; |
| • | “initial shareholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering; |
| • | “Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; |
| • | “letter agreement” refers to the agreement to be executed among us, the sponsor, and each of our officers and directors on the date that the registration statement is declared effective, the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part; |
| • | “M. Klein and Company” are to M. Klein and Company, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and its affiliates; |
| • | “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors; |
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| • | “ordinary resolution” are to a resolution of the company passed by a simple 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 a general meeting of the company, or a resolution approved in writing by all of the holders of the issued shares entitled to vote on such matter (or such lower threshold as may be allowed under the Companies Law from time to time); |
| • | “ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares, collectively; |
| • | “permitted withdrawals” means amounts withdrawn to fund our working capital requirements, subject to an annual limit of $1,000,000, and/or to pay our taxes and notwithstanding the annual limitation, such withdrawals can only be made from interest and not from the principal held in the trust account; |
| • | “private placement shares” are to the Class A ordinary shares issued to our sponsor as part of the private placement units in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; |
| • | “private placement units” are to the units issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; |
| • | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor as part of the private placement units in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; |
| • | “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial shareholders and management team to the extent our initial shareholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial shareholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public shareholder” only exists 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), but specifically excludes all of our Class A ordinary shares that are issued upon conversion of our Class B ordinary shares; |
| • | “public warrants” are to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market, including warrants that may be acquired by our sponsor or its affiliates in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| • | “special resolution” are to a resolution of the company passed by at least a two-thirds (2/3) majority (or such higher approval threshold as specified in the company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) of the votes cast by such shareholders as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting of the company of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been duly given, or a resolution approved in writing by all of the holders of the issued shares entitled to vote on such matter (or such lower threshold as may be allowed under the Companies Law from time to time); |
| • | “sponsor” are to Churchill Sponsor X LLC, a Delaware limited liability company which was formed to invest in our company, as further discussed under “Sponsor Information”, below, which has M. Klein Associates, Inc., as its managing member, and which is an affiliate of M. Klein and Company; BTIG, LLC, the representative of the underwriters in this offering, and Condor Investments VI will be members of the sponsor upon the consummation of this offering and will be allocated founder shares and private placement units as described elsewhere in this prospectus; |
| • | “warrants” are to our public warrants and private placement warrants, as well as any warrants issued as part of units issued on conversion of working capital loans upon or following the consummation of our initial business combination, collectively. |
Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon
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separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least four units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
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. Any conversion of the Class B ordinary shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares, or as otherwise permitted by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividends described in this prospectus will take effect as share capitalizations as a matter of Cayman Islands law (that is, an issuance of shares from share premium).
Registered trademarks referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over- allotment option.
Our Company
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, 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. We may pursue an initial business combination in any business or industry but expect to focus on a target in an industry where we believe our management team and founder’s expertise will provide us with a competitive advantage.
Our founder, Michael Klein, is also the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company, which he founded in 2012. M. Klein and Company is a global strategic advisory firm that provides its clients a variety of advice tailored to their objectives. Mr. Klein is a strategic advisor to global companies, boards of directors, senior executives, governments, and institutional investors. Mr. Klein’s background in strategic advisory work was built during his 35-year career, including more than two decades at Citi and its predecessors, during which he initiated and executed strategic advisory transactions. He began his career as an investment banker in the M&A Advisory Group at Salomon Brothers and subsequently became Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Citi Markets and Banking, with responsibilities for Global Corporate and Investment Banking and Global Transaction Services across Citi. In his role as Co-Chief Executive Officer, he was responsible for all relationship, advisory, underwriting, and capital markets issuance activity.
Mr. Klein was previously Chief Executive Officer of Global Banking at Citi, Chief Executive Officer of Citi Markets & Banking, Europe, and Co-Head of Global Investment Banking for Salomon Smith Barney for the decade prior. In early 1999, he was given responsibility for the expansion of the firm’s European investment banking business. A major step in that development was the merger, in May 2000, of Salomon Smith Barney’s European operation with Schroders, a leading UK and European Merchant Bank. Prior to becoming Co- Head of the Global Investment Bank, he had been responsible for the firm’s Global Financial Entrepreneurs and Private Equity Groups, a leading provider of acquisition ideas and financing for leading private equity sponsors. We will seek to capitalize on the experience and expertise of our founder.
Mr. Klein has significant experience running investment banking and advisory organizations with an overarching mission of providing high quality deal sourcing and transactional advice to a broad range of clients. For example, in 2018, Mr. Klein co-founded and became Chairman of the Board of Directors of CCC, a special
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purpose acquisition company that completed a $690 million initial public offering in September 2018 and merged in May 2019 with Clarivate, a provider of comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, analytical tools, and services.
In April 2019, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $690 million initial public offering in July 2019. In June 2021, Churchill Capital Corp II merged with both Software Luxembourg Holding S.A. (“Skillsoft”), a provider of digital learning and talent management solutions, and Global Knowledge Training LLC, a provider of IT and professional skills development. In October 2019, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp III, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $1.1 billion initial public offering in February 2020. In October 2020, Churchill Capital Corp III merged with MultiPlan, Inc., a technology-enabled provider of end-to-end healthcare cost management solutions. As of February 2025, MultiPlan, Inc. rebranded as Claritev Corporation (NYSE:CTEV). In April 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp IV, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $2.07 billion initial public offering in August 2020. In July 2021, Churchill Capital Corp IV merged with Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID), a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles. In May 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp V, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $500 million initial public offering in December 2020. Churchill Capital Corp V elected to not complete an initial business and in October 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. In December 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp VI and Churchill Capital Corp VII, special purpose acquisition companies that completed their $552 million and $1.38 billion initial public offerings, respectively, in February 2021. Churchill Capital Corp VI elected to not complete an initial business and in December 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq Holdings Limited (“CorpAcq”), a corporate compounder with a record of acquiring and supporting founder-led businesses. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. In March 2021, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AltC Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition corporation formally known as Churchill Capital Corp VIII, the eighth corporation in the Churchill series of special purpose acquisition corporations and completed its $500 million initial public offering in July 2021. In July 2023, AltC Acquisition Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Oklo Inc. (“Oklo”), a fission technology and nuclear fuel recycling company which seeks to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy globally through the design and deployment of next-generation fast reactor technology, which was approved by the shareholders of AltC Acquisition Corp. in May 2024. Mr. Klein is also the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX), a blank check company which raised $287.5 million in its initial public offering in May 2024 and is currently searching for a business combination target. See “Prior SPAC Experience” below.
Our Chief Financial Officer, Jay Taragin, has held this position since February 2024 and is also the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp VII since December 2020, AltC Acquisition Corp. since March 2021 and M. Klein and Company, which he joined in May 2019. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII began the process of liquidation and returning cash held in trust to its shareholders. Mr. Taragin is also the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX), a blank check company which raised $287.5 million in its initial public offering in May 2024 and is currently searching for a business combination target. Prior to joining M. Klein and Company, Mr. Taragin served as the US Scotiabank Chief Financial Officer from 2013 to 2017. Prior to Scotiabank, Mr. Taragin held a Chief
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Operating and Financial Officer role from 2009 to 2012 at a mortgage hedge fund and held a variety of senior finance and audit roles at Merrill Lynch & Company from 1993 to 2009. In addition, Mr. Taragin worked at Credit Suisse and PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior auditor and accountant. Mr. Taragin is a CPA and holds a master’s degree in business administration from New York University Stern School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University.
We believe that our management team and M. Klein and Company, which is an affiliate of our sponsor, are well positioned to identify and execute attractive business combination opportunities. Our objectives are to generate attractive returns for shareholders and enhance value through selecting a high-quality target at an attractive valuation, negotiating favorable acquisition terms for our shareholders and improving operational performance of the acquired company. We expect to favor potential target companies with certain industry and business characteristics. Key industry characteristics include compelling long-term growth prospects, opportunities to affect valuation improvements at the company, attractive competitive dynamics and consolidation opportunities. Key business characteristics include competitive advantages, significant potential; streams of recurring revenue, opportunity for operational improvement, attractive steady-state margins, high incremental margins and attractive free cash flow characteristics.
M. Klein and Company has established strategic relationships with selected leading investors and financing providers (“Strategic Partners”). Such Strategic Partners may invest in our sponsor, thereby sharing in the appreciation of founder shares and private placement units and assist M. Klein and Company in evaluating potential acquisition targets.
M. Klein and Company has established an entity within the firm, Archimedes Advisors LLC, which consists of Operating Partners who will assist us in sourcing potential acquisition targets and creating long-term value in the business combination for us. M. Klein and Company’s Operating Partners are comprised of former senior operating executives of leading S&P 500 companies across multiple sectors and industries, including consumer, industrial, materials, energy, mining, chemicals, finance, data, software, enterprise technology, and media. With our breadth of sector coverage and deep operational expertise, we believe we can review a wide range of targets to find the most attractive target for our shareholders. Each Operating Partner has held senior leadership positions with companies where they have a proven strong track record of creating shareholder value, organically and through transformational acquisitions or corporate restructurings, as well as extensive relationships with owners and operators of companies within their respective industries. In addition to assisting in the sourcing of a potential transaction, one Operating Partner is expected to join the acquired company as a director or in another senior executive capacity in order to enhance shareholder value by improving the operational performance of the company and undertaking broader strategic initiatives.
To best align the incentives of Operating Partners with our shareholders, each Operating Partner will be eligible to share in a portion of the appreciation in founder shares and private placement units, provided that we successfully complete a business combination. The Operating Partner that takes on a director, substantial senior executive, or operating role at the acquired company, on a post-business combination basis, will acquire additional founder shares from our managing member, M. Klein Associates Inc., and will have a vesting schedule that is highly aligned with shareholder interests by requiring value creation for shareholders. Operating Partners will not receive any cash compensation from us prior to a business combination. We believe that the combination of our management team, M. Klein and Company and its Operating Partners and our board of directors is an innovative approach to identifying potential high quality business combination targets and aligns incentives with our shareholders, providing us with distinctive and differentiated capabilities to create shareholder value.
With respect to the foregoing experiences of our management, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, past performance is not a guarantee (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate.
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You should not rely on the historical record of our management’s, M. Klein and Company’s or our Strategic and Operating Partners’ performance as indicative of our future performance. For more information on the experience and background of our management team and the Operating Partners, see below and the sections entitled “Management” and “Proposed Business.”
Business Strategy
Our strategy is to:
| • | leverage the strategic and transactional experience of our founder to bring advice and attention to potential business combination targets; |
| • | deliver creative approaches to transaction sourcing; and |
| • | utilize an understanding of global financial markets and events, financing, and overall corporate strategy options. |
Our selection process will leverage our founder’s and our Strategic and Operating Partners’ network of industry, venture capital sponsor, private equity sponsor, credit fund sponsor and lending community relationships as well as relationships with management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, restructuring advisors, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We intend to deploy a proactive, thematic sourcing strategy and to focus on companies where we believe the combination of our operating experience, relationships, capital and capital markets expertise can be catalysts to transform a target company and can help accelerate the target’s growth and performance. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team, M. Klein and Company, our Strategic and Operating Partners will communicate with their network of relationships to articulate our initial business combination criteria, including the parameters of our search for a target business, and will begin the disciplined process of pursuing and reviewing promising leads.
Our management team and M. Klein and Company have experience in:
| • | sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses; |
| • | fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers and target management teams; |
| • | negotiating transactions favorable to investors; |
| • | executing transactions in multiple geographies and under varying economic and financial market conditions; and |
| • | accessing the capital markets, including financing businesses and helping companies transition to public ownership. |
M. Klein and Company’s Operating Partners have experience in:
| • | operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, monitoring and recruiting world- class talent; and |
| • | acquiring and integrating companies; and |
| • | developing and growing companies, both organically and through acquisitions and strategic transactions and expanding the product range and geographic footprint of a number of target businesses. |
Competitive Strengths
The sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution capabilities of our management team, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners will provide us with a significant pipeline of opportunities
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from which to evaluate and select a business that will benefit from our expertise. We may also have the benefit of using M. Klein and Company, or another affiliate of our sponsor, as a financial advisor on our business combinations and other transactions. Our competitive strengths include the following:
| • | Deep Experience of Operating Partners. We believe that our ability to leverage the experience of the Operating Partners, who comprise former senior operating executives of S&P500 companies across multiple sectors and industries, will provide us a distinct advantage in being able to source, evaluate and consummate an attractive transaction. |
| • | Proprietary Sourcing Channels and Leading Industry Relationships. We believe the capabilities and connections associated with our management team, in combination with those of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, will provide us with a differentiated pipeline of acquisition opportunities that would be difficult for other participants in the market to replicate. We expect these sourcing capabilities will be further bolstered by our management team’s, M. Klein and Company’s and our Strategic and Operating Partners’ reputation and deep industry relationships. |
| • | Investing Experience. We believe that our management’s track record of identifying and sourcing transactions positions us well to appropriately evaluate potential business combinations and select one that will be well received by the public markets. |
| • | Execution and Structuring Capability. Our management team and sponsor believe that our and our Strategic Partners’ combined expertise and reputation will allow us to source and complete transactions possessing structural attributes that create an attractive investment thesis. These types of transactions are typically complex and require creativity, industry knowledge and expertise, rigorous due diligence, and extensive negotiations and documentation. We believe that by focusing our investment activities on these types of transactions, we are able to generate investment opportunities that have attractive risk/reward profiles based on their valuations and structural characteristics. |
Investment Criteria
We have developed the following high-level, non-exclusive investment criteria that we will use to screen for and evaluate target businesses. We will seek to acquire a business that:
| • | Is Sourced Through our Proprietary Channels. We do not expect to participate in broadly marketed processes, but rather will aim to leverage our extensive network to source our business combination. |
| • | Would Benefit from our Capabilities. We will seek to acquire a business where the collective capabilities of our management and sponsor can be leveraged to tangibly improve the operations and market position of the target. |
| • | Has a Committed and Capable Management Team. We will seek to acquire a business with a professional management team whose interests are aligned with those of our investors and complement the expertise of our founder. Where necessary, we may also look to complement and enhance the capabilities of the target business’s management team by recruiting additional talent through our network of contacts. |
| • | Potential to Generate Stable Free Cash-Flow. We will seek to acquire a business that has historically generated, or has the near-term potential to generate, strong and sustainable free cash flow. |
| • | Has the Potential to Grow Through Further Acquisition Opportunities. We will seek to acquire a business that has the potential to grow inorganically through additional acquisitions. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as on other
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considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.
Initial Business Combination
So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes paid or payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of execution of the definitive agreement for such business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. If we are no longer listed on Nasdaq, we would not be required to satisfy the above-referenced fair market value test.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors and each of the non-independent directors nominated by our sponsor, to approve our initial business combination.
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 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. However, we will only complete a business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise is not 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 the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the 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 transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for seeking shareholder approval or for purposes of a tender offer, as applicable. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we would be required to comply with such 80% rule.
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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 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 units will be worthless.
Our Acquisition Process
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, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our transactional, financial, managerial and investment experience.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. 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 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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within the completion window. 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 within the completion window, 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, the founder shares and private placement units 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.
Our sponsor and its principals may from time to time become aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a 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.
As described in “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the
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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. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, none of the Strategic Partners or Operating Partners or their personnel are officers or directors of our company and therefore owe us no fiduciary duties as such. While we expect that they will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. Our Strategic and Operating Partners may have fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to other organizations to present business combination opportunities to such other organizations rather than to us. Accordingly, if any Strategic or Operating Partner becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he, she or it has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he, she or it will honor those obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.
While neither M. Klein and Company nor any of our Strategic and Operating Partners will have any duty to offer acquisition opportunities to us, they may become aware of a potential transaction that is an attractive opportunity for us, which they may decide to share with us. Conflicts may arise from their affiliation with our company, their provision of services both to us and to third-party clients, as well as from actions undertaken by them for their own account. In performing services for other clients and also when acting for their own account, they may take commercial steps which may have an adverse effect on us. Any of M. Klein and Company’s or our Strategic and Operating Partners’ other activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners or their respective clients or counterparties may at times be averse to ours. Please see “Proposed Business—Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest Relating to M. Klein and Company” for additional information regarding certain potential conflicts of interest relating to M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors, or of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, or policies applicable to M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may
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become involved, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners 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 of their existing or future blank check companies, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. As a result, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it has sponsored 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. There are no contractual obligations governing the allocation of opportunities among the various blank check companies. Any determination as to which blank check company will pursue a particular acquisition target will be made based on the circumstances of the particular situation, including but not limited to the relative sizes of the blank check companies compared to the sizes of the targets, the need or desire for additional financings and the relevant experience of the directors, officers and Operating Partners involved with a particular blank check company. Mr. Klein currently does not have any existing contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties to offer acquisition opportunities to such parties unless presented to him solely in his capacity as a director or officer of such parties. However, no assurance can be given that Mr. Klein will not in the future, agree or be required, pursuant to additional contractual obligations or fiduciary duties, to offer acquisition opportunities coming to his attention to other entities.
Because there are numerous 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 target 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. Thus, our ability to identify and evaluate a target company may be impacted by significant competition among other special purpose acquisition companies in pursuing business combination transaction candidates and significant competition may impact the attractiveness of the acquisition terms that we will be able to negotiate.
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 units, 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
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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. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Prior SPAC Experience
Our Chairman and CEO, Michael Klein, and the members of our management team have extensive experience with blank check companies and have served as executive officers and directors in nine prior SPACs, five of which successfully completed business combinations with substantial committed capital.
| • | Churchill I (2018): Churchill Capital Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $690 million initial public offering in September 2018 and merged in May 2019 with Clarivate, a provider of comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, analytical tools, and services. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in May 2019, Churchill Capital Corp delivered approximately $705 million of gross transaction proceeds to Clarivate. There were redemptions of less than 0.01% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp arranged PIPE financing for $15 million in connection with the business combination. Post closing of the business combination, the Clarivate (NYSE:CLTV) common stock reached a high of $34.79 per share on June 7, 2021. As of April 25, 2025, Clarivate ordinary shares closed at $3.62 per share. |
| • | Churchill II (2019): Churchill Capital Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $690 million initial public offering in July 2019. In June 2021, Churchill Capital Corp II merged with both Software Luxembourg Holding S.A. (“Skillsoft”), a provider of digital learning and talent management solutions, and Global Knowledge Training LLC, a provider of IT and professional skills development. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in June 2021, Churchill Capital Corp II delivered approximately $876.5 million of gross transaction proceeds to Skillsoft. There were redemptions of approximately 50.3% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp II arranged PIPE financing for $530 million in connection with the business combination. Post closing of the business combination, the Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL) common stock reached a high of $257.60 per share on November 15, 2021. As of April 25, 2025, Skillsoft common stock closed at $20.85 per share. |
| • | Churchill III (2020): Churchill Capital Corp III, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $1.1 billion initial public offering in February 2020. In October 2020, Churchill Capital Corp III merged with Claritev Corporation (formerly known as MultiPlan, Inc.), a technology-enabled provider of end-to-end healthcare cost management solutions. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in October 2020, Churchill Capital Corp III delivered approximately $3.6 billion of gross transaction proceeds to Claritev. There were redemptions of approximately 7.9% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp III arranged PIPE financing for $2.6 billion. Post closing of the business combination, the Claritev (NYSE: CTEV) common stock reached a high of $418.80 per share on November 9, 2020. As of April 25, 2025, Claritev common stock closed at $22.99 per share. |
| • | Churchill IV (2020): Churchill Capital Corp IV, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $2.07 billion initial public offering in August 2020. In July 2021, Churchill Capital Corp IV merged with Lucid Group, Inc., a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in July 2021, Churchill Capital Corp IV delivered |
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| approximately $4.6 billion of gross transaction proceeds to Lucid. There were redemptions of less than 0.01% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp IV arranged PIPE financing for $2.5 billion. Post closing of the business combination, Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) common stock reached a high of $57.75 per share on November 17, 2021. As of April 25, 2025, Lucid common stock closed at $2.50 per share. |
| • | Churchill V (2020): Churchill Capital Corp V, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $500 million initial public offering in December 2020. Churchill Capital Corp V elected to not complete an initial business combination and in October 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. |
| • | Churchill VI (2021): Churchill Capital Corp VI, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $552 million initial public offering in February 2021. Churchill Capital Corp VI elected to not complete an initial business combination and in December 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. |
| • | Churchill VII (2021): Churchill Capital Corp VII, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $1.38 billion initial public offering in February 2021. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq Holdings Limited (“CorpAcq”), a corporate compounder with a record of acquiring and supporting founder-led businesses. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. |
| • | AltC Acquisition Corp (2021): AltC Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $500 million initial public offering in July 2021. AltC Acquisition Corp was formally known as Churchill Capital Corp VIII, the eighth corporation in the Churchill series of special purpose acquisition corporations. In July 2023, AltC Acquisition Corp entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Oklo Inc., a fission technology and nuclear fuel recycling company which seeks to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy globally through the design and deployment of next-generation fast reactor technology. In October 2023, the AltC Acquisition Corp stockholders approved a nine-month extension of the SPAC to provide sufficient time for the closing of the announced business combination with Oklo. There were redemptions of approximately 44.4% by the public shareholders in connection with the nine-month extension vote. AltC Acquisition Corp retained in excess of $300 million in its trust account following the extension. In May 2024, AltC Acquisition Corp stockholders approved the business combination with Oklo. At closing of the business combination, AltC Acquisition Corp delivered approximately $306 million of gross transaction proceeds to Oklo. There were redemptions of less than 0.01% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Post closing of the business combination, the Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) common stock reached a high of $59.14 per share on February 7, 2025. As of April 25, 2025, Oklo common stock closed at $23.74 per share. |
| • | Churchill Capital Corp. IX (2024): Churchill Capital Corp IX, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $287.5 million initial public offering in May 2024. Churchill Capital Corp IX is currently searching for a business combination target. As of April 25, 2025, Churchill Capital Corp IX (NASDAQ:CCIX) Class A ordinary shares closed at $10.85 per share. |
Sponsor Information
Our sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company, which was recently formed to invest in our company. 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. Michael Klein is the controlling shareholder of M. Klein Associates Inc., which is the managing member of Churchill
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Sponsor X LLC, and controls the management of our sponsor, including the exercise of voting and investment discretion over the securities of our company held by our sponsor. The securities beneficially owned by Churchill Sponsor X LLC may also be deemed to be beneficially owned by Mr. Klein. Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. Separately, BTIG, LLC will be admitted as a member of our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering and will be allocated interests in our sponsor corresponding to 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount. BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI will not have voting or dispositive control of such securities while such securities are held by our sponsor, and thus disclaim beneficial ownership of such securities except to the extent of their respective pecuniary interests. In addition, our independent directors may each receive, for their services as a director, an indirect interest in founder shares through membership interests in our sponsor but would have no right to control the sponsor or participate in any decision regarding the disposal of any security held by the sponsor, or otherwise. As of the date of this prospectus, other than Mr. Klein and M. Klein Associates Inc., no other person has a direct or indirect material interest in our sponsor. Other than our management team, none of the other members of our sponsor will participate in our company’s activities. Assuming, as described above, BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI are issued membership interests in our sponsor, Mr. Klein will hold approximately 80% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the founder shares (approximately 80% in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) and approximately 17% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the private placement units (including in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full). The managing member expects to admit third party accredited investors with prior business relationships with the managing member as members of the sponsor holding approximately 13% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the founder shares and approximately 67% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the private placement units. Such parties will have no right to control the sponsor or participate in any decision regarding the disposal of any security held by the sponsor, and will not have any direct or indirect material interest in our sponsor. Additionally, M. Klein and Company has established strategic and working relationships with Strategic Partners and Operating Partners. Such Strategic Partners and Operating Partners may, but have not as of the date of this prospectus, invest in our sponsor, thereby sharing in the appreciation of founder shares and private placement units and assist M. Klein and Company in evaluating potential acquisition targets. Such parties will have no right to control the sponsor or participate in any decision regarding the disposal of any security held by the sponsor, and will not have any direct or indirect material interest in our sponsor.
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 or |
Consideration Paid or to be Paid | ||
| M. Klein & Associates | $30,000 per month | Office space, administrative and shared personnel support services | ||
| Churchill Sponsor X LLC | 8,625,000 Class B Ordinary Shares (of which 1,125,000 are subject to forfeiture to the extent the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option) | $25,000 | ||
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| Entity/Individual |
Amount of Compensation to be Received or |
Consideration Paid or to be Paid | ||
| 300,000 Private Placement Units to be purchased simultaneously with the closing of this offering | $300,000 | |||
| Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination | Services in connection with identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination | |||
| Up to $600,000 | Repayment of loans made to us to cover offering related and organizational expenses. | |||
| Up to $1,500,000 in working capital loans, which loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit | Working capital loans to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial business combination | |||
| Holders of Class B ordinary shares |
Anti-dilution protection upon conversion into Class A ordinary shares at a greater than one-to-one ratio | Issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable in connection with the conversion of the founder shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. | ||
| Churchill Sponsor X LLC, our officers, directors, or our or their affiliates | Finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee | Any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination.
We may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets or providing financial advisory services, and may pay such affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. | ||
Because our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price of $.003 per share, our public shareholders will incur immediate and substantial dilution upon the closing of this offering, assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units. Further, the Class A ordinary shares issuable in connection with the conversion of the founder shares may result in material dilution to our public shareholders due to the anti-dilution rights of our founder shares that may result in an issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. Additionally, our public shareholders may experience dilution from the exercise of the 300,000 private placement warrants into 300,000 Class A ordinary shares to be purchased in the private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Further, our public shareholders may experience
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material dilution if the $1,500,000 in working capital loans is fully advanced by the sponsor and the sponsor elects to convert the working capital loans into private placement units at $10.00 per unit, resulting in the sponsor receiving an additional 150,000 private placement units. See the section titled “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Management Team — The nominal purchase price paid by our initial shareholders 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.” and “Dilution.”
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, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (including any Class A ordinary shares issued pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued to the sponsor), 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 and their underlying securities issued to our sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans); provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. See the section titled “Prospectus Summary — Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
If we raise additional funds through equity or convertible debt issuances, our public shareholders may suffer significant dilution. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-for-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination.
Pursuant to a letter agreement to be entered 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 units, as summarized in the table below. In addition to the restrictions set forth below, up to 1,125,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent the over-allotment option is not exercised; further, in the event of a transfer of sponsor membership interests by members of our sponsor or their affiliates, there will be an indirect transfer of the founder shares and private placement units held by our sponsor.
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| Subject Securities |
Expiration Date |
Natural Persons and Entities Subject to Restrictions |
Exceptions to Transfer Restrictions | |||
| Founder Shares | The earlier of (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions. | Churchill Sponsor X LLC
Michael Klein
Jay Taragin
William Sherman |
Transfers permitted (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or their affiliates, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, transfers by gift to members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, transfers by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) transfers by virtue of the laws of our sponsor’s operating agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; and (f) transfers by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased. | |||
| Private Placement Units | 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination | Churchill Sponsor X LLC | Same as above | |||
| Any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares | 180 days after the date of this prospectus | Churchill Sponsor XLLC
Michael Klein
Jay Taragin
William Sherman |
No transfer without the prior written consent of BTIG, LLC, provided, however that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement units; (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ overallotment option (if any); (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement units and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares; and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of founder shares to any current or future independent director of the company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement, filed herewith, at the | |||
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| Subject Securities |
Expiration Date |
Natural Persons and Entities Subject to Restrictions |
Exceptions to Transfer Restrictions | |||
| time of such transfer; and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). | ||||||
| Interests in our sponsor corresponding to the 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) to be paid as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount | 180 days after the date of this prospectus | BTIG, LLC
Condor Investments VI |
Lock-up restrictions, as required by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1); such securities may not be sold during the offering, or 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 effective economic disposition of such securities by any person, except as provided in FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). | |||
Up to 1,125,000 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. In addition, in order to facilitate our initial business combination as determined by our sponsor in its sole discretion, our sponsor may surrender or forfeit, transfer or exchange our founder shares, private placement units 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. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein.
Pursuant to the letter agreement to be entered with us, each of our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed to a lock-up and restrictions on their ability to transfer, assign, or sell the founder shares and private placement units and securities underlying the private placement units. Further, the sponsor membership interests (including the interests held by the non-managing members) are locked up and not transferable because the letter agreement prohibits indirect transfers.
Our letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval. Such transfer restrictions have been amended in connection with business combinations for certain other special purpose acquisition companies. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement.
Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid
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from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals, in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions. 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 units, their component securities 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.
Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at 640 Fifth Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10019, and our telephone number is (212) 380-7500. Upon completion of this offering, our corporate website address will be www. .com. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this prospectus. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.
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 Law. 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 (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 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.
In addition, 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.
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 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 applicable to Exchange Act registered companies. 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 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
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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.
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 (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), 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 is held by non-affiliates equals or 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 shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th or (ii) 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 the prior June 30th.
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The Offering
In making your decision on 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 of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors”.
| Securities offered |
30,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of: |
| • | one Class A ordinary share; and |
| • | one-fourth of one warrant. |
| Proposed Nasdaq symbols |
We anticipate that the units, the Class A ordinary shares, and warrants, once they begin separate trading, will be listed on Nasdaq under the following symbols: |
| Units: “CCCXU” |
| Class A ordinary shares: “CCCX” |
| Warrants: “CCCXW” |
| Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants |
The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising 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 BTIG, LLC 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 warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least four units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
| Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K |
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which |
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| is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option. |
Units:
| Number outstanding before this offering |
0 |
| Number of private placement units to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
300,000 |
| Number outstanding after this offering |
30,300,000(1) |
Ordinary Shares:
| Number outstanding before this offering |
8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares(2)(3) |
| Number outstanding after this offering and private placement |
37,800,000 Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares(1)(3)(4) |
Warrants:
| Number of private placement warrants to be sold as part of private placement units in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
75,000(1) |
| Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement |
7,575,000(1)(5) |
| Exercisability |
Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. |
| Exercise price |
$11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustment as described herein. |
| (1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 1,125,000 founder shares. |
| (2) | Includes up to 1,125,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised. |
| (3) | The ordinary shares included in the units are Class A ordinary shares. Founder shares are classified as Class B ordinary shares, which shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti- dilution rights.” We refer to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares collectively herein as our ordinary shares. |
| (4) | Includes 30,000,000 public shares, 7,500,000 founder shares and 300,000 private placement shares. |
| (5) | Includes 7,500,000 public warrants and 75,000 private placement warrants. |
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| Exercise period |
The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement including as a result of a notice of redemption described under “Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00”). |
| We are registering the issuance of Class A ordinary shares that are issuable upon exercise of the warrants because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination, which may be within one year of this offering. |
| However, because the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of the initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of the initial business combination, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of the initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement. We will be required to use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. |
| The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
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| The private placement warrants underlying the private placement units will not expire except upon liquidation; provided, however, that for so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA rules. |
| Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 |
Beginning 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants for cash: |
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the “30-day redemption period”; and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted and described under “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 warrantholders (such price, the “market value”). |
| We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout such 30 trading day period and the 30-day redemption period. 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. |
| None of the private placement warrants underlying the private placement units will be redeemable by us. |
| Appointment of directors; voting rights |
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment or removal of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable 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 |
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| by applicable law or stock exchange rule, holders of our Class A ordinary shares and holders of our Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. |
| In addition, to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside of the Cayman Islands, including the adoption of the organizational documents for such jurisdiction, our board of directors will be able to approve such continuation and organizational documents without the vote of any holders of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. |
| Founder shares |
On February 15, 2024, our sponsor acquired an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of aggregate founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share dividend or surrender, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares, immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our public shareholders may incur material dilution due to the anti-dilution adjustments that result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. Up to 1,125,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor (or its permitted transferees) depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ overallotment option is not exercised so that the number of founder shares will remain equal to 20% of our ordinary shares after this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). BTIG, LLC, the representative of the underwriters of this offering, and Condor Investments VI will be admitted as members of our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering and will be allocated interests in our sponsor corresponding to an aggregate of 500,000 founder shares (or up to an aggregate of 545,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full), 200,000 of which will be allocated in connection with Condor Investments VI’s investment in our sponsor and the remainder of which represent upfront underwriting compensation to BTIG, LLC in lieu of a cash underwriting discount. |
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| The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
| • | the founder shares are Class B ordinary shares that automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein; |
| • | only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination; |
| • | the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
| • | our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to (i) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) 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) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window; although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). |
| If we 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. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of at least one third of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. For purposes of seeking approval of the requisite majority of our outstanding ordinary shares voted, abstentions and non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in respect of |
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| such ordinary resolution, if all outstanding shares are voted on a resolution to approve our initial business combination, in addition |
to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriters’ overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, vote their shares, we would not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares and private placement shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an initial business combination; and
| • | the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. |
| Transfer restrictions on founder shares |
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier of (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions (except as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units”). |
| We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. For more information, see “Sponsor Information” and “Principal Shareholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units.” |
| Founder shares conversion and anti- dilution rights |
We have issued 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to 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 |
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| 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, on an as-converted basis, 20% of (i) the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (including any Class A ordinary shares issued pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued to the sponsor), 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 and their underlying securities issued to our sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans ); provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. |
| Private placement units and underlying securities |
Our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the private placement units (and the underlying securities) will expire worthless. Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. |
| Our sponsor has agreed to (i) waive its redemption rights with respect to its private placement shares in connection with the completion of our 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 our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares 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 we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. In addition, our sponsor has agreed to vote any private placement shares held by it in favor of our initial business combination. |
| The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation; provided, however, |
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| that for so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA rules. |
| Transfer restrictions on private placement units |
The private placement units (including the underlying private |
placement warrants, the private placement shares 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 Units”.
| If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a “cashless basis”, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants in exchange for a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (A) the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, and (B) the excess of the “10-day average closing price” (as defined below), as of the date prior to the date on which notice of exercise is sent or given to the warrant agent less the warrant price by (y) such 10-day average closing price. The “10-day average closing price” shall mean, as of any date, the average last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to such date. If the holders of private placement warrants are affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit 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 sell the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis” is appropriate. For more information, see “Sponsor Information” and “Principal Shareholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units.” |
| Proceeds to be held in trust account |
Nasdaq rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units described in this prospectus, $300.0 million, or $10.00 per unit ($345.0 million, or $10.00 per unit, if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and $3 million will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $3.6 million (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting |
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| discounts and commissions, which may be reduced to $1.5 million in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”. |
| Except with respect to permitted withdrawals, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (a) the completion |
of our initial business combination (including the release of funds to pay any amounts due to any public shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights in connection therewith), (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, or (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
| Ability to extend time to complete initial business combination |
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we will have until 24 months from the closing of this offering, or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, to complete an initial business combination. 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 in a manner that would affect 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 provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity). As described herein, our initial shareholders, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed that they will not propose any such amendment unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. No redemption rights shall be offered to our public shareholders in connection with any such extension from 24 months to 27 months if we have executed |
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| a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. |
If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, 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, 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.
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 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 units will be worthless.
| Anticipated expenses and funding sources |
Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except permitted withdrawals and/or to redeem our public shares as described herein. The proceeds held in the trust account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. and, may at any time be held as cash or cash items, including in demand deposit accounts at a bank. We will disclose in each quarterly and annual report filed with the SEC prior to our initial business combination whether the proceeds deposited in the trust account are invested in U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds or a combination thereof or as cash or cash items, including in demand deposit accounts. Additionally, when we determine (based on our management team’s ongoing assessment of all factors related to our potential status under the Investment Company Act) to hold the funds in the trust account as cash or in demand deposit accounts at a bank, the amount of interest we may |
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| receive would likely be less. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from: |
| • | permitted withdrawals (which can only be made from interest and not from the principal held in the trust account); |
| • | the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $2,000,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $1.0 million in expenses relating to this offering; and |
| • | any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. |
| Conditions to completing our initial business combination |
There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes paid or payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for such business combination. |
| If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. |
| 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 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. However, we will only complete a business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise is not 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 the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we |
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| could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the 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 transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for seeking shareholder approval or for purposes of a tender offer, as applicable. |
| Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates |
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, initial shareholders, 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. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic 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 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. 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, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase 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 |
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| sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
| • | if our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates were to purchase 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction; |
| • | our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
| • | the purpose of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; |
| • | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
| • | the identities of our security holders who sold to our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; and |
| • | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
| See “Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. |
| The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain |
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| amount of cash at the closing of the initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. |
| There is no limit on the number of public shares and public warrants that our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase pursuant to the transactions described above, subject to applicable law and Nasdaq rules. |
| Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares (including any securities for which such shares are exchanged in any prior migration or other restructuring) 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-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 discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our business combination. |
| Manner of conducting redemptions |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares (including any securities for which such shares are exchanged in any prior migration or other restructuring) 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. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, 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 |
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| 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. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock or 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 require shareholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with its shareholder approval rules. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. |
| If we hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, 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. |
| If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution for such business combination under Cayman Islands law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or such higher approval threshold as may be required by law. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution, which requires the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds 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. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of the outstanding shares of the company representing at least one-third (1/3) of the voting power of all outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial shareholders will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the requisite majority of our outstanding ordinary shares voted, abstentions and non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in respect of such ordinary resolution, if all outstanding shares are voted on a resolution to approve our initial business combination, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted |
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| and the underwriter’s overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, vote their shares, regardless of such vote pertains to an ordinary resolution or a special resolution of two-thirds of our ordinary shares voted at the meeting, we would not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares and private placement shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an 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. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. |
| 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 proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination (or any later date determined by our board of directors) in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target business, we will promptly return any certificates delivered, or shares tendered electronically, by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares. |
| 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 our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural |
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| 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. |
| Upon the public announcement of our business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A 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 the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
Our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of 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 arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
| Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding 15% or more 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated |
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| memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public 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 our management 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 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 business combination. |
| Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our memorandum and articles of association |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which would require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting, and amendments relating to the company’s continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands, which would require the approval of our board of directors) related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by a resolution passed by at least a two-thirds 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 a general meeting of the company of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been duly given. Corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust |
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| account may be amended if approved by holders of at least two thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote (in person or by proxy) in a general meeting. Our initial shareholders, who will beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will 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, officers and directors have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares. For example, our board of directors may propose such an amendment if it determines that additional time is necessary to complete our initial business combination. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, such an amendment would need to be approved by a resolution passed by at least a two-thirds 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 a general meeting of the company of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been duly given. In such event, we will conduct a proxy solicitation and distribute proxy materials pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act seeking shareholder approval of such proposal, and in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon shareholder approval of such amendment. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person. |
| Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination |
On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds 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 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 |
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| underwriting discounts and 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, 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 businesses or assets or for working capital. |
| Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering (or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering) or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, to consummate an initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, 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, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter (and subject to lawfully available funds therefor), redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust 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 net of taxes payable), 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 (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire without value to the holder if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. |
| Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any |
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| founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial shareholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, 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 completion window. |
| The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate 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. |
| 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 (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals: |
| • | repayment of up to an aggregate of $600,000 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 the managing member of our sponsor, in an amount equal to $30,000 per month; |
| • | payment of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination; |
| • | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; |
| • | repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors to us to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and underlying securities would be identical to the private placement Units; and |
| • | our independent directors may each receive, for their services as a director, an indirect interest in founder shares through membership interests in our sponsor. |
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| • | 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. |
| In addition, we have agreed pursuant to the administrative services and indemnification agreement with the managing member of our sponsor relating to the monthly reimbursement for office space and administrative services described above, that we will indemnify the managing member of our sponsor from any claims arising out of or relating to this offering or the company’s operations or conduct of the company’s business (including our initial business combination) or any claim against the managing member of our sponsor alleging any expressed or implied management or endorsement by the managing member of our sponsor of any of the company’s activities or any express or implied association between the managing member of our sponsor and the company or any of its affiliates, which agreement will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account. |
| Audit Committee |
We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors as and when required by Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.” |
| Conflicts of Interest |
Mr. Klein is the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company and acts as a strategic advisor to its clients. M. Klein and Company is an affiliate of our sponsor. Mr. Klein has a fiduciary duty to M. Klein and Company. As a result, Mr. Klein may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to clients of M. Klein and Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Mr. Klein will have no duty to offer acquisition opportunities to the company unless presented to him solely in his capacity as an officer or director of the company and after he has satisfied his contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. |
| As a result, M. Klein and Company’s clients may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. If any of them decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within M. Klein and Company, including by Mr. Klein and other persons who may make decisions for the company, may be suitable both for us and for M. Klein and Company or any of its clients, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. To the fullest extent permitted by law, none of Mr. Klein, M. Klein and Company or members of our management team who are also employed by |
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| M. Klein and Company have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware unless it is offered to them solely in their capacity as a director or officer of the company and after they have satisfied their contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties (including other special purpose acquisition companies they are or may become involved with). |
| Our Strategic and Operating Partners and their personnel, if any, may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to clients or other parties. To the fullest extent permitted by law, such persons will have no duty to offer acquisition opportunities to the company unless presented to them solely in their capacity as a director of the company and after they have satisfied any contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. |
| As a result, such persons may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. Consequently, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas may be suitable both for us and for a Strategic Partner or Operating Partner or any of its clients, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. |
| In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners 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 of their existing or future blank check companies, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. As a result, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it has sponsored 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. There are no contractual obligations governing the allocation of opportunities among the various blank check companies. Any determination as to which blank check company will pursue a particular acquisition target will be made based on the circumstances of the particular situation, including but not limited to the relative sizes of the blank check companies compared to the sizes of the targets, the need or desire for additional financings and the relevant experience of the directors, officers and Operating Partners involved with a particular blank check company. Mr. Klein currently does not have any existing contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties to offer acquisition opportunities to such parties unless |
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| presented to him solely in his capacity as a director or officer of such parties. However, no assurance can be given that Mr. Klein will not in the future, agree or be required, pursuant to additional contractual obligations or fiduciary duties, to offer acquisition opportunities coming to his attention to other entities. |
| Our initial shareholders will own 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law. As a result, in respect of such ordinary resolution, if all outstanding shares are voted on a resolution to approve our initial business combination, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriter’s overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, vote their shares, we would not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares and private placement shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an initial business combination. |
| Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals. If we agree to pay our sponsor or a member of our management team any such 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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction as any such fee may not be paid unless we consummate such business combination. See “Risk Factors—We may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.” |
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| As described in “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for 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. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. |
| In addition, none of the Strategic Partners or Operating Partners or their personnel are officers or directors of our company and therefore owe us no fiduciary duties as such. While we expect that they will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. Our Strategic and Operating Partner may have fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to other organizations to present business combination opportunities to such other organizations rather than to us. Accordingly, if any Strategic or Operating Partner becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he, she or it has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he, she or it will honor those obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. |
| While neither M. Klein and Company nor any of our Strategic and Operating Partners will have any duty to offer acquisition opportunities to us, they may become aware of a potential transaction that is an attractive opportunity for us, which they may decide to share with us. Conflicts may arise from their affiliation with our company, their provision of services both to us and to third-party |
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| clients, as well as from actions undertaken by them for their own account. In performing services for other clients and also when acting for their own account, they may take commercial steps which may have an adverse effect on us. Any of M. Klein and Company’s or our Strategic and Operating Partners’ other activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners or their respective clients or counterparties may at times be averse to ours. Please see “Proposed Business—Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest Relating to M. Klein and Company” for additional information regarding certain potential conflicts of interest relating to M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners. |
| We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors, or of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, or policies applicable to M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. |
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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction 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, officers or directors; 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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction 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.
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, and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within the completion window, 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.
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Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor will have invested in us an aggregate of $3,025,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares (or approximately $0.004 per share) and the $3,000,000 purchase price for the private placement units (or $10.00 per unit), 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 and if our sponsor were required to pay cash to exercise the private placement warrants, 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 executive 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 executive 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 executive 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.
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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.”
| The potential conflicts described above may limit our ability to enter into a business combination or other transactions. These circumstances could give rise to numerous situations where interests may conflict. There can be no assurance that these or other conflicts of interest with the potential for adverse effects on the company and investors will not arise. |
| 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 public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or by a prospective target business with which we have entered into a letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) 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 permitted withdrawals. |
| This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party that 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, 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. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. |
| We have agreed to indemnify our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law from any claims made by us or a third party in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by them or any liability arising with respect to their activities in connection with our affairs, to the extent that such indemnification, hold harmless and exoneration obligations with respect to such matters are not expressly covered by |
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| a separate written agreement between us and any such party. Such indemnity will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account. |
Risks
We are a blank check company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” of this prospectus. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
| • | We are a company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| • | Our public 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. |
| • | 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. |
| • | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek shareholder approval of such business combination. |
| • | Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the status of debt and equity markets. |
| • | We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, 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 their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. |
| • | 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 initial shareholders 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. |
| • | Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector 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. |
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| • | Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines. |
| • | We may seek business combination opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues, cash flows or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel. |
| • | Transactions in connection with or in anticipation of our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our shareholders and warrantholders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain. |
| • | We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors. |
| • | We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the warrant could be converted into cash or shares (at a ratio different than initially provided), the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval. |
| • | We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants without value to the holder. |
| • | Past performance by our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
| • | We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest. |
| • | Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial 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. |
| • | Our initial shareholders will control the appointment and removal 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 and remove all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote and board approval, potentially in a manner that you do not support. |
| • | Changes in laws or regulations (including the adoption of policies by governing administrations), 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. |
| • | An investment in our securities, and certain subsequent transactions with respect to our securities, may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences for an investor, including uncertainty |
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| with respect to the allocation of basis among the components of our units, the tax treatment of a cashless exercise of public warrants and the applicable holding period of our Class A ordinary shares. |
| • | We are likely to be treated as a passive foreign investment company, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors. |
| • | 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. |
| • | 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; |
| • | Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the continued effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets, as well as protectionist legislation in our target markets. |
| • | 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 Israel-Hamas conflict. |
| • | 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. |
| • | The other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. |
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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 are a company with no operating history and no revenues and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are an exempted company established in 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 business combination. If we fail to complete our 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 choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, 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 complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see “Proposed Business—Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, 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 our initial business combination. 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.
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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.
Our initial shareholders will own 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law. As a result, in respect of such ordinary resolution, if all outstanding shares are voted on a resolution to approve our initial business combination, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriter’s overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, vote their shares, we would not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares and private placement shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an initial business combination. We expect that our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% 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 units). Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The redemption of our public 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 minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public 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. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash condition as described above, we would not proceed with such 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 will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our 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
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considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.
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 business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the completion window may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our initial business combination deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within the completion window. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the status of debt and equity markets.
Our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by certain events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, 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 their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within the completion window after the closing of this offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not
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more than ten business days thereafter (and subject to lawfully available funds therefor), redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or possibly less, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. 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 described in this “Risk Factors” section.
We may not be able to complete an initial business combination because such initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirements, 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.
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. While our sponsor is a limited liability company formed in Delaware and is not controlled by, nor does it have substantial ties with, a non-U.S. person, investments that result in “control” of a U.S. business by a 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 any 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
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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 (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter (and subject to lawfully available funds therefor), redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust 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 net of taxes payable), 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 (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. 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.
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 target 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.
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 initially be held in banks or other financial institutions and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. 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. Our cash held in
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these 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.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may elect to enter into certain transactions, including purchasing shares or public warrants from public shareholders or public warrantholders, which may influence the outcome of a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to all applicable laws (including with respect to material non-public information), our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our 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 the purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants 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. Additionally, in the event our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase shares or warrants
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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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
| • | if our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates were to purchase 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not be voted in favor of or against approving the business combination transaction; |
| • | our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
| • | the purpose of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; |
| • | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
| • | the identities of our security holders who sold to our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; and |
| • | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
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, are currently, or may become, involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including related to those companies or otherwise. This 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. Certain of those persons have been, are currently or may in the future become involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including relating to the business affairs of such companies, transactions entered into by such companies, or otherwise. In his capacities both as a director of Churchill Capital Corp. III (“C3”) and as a controlling stockholder of that entity’s sponsor, Churchill Sponsor III, LLC (the “C3 Sponsor”), Michael Klein, our Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman, was a named defendant in several litigations brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery and consolidated as In re Multiplan Stockholders Litigation, C.A. No. 2021-0300-LWW. The consolidated complaint underlying the In re Multiplan litigation revolved around allegations that C3’s fiduciaries, including Mr. Klein and C3 Sponsor, specifically withheld
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information related to Multiplan’s largest customer, thereby impairing the rights of C3’s public stockholders to divest their shares before C3 closed its business combination with MultiPlan, Inc. The defendants in In re Multiplan moved to dismiss the consolidated complaint, which motion was denied in a memorandum opinion dated January 3, 2022; the parties settled this litigation on November 17, 2022. Any such litigation, investigations or other proceedings 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.
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 be required to comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents , as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents , as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. For example, we may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination (or any later date determined by our board of directors) in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business—Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”
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 will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including the Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell the Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our 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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Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
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, including, without limitation, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, 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 will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. Our sponsor, any of its affiliates or any of their respective clients may make additional investments in us, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or other duty to do so. Please see “Proposed Business—Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest Relating to M. Klein and Company” for a discussion on certain limitations related to other resources M. Klein and Company may, but is under no obligation or other duty to, provide us.
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 public shares that are redeemed, 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 and completing a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, 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 will expire worthless. Please 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 units not being held in the trust account are insufficient, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months (or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering), assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that 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 next 24 months (or 27 months, as applicable); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately
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$10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. 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 described in this “Risk Factors” section.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months or 27 months, as applicable, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search for a business combination, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, only approximately $2,000,000 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 $1,000,000, 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 $1,000,000, 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 we may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. 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 described in this “Risk Factors” section.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, 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 in relation to 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.
There can be no assurance that extensive and customary diligence will identify all material issues in relation to a particular business combination target or that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through such diligence. 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
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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 shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Changes in laws or regulations (including the adoption of policies by governing administrations), 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. These governing bodies may seek to change laws and regulations, as well as adopt new policies, including tariffs and other economic policies, that could negatively impact us or a target business with which we seek to consummate an initial business combination. We will also be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements and numerous complex tax laws. 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 (the “SPAC Rules”) 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 de-SPAC transactions; (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 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 Company Act, including its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals.
Compliance with the SPAC Rules and related guidance may increase the costs of and the time needed to negotiate and complete an initial business combination and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination.
Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector 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 complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, be permitted to effectuate our 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 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 revenues or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and
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operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders 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 initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of 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 law, 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
We may seek business combination opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues, cash flows or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.
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 revenues, cash flows 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, cash flows or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors 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 and 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 business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If
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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 proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm. However, our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.
Transactions in connection with or in anticipation of our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our shareholders and warrantholders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.
Although we will attempt to structure transactions in connection with our initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. For example, in anticipation of or as a result of our initial business combination, we may enter into one or more transactions that require shareholders and/or warrantholders to recognize gain or income for tax purposes or otherwise increase their tax burden without prior notice to or approval from our shareholders and warrantholders. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrantholders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a shareholder or a warrantholder may be required to satisfy any liability resulting from any such transactions with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of such holder’s shares or public warrants.
Furthermore, we will likely effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the Cayman Islands and, possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions, and we may reincorporate in a different jurisdiction in connection therewith (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located). For example, in anticipation of engaging in a business combination with certain target companies, we may unilaterally convert into a U.S. company without notice pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles, even if such a business combination ultimately is not achieved. If we effect any such transaction, including such a conversion, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in many jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by taxing authorities. This additional complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition. In addition, shareholders and warrantholders may be subject to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after any such transaction.
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 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; |
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| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary shares; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares if declared, to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions and fund 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; |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and |
| • | other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, 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.
Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units, up to $303.0 million (or up to $348.0 million if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes $3.0 million, including if the overallotment option is exercised in full, for payment of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions). $2,000,000 will be held outside the trust account for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses.
We may effectuate our 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 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. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| • | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or |
| • | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our business combination.
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We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our business combination and may give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In order to effectuate our initial business combination, we may seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or other governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination but that our shareholders or warrantholders may not support.
Amending 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, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity. 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.
In order to effectuate a business combination, we may amend various provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and other governing instruments, including the warrant agreement, the underwriting agreement relating to this offering, the letter agreement among us and our sponsor, officers and directors, and the registration rights agreement among us and our initial shareholders. These agreements contain various provisions that our public shareholders might deem to be material. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Except in relation to certain provisions of the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, any such amendments would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or other governing instruments or change our industry focus in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
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We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business, we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our business combination.
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 target historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, 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 the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
Other than amendments relating to the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination (which would require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting) and amendments relating to the company’s continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands (which would require the approval of our board of directors), the 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 (in person or by proxy) 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
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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 will provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which would require the approval of a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting, and amendments relating to the company’s continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands, which would require the approval of our board of directors) related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by a resolution passed by at least a two-thirds 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 a general meeting of the company of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been duly given. Corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote (in person or by proxy) in a general meeting. Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will 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 a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may seek to pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement, the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees. Our public shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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Our current officers may not remain in their positions following our business combination. We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may complete our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the completion window our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such time period before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the completion window, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and less up to $100,000 of interest earned thereon to pay dissolution expenses), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purpose 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 shareholders as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the initial 24 months (or 27 months, as applicable) before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed
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transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
If we pursue a target business with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| • | higher costs and difficulties inherent in executing cross-border transactions, managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets; |
| • | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| • | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| • | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| • | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| • | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| • | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| • | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| • | longer payment cycles; |
| • | tax issues, including complex withholding or other tax regimes which may apply in connection with our business combination or to our structure following our business combination, variations in tax laws as compared to the United States, and potential changes in the applicable tax laws in the United States and/or relevant non-U.S. jurisdictions; |
| • | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| • | rates of inflation; |
| • | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| • | cultural and language differences; |
| • | employment regulations; |
| • | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
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| • | corruption; |
| • | protection of intellectual property; |
| • | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| • | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| • | terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; |
| • | deterioration of political relations with the United States; and |
| • | 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 initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States 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, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors 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 United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’s ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in non-U.S. regions fluctuates and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
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If we acquire a non-U.S. target, our results of operations may be negatively impacted because of the costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations.
We may pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination. Managing a business, operations, personnel or assets in another country is challenging and costly. Any management that we may have (whether based abroad or in the U.S.) may be inexperienced in cross- border business practices and unaware of significant differences in accounting rules, legal regimes and labor practices. Even with a seasoned and experienced management team, the costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations, personnel and assets can be significant (and much higher than in a purely domestic business) and may negatively impact our financial and operational performance.
If social unrest, acts of terrorism, regime changes, changes in laws and regulations, political upheaval or policy changes or enactments occur in a country in which we may operate after we effect our initial business combination, it may result in a negative impact on our business.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, political events in another country may significantly affect our business, assets or operations. Social unrest, acts of terrorism, regime changes, changes in laws and regulations, political upheaval, and policy changes or enactments could negatively impact our business in a particular country.
Many countries have difficult and unpredictable legal systems and underdeveloped laws and regulations that are unclear and subject to corruption and inexperience, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, our ability to seek and enforce legal protections, including with respect to intellectual property and other property rights, or to defend ourselves with regard to legal actions taken against us in a given country, may be difficult or impossible, which could adversely impact our operations, assets or financial condition.
Rules and regulations in many countries are often ambiguous or open to differing interpretation by responsible individuals and agencies at the municipal, state, regional and federal levels. The attitudes and actions of such individuals and agencies are often difficult to predict and inconsistent.
Delay with respect to the enforcement of particular rules and regulations, including those relating to customs, tax, environmental and labor, could cause serious disruption to operations abroad and negatively impact our results.
Because foreign law could govern almost all of our material agreements, we may not be able to enforce our rights within such jurisdiction or elsewhere, which could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, foreign law could govern almost all of our material agreements. The target business may not be able to enforce any of its material agreements or enforce remedies for breaches of those agreements outside of such foreign jurisdiction’s legal system. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws and contracts in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. As a result, the inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business and business opportunities.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may
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govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors and each of the non-independent directors nominated by our sponsor, to approve our initial business combination, which may have the effect of delaying or preventing a business combination that our public shareholders would consider favorable.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors and each of the non-independent directors nominated by our sponsor, to approve our initial business combination. Accordingly, it is unlikely that we will be able to enter into an initial business combination unless our sponsor’s members find the target and the business combination attractive. This may make it more difficult for us to approve and enter into an initial business combination than other blank check companies and could result in us not pursuing an acquisition target or other board or corporate action that our public shareholders would find favorable.
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) at a price of $10.00 per share or less, or at a price which approximates the per-share amounts in our trust account at such time. 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. Such agreements are intended to ensure a return on investment in a PIPE transaction to the investor in return for funds facilitating the sponsor’s completion of the business combination or providing sufficient liquidity.
If we issue new 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, you will not have certain warrant exercise price protections that other blank check companies provide.
Many blank check companies have provisions in their warrant agreements which facilitate the downward adjustment of the warrant exercise price if they issue securities below a certain threshold amount, generally $9.20 per share, subject to certain additional conditions including that the amount sold at such price be a certain percentage of the total amount raised in connection with the initial business combination and that the volume weighted average price per share for a certain time period following the initial business combination be below a certain price. We do not have such a provision in our warrant agreement. As a result, to the extent we choose to issue any such shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination at a value materially less than the $10.00 per unit at which we are offering them under the prospectus of which this registration statement forms a part, there would be no adjustment to your warrant exercise price (aside from typical anti-dilution adjustments that may be applicable), which adjustment would typically be 115% of the lower share price. This increases the risk that you may be unable to profitably exercise your warrants for our Class A ordinary shares, as the warrant exercise price will remain higher than it would have otherwise, and your investment in us will be at greater risk of generating a loss.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with our completion of an
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initial business combination (including the release of funds to pay any amounts due to any public shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights in connection therewith), (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Law 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 appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors elected prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors or continuing the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
We have not appointed all of our independent directors prior to the completion of this offering, and, as a result, you will not have the opportunity to review the backgrounds and qualifications of any additional independent directors we may appoint until after the completion of this offering.
Our board of directors following the completion of this offering will initially consist of Messrs. Klein and Sherman. Mr. Klein is not considered to be “independent”, as defined under Nasdaq rules, while Mr. Sherman will be “independent” under such rules. Pursuant to Nasdaq’s phase-in rules for newly listed companies, we have ninety days from the completion of this offering to have at least two independent directors, and one year from the date on which we are first listed on Nasdaq for a majority of our board of directors to be independent. We intend to utilize these phase-in periods and will appoint at least two additional independent directors within the applicable time periods. As a result, at this time you will not have the opportunity to review the backgrounds and qualifications of any additional independent directors we will appoint to our board after the completion of this offering.
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 apply to have our units listed on Nasdaq. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date our Class A ordinary shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be separately listed on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, 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 share price levels. Generally, we must maintain an average global market capitalization and a minimum number of holders
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of our securities (generally 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, the market value of our listed securities would be required to be at least $75,000,000, the market value of our unrestricted publicly held shares would be required to be at least $20,000,000 and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders of our securities, with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such 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 warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case.
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 be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities, including in connection with our initial business combination.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business— Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”
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Since only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, upon the listing of our shares on Nasdaq, Nasdaq will consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
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 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, including the requirements that:
| • | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of Nasdaq; and |
| • | 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. |
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.
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 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 only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue.
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 are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement, the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration
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statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of permitted withdrawals, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of permitted withdrawals, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.
While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment, and subject where relevant to their fiduciary duties, may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding up petition or a winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a liquidator 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 potentially 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 petition or a winding up 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 preference” or a “fraudulent conveyance, preference or disposition. “ As a result, a liquidator or a bankruptcy or other court could seek to challenge the transaction and 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 us or our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
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If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding up petition or a winding up 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 petition or a winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our liquidation or bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any liquidation or bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to
institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it
difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
As described in the risk factor above entitled “Changes in laws or regulations (including the adoption of policies by governing administrations), 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.”, the SEC ‘s adopting release with respect to the SPAC Rules provided guidance describing the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. Whether a SPAC is an investment company will be a question of facts and circumstances. 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.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may have to change our operations, wind down our operations, or register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Our activities may be restricted, including:
| • | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| • | restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. |
We may also have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| • | registration as an investment company; |
| • | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| • | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading 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. We are mindful of the SEC’s investment company definition and guidance and intend to identify and complete an initial business combination with an operating business, and not with an investment company, or to acquire minority interests in other businesses exceeding the permitted threshold.
We do not believe that our anticipated activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with
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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; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. 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, 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. However, even if the assets in our trust account are U.S. Government securities or shares of money market funds registered under the Investment Company Act and regulated pursuant to Rule 2a-7 of that Act, we could nevertheless and at any time be considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company. If we are found to be operating as an unregistered investment company, we may be required to change our operations, wind down our operations, or register as an investment company. If we are required to wind down our operations as a result of this status, and are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless, and our public shareholders would also lose the possibility of an investment opportunity in a target company as well as any potential price appreciation in the combined company following a business combination.
Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in securities or assets other than as described above. 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 solely as a temporary depository 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) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window; or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within the completion window, 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. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. Further, under the subjective test of a “investment company” pursuant to Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, even if the funds deposited in the trust account were invested in the assets discussed above, such assets, other than cash, are “securities” for purposes of the Investment Company Act and, therefore, there is a risk that we could be deemed an investment company and subject to the Investment Company Act.
We are aware of litigation claiming that certain SPACs should be considered to be investment companies. Although we believe that these claims were without merit, we cannot guarantee that we will not be deemed to be an investment company and thus subject to the Investment Company Act. In the adopting release for the 2024 SPAC Rules (as defined below), the SEC provided guidance that a SPAC’s potential status as an “investment company” depends on a variety of factors, such as a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities and “is a question of facts and circumstances” requiring individualized analysis. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete an initial business combination or may result in our winding down our operations and our liquidation. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless, and our public shareholders would also lose the possibility of an investment opportunity in a target company as well as any potential price appreciation in the combined company following a business combination.
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Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine and to imprisonment in the Cayman Islands or both.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the issuance of the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
We are registering the issuance of Class A ordinary shares that are issuable upon exercise of the warrants because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination, which may be within one year of this offering. However, because the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of the initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of the initial business combination, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of the initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement registering, under the Securities Act, the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. To exercise warrants on a cashless basis, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants in exchange for a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, and (ii) the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) such fair market value. Solely for purposes of the preceding sentence, “fair market value” shall mean the 10-day average trading price as of the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the issuance of such shares under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws, and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire without value to the holder. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase
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price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. 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 issuance of any underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders 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 concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, we have agreed with our initial shareholders to register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement units, the private placement shares, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, any Class A ordinary shares held upon the completion of this offering or acquired prior to or in connection with our initial business combination and units (and their underlying securities) that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. Assuming the founder shares convert on a one for one basis, that no units are issued upon conversion of working capital loans and that our initial shareholders do not hold any Class A ordinary shares other than the private placement shares at the completion of this offering and do not acquire any shares prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, an aggregate of up to 7,800,000 Class A ordinary shares and up to 75,000 warrants (or up to 8,925,000 Class A ordinary shares and up to 75,000 warrants if the overallotment option is exercised in full) are subject to registration under these agreements.
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 securities owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees are registered.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the warrant could be converted into cash or shares (at a ratio different than initially provided), the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or shares (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants without value to the holder.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants beginning 30 days after completion of our initial business combination and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share dividends, 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 we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the issuance of any underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us.
Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares (or up to 8,625,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), each unit containing one private placement share and one-fourth of one private placement warrant, each warrant exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. Our initial shareholders currently own an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares.
The founder shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and subject to further adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert those loans into up to an additional 150,000 private placement units, at the price of $10.00 per unit. 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 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.
Because each unit contains one-fourth of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-fourth of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole warrants will trade. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include Class A ordinary shares and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-fourth of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
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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 warrantholders 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. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the public 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 public warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our public warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the public warrant agreement is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York located in the County 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 public 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, and (y) having service of process made upon such warrantholder in any such action brought in such court to enforce the forum provisions by service upon such warrantholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrantholder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrantholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Warrantholders who are unable to bring their claims in the judicial forum of their choosing may be required to incur additional costs in pursuit of actions which are subject to our choice-of-forum provisions. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our public 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.
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 with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed it reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
| • | the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
| • | prior offerings of those companies; |
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| • | our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; |
| • | a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| • | our capital structure; |
| • | an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| • | general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and |
| • | other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
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 will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold. As a result, we may be able to complete our 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary 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, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
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 you exercise your warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
There are circumstances in which the exercise of the warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a “cashless basis.” If our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that our Class A ordinary shares satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. To exercise warrants on a cashless basis, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants in exchange for a number of Class A
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ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, and (ii) the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) such fair market value. Solely for the purposes of the preceding sentence, “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares shall mean the 10-day average trading price as of the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers or our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors, and our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and future officers and directors, to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors, and our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and future officers and directors, have agreed, and any persons who may become officers or directors prior to the initial business combination will agree, to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities convertible or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which founder shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of (i) the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (including any Class A ordinary shares issued pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued to the sponsor), 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 and their underlying securities issued to our sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans); provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
An investment in our securities, and certain subsequent transactions with respect to our securities, may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences for an investor.
An investment in our securities, and certain subsequent transactions with respect to our securities, may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences for an investor. For instance, because there is
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no authority that directly addresses the U.S. federal income tax implications of instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes of the purchase price of a unit between the Class A ordinary share and the partial public warrant to purchase Class A ordinary shares included in each unit could be challenged by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or the courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of public warrants is unclear under current law. Additionally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our Class A ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s (as defined in the section captioned “Certain Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Holder and Non-U.S. Holder Defined” below) holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be eligible for favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment. See “Certain Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” below for a summary of the principal U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. Each prospective investor is urged to consult with and rely solely upon its own tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.
Whether a redemption of Class A ordinary shares will be treated as a sale of such Class A ordinary shares for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on a shareholder’s specific facts.
The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a redemption of Class A ordinary shares will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale of such Class A ordinary shares under Section 302(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), which will depend largely on the total number of our shares treated as held by the shareholder electing to redeem Class A ordinary shares (including any shares constructively owned by the holder as a result of owning private placement warrants or public warrants or otherwise) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. If such redemption is not treated as a sale of Class A ordinary shares for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the redemption will instead be treated as a corporate distribution of cash from us. For more information about the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the redemption of Class A ordinary shares, see the sections entitled “Certain Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Ordinary Shares for Cash” or “Certain Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Ordinary Shares for Cash,” as applicable.
We are likely to be treated as a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”), which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are treated as a PFIC for any taxable year in which a U.S. Holder holds our Class A ordinary shares or warrants (regardless of whether we remain a PFIC for subsequent taxable years), such U.S. Holder may be subject to certain 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 on, among other things, the timing of our business combination, the amount of our passive income and assets in the year of the business combination, whether we combine with a U.S. or non-U.S. target company, and the amount of passive income and assets of the acquired business. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. However, we anticipate that we are likely to be treated as a PFIC in our current taxable year.
If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request by a U.S. Holder, we will endeavor to provide to such U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable such U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”) election with respect to its Class A ordinary shares, but there is no assurance that we will timely provide such required information. Furthermore, a U.S. Holder may not make a QEF election with respect to its warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares. The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF election are very complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described in this prospectus. Accordingly, U.S. investors
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are strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon their own tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules to them in their particular circumstances.
For a more detailed discussion of the PFIC rules and the related tax considerations for U.S. Holders, see the section of this prospectus captioned “Certain Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”
We may, without prior notice or shareholder approval, change our jurisdiction of incorporation, which may result in adverse legal, tax or other consequences to us, our shareholders and/or warrantholders.
We may, without prior notice or shareholder approval, change our jurisdiction of incorporation for any reason. We might change our jurisdiction of incorporation in anticipation of executing an agreement to consummate an initial business combination or the closing of an initial business combination; however, we are not limited from doing so at any other time or for any other reason. We may change our jurisdiction of incorporation in order to facilitate an initial business combination or our post-business combination holding structure. For example, if we anticipate signing an agreement to consummate an initial business combination with a target that is organized in the United States, we may change our jurisdiction of incorporation to Delaware prior to the execution of such agreement and without prior notice to or approval of our shareholders.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association permits us to change our jurisdiction of incorporation after approval by our board of directors. We are not required to notify our shareholders prior to such change or to seek the approval of our shareholders if we change our jurisdiction of incorporation prior to our initial business combination, and we anticipate that we will not be required to register such transaction under the Securities Act. If, however, we reincorporate to another jurisdiction outside of the Cayman Islands in connection with our initial business combination, and if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we anticipate that such transaction will be registered under the Securities Act. To effect the change in our jurisdiction of incorporation, we would deregister as an exempted company in the Cayman Islands and continue and domesticate as a body corporate limited by shares under the laws of another jurisdiction. In connection therewith, we expect that our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares would be exchanged for an equal number of corresponding Class A or Class B ordinary shares or common shares, as applicable, of our successor entity, and our warrants would become exercisable for Class A common or ordinary shares of our successor entity. We expect that the Class A and Class B ordinary shares or common shares in our successor entity would have rights substantially similar to those of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. However, the system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws of the new jurisdiction of our incorporation may not be as favorable to you as a shareholder as the laws of the Cayman Islands.
Although we will attempt to structure any change in our jurisdiction of incorporation in a tax-efficient manner (including, if possible, in a manner that is tax-deferred for U.S. federal income tax purposes), tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law may be uncertain and may change, we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations, and we may prioritize company-level tax considerations over the tax considerations of our shareholders and warrantholders. As a result, the change in our jurisdiction of incorporation may have adverse tax consequences to us or to our shareholders and warrantholders, including the recognition of substantial gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and because you may not have prior notice of our change in jurisdiction, you may not be able to avoid such consequences. For example, under certain circumstances, including if we are treated as a PFIC, a U.S. Holder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain or a deemed dividend upon the exchange of our ordinary shares or warrants for our successor’s shares or warrants, and such taxes may be substantial. For a more detailed discussion of the PFIC rules and the related tax considerations for U.S. Holders, see the section of this prospectus captioned “Certain Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”
In addition to the immediate consequences of a change in our jurisdiction of incorporation, holding our successor’s shares or warrants following a change in our jurisdiction of incorporation could have different,
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potentially adverse, consequences as compared to those of holding our shares or warrants prior to any such change. For example, if we were to change our jurisdiction of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Delaware, this could have a number of adverse consequences to Non-U.S. Holders who own our successor’s shares or warrants by exposing them to U.S. taxation and reporting obligations, such as the taxation of dividends from our successor or the taxation of dispositions of our successor’s shares or warrants. Because such persons may not have prior notice of our change in jurisdiction, they may not be able to change the manner in which they hold our shares or warrants or dispose of our shares or warrants prior to any such change in our jurisdiction of incorporation, and therefore such persons may not be able to avoid any adverse consequences of holding our successor’s shares or warrants after such change.
Further, it is possible that we would change our jurisdiction of incorporation in anticipation of consummating a specific business combination but not complete that business combination for any number of reasons. If we are unable to consummate a business combination with a specific business combination target following such a change in our jurisdiction of incorporation, our new jurisdiction of incorporation could have disadvantages to us or our shareholders and/or warrantholders, particularly if we subsequently pursue a business combination with a target that is incorporated in a different jurisdiction. In such circumstances, we may not be competitive with other special purpose acquisition companies incorporated in the Cayman Islands when pursuing certain target companies, the consummation of our initial business combination could be more complex, or it may be more difficult to structure such an initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner. For example, we may change our jurisdiction of incorporation to the United States in anticipation of a business combination with a U.S. target company but ultimately effect our initial business combination with a non-U.S. target company. In such a case, we may be unable to structure our initial business combination in a tax-deferred manner, and our shareholders and/or warrantholders may be required to pay substantial U.S. federal income or other taxes in connection with the consummation of the initial business combination. In addition, the initial business combination may result in tax inefficiencies for the post-business combination company, including that, if the post-business combination company is organized outside of the United States, it may nevertheless be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which treatment may result in substantial tax inefficiencies for both the post-business combination company and for our shareholders and/or warrantholders.
We cannot assure you when or whether we will change our jurisdiction of incorporation or, if we do change our jurisdiction of incorporation, the jurisdiction in which we will ultimately be incorporated. Accordingly, there is significant uncertainty as to the legal, tax and other considerations that may be applicable to us or to our shareholders and warrantholders, and we cannot provide you with specific or comprehensive examples of such potential consequences. The rules governing a change in our jurisdiction of incorporation and the transactions that may occur in connection with our initial business combination are complex, and the consequences arising from such rules or transactions will depend on a holder’s particular circumstances and on the circumstances surrounding our change in jurisdiction and initial business combination. All investors considering a purchase of units in this offering are urged to consult with and rely solely upon their own legal and tax advisors regarding the potential consequences to them of any change in our jurisdiction of incorporation.
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 Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 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 after December 31, 2022 (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. The Biden administration has proposed increasing the stock buyback tax rate from 1% to 4%; however, it is unclear whether such a change will be enacted and, if enacted, how soon it could take effect. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS have released preliminary guidance that would potentially
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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. In no event would we withdraw interest earned on amounts held in the trust account to pay any stock buyback tax.
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 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.
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 will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
The nominal purchase price paid by our initial shareholders 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.
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 initial shareholders paid a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.003 per share (which does not include the private placement units to be purchased at
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the date of the offering). 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 Class A ordinary 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 $297,000,000, which is the amount we would have for our initial business combination in the trust account 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 (excluding payment of $3,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions), 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 placement warrants. At such valuation, each of our ordinary shares would have an implied value of $7.86 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, which is a 20.61% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $9.90.
| Public shares |
30,000,000 | |||
| Founder shares |
7,500,000 | |||
| Placement shares |
300,000 | |||
| Total shares |
37,800,000 | |||
| Total funds in trust available for initial business combination |
$ | 300,000,000 | ||
| Initial implied value per public share |
$ | 7.86 | ||
| Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination |
$ | 9.90 | ||
| Initial shareholders’ investment per share (not including the private placement units) |
$ | 0.003 |
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 shares at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per public share.
Upon the closing of this offering and assuming no exercise of the over-allotment option, our initial shareholders will have invested in us an aggregate of $3,025,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $3,000,000 purchase price for the private placement units. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per public share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 7,500,000 founder shares would have an aggregate implied value of $75,000,000. Even if the trading price of our ordinary shares were as low as $0.39 per share, and the private placement units are worthless, the value of the founder shares would be equal to our sponsor’s aggregate initial investment in us. As a result, our sponsor is likely to be able to make a substantial profit on its investment in us at a time when our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, members of our management team, who own interests in our sponsor, 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.
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
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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.
Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team
Past performance by M. Klein and Company and members of our management team or our Strategic and Operating Partners may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, M. Klein and Company and other members of our management team or our Strategic and Operating Partners is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance, including related to acquisitions, of M. Klein and Company and members of our management team or our Strategic and Operating Partners is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. In the course of their respective careers, such parties have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful. You should not rely on the historical record and performance of M. Klein and Company and members of our management team or our Strategic and Operating Partners as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in M. Klein and Company or our Strategic and Operating Partners.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in any business or industry (which business or industry may or may not be outside of our management’s areas of expertise).
We may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot
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assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation . As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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 shares or membership interests in our sponsor 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 securities or membership interests in our sponsor 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 Michael Klein. 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 ability to successfully complete our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our 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 business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business could 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 officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive
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compensation following our business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business.
Certain of our officers and directors 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, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and 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 officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business. We do not have employment contracts with our officers and directors that will limit their ability to work at other businesses. In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners 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 of their existing or future blank check companies, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. As a result, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it has sponsored 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. There are no contractual obligations governing the allocation of opportunities among the various blank check companies. Any determination as to which blank check company will pursue a particular acquisition target will be made based on the circumstances of the particular situation, including but not limited to the relative sizes of the blank check companies compared to the sizes of the targets, the need or desire for additional financings and the relevant experience of the directors, officers and Operating Partners involved with a particular blank check company. Mr. Klein currently does not have any existing contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties to offer acquisition opportunities to such parties unless presented to him solely in his capacity as a director or officer of such parties. However, no assurance can be given that Mr. Klein will not in the future, agree or be required, pursuant to additional contractual obligations or fiduciary duties, to offer acquisition opportunities coming to his attention to other entities.
As described in “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for 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
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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. The fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors could materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, none of the Strategic Partners or Operating Partners or their personnel are officers or directors of our company and therefore owe us no fiduciary duties as such. While we expect that they will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. Our Strategic and Operating Partner may have fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to other organizations to present business combination opportunities to such other organizations rather than to us. Accordingly, if any Strategic or Operating Partner becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he, she or it has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he, she or it will honor those obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.
Please see “Management—Directors, Director Nominees and Executive Officers,” “Management— Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and potential conflicts of interest.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with M. Klein and Company, our sponsor or our directors or officers. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
In particular, affiliates of our sponsor, our directors and our officers have invested, and may in the future invest, in a broad array of sectors, including those in which our company may invest. 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. Please see “Proposed Business—Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest Relating to M. Klein and Company” for additional information.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with M. Klein and Company, our sponsor, officers or directors which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other businesses, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with or competitive with M. Klein and Company, our sponsor, officers and directors, and their respective affiliates. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not
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currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business—Effecting our Initial Business Combination” and “—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 to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, regarding the fairness to our shareholders from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with M. Klein and Company, our sponsor, officers or directors, 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.
We may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets or providing financial advisory services. We may pay such affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. Any such affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with advising on, sourcing and consummating of an initial business combination.
Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On February 15, 2024, our sponsor acquired an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 34,500,000 units if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our public shareholders may incur material dilution due to the anti-dilution adjustments that result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. Our sponsor will forfeit up to 1,125,000 founder shares depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ overallotment option is not exercised. The founder shares will be without value to the holder if we do not complete an initial business combination in the prescribed timeframe. In addition, our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this
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offering. Each private placement warrant contained in the private placement units is exercisable to purchase one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and will not expire except upon liquidation, as described in this prospectus. The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors prior to our initial business combination and they are Class B ordinary shares that automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights. However, the holders of the founder shares and private placement shares 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 or private placement shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following our initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the end of the completion window nears.
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 a 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 only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise is not 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 the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
Our initial shareholders will control the appointment and removal 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 and remove all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote and board approval, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon the closing of this offering, our initial shareholders will own shares representing 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial shareholders, will entitle the holders to appoint and remove all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the appointment or
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removal of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our initial shareholders may exert a substantial influence on 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 units in this offering or if our initial shareholders purchase any additional ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors 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, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our initial shareholders, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our 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, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have control regarding the outcome. Furthermore, to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside of the Cayman Islands, including the adoption of the organizational documents for such jurisdiction, our board of directors will be able to approve such continuation and organizational documents without the vote of any holders of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. As a result, you will not have any influence over our continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our business combination.
Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares to the benefit of our sponsor and certain of our directors and officers.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary shares and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per Class A ordinary share after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 21.2% (or $2.12 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering of $7.88 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit (assuming no redemptions). This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public shareholders seek redemptions from the trust for their public shares. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares. Moreover, although we are of the view that our sponsor, directors and officers paid fair value for the founder shares, there is no assurance that a taxing authority would agree with us, and if a taxing authority were to successfully assert otherwise, we may be subject to material withholding and other tax liabilities that could adversely affect our financial condition.
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We are dependent upon our officers and directors, and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our officers and directors may allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other responsibilities. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our officers and directors is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers and directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.
Mr. Klein is the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company and acts as a strategic advisor to its clients. Mr. Klein has a fiduciary duty to M. Klein and Company. As a result, Mr. Klein may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to clients of M. Klein and Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Mr. Klein will have no duty to offer acquisition opportunities to the company unless presented to him solely in his capacity as an officer or director of the company and after he has satisfied his contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. As a result, M. Klein and Company’s clients may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. If any of them decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within M. Klein and Company, including by Mr. Klein and other persons who may make decisions for the company, may be suitable both for us and for M. Klein and Company or any of its clients, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. To the fullest extent permitted by law, none of Mr. Klein, M. Klein and Company or members of our management team who are also employed by M. Klein and Company have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware unless it is offered to them solely in their capacity as a director or officer of the company and after they have satisfied their contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties (including other special purpose acquisition companies they are or may become involved with).
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—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
Since our sponsor paid only approximately $0.003 per share for the founder shares, our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value.
On February 15, 2024, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our
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sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). Our officers and directors have a significant economic interest in our sponsor. As a result, the low acquisition cost of the founder shares creates an economic incentive whereby our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public investors.
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 executive 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 Law and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. 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.
We have been advised by Ogier (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) 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 (ii) 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.
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General Risk Factors
We may issue additional ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, as a result of the anti- dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 undesignated preferred shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 469,700,000 and 42,500,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their overallotment option) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account Class A ordinary shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of Class B ordinary shares. Our Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment and forfeiture as set forth herein. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no preferred shares issued and outstanding. Class B ordinary shares are convertible into our Class A ordinary shares initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.
We may issue a substantial number of additional ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. While these private share issuances result in costs particular to the de-SPAC process that would not be anticipated in a traditional IPO, the purpose of such issuances, in part, will be to enable us to provide sufficient liquidity and capital to the post-business combination entity. Unlike a traditional IPO, as a SPAC, our shareholders have a right to cause us to redeem their public shares immediately before closing our initial business combination. In the event that a substantial number of our public shareholders elect to redeem, we would have less cash available at closing for the post-business combination company and may have an increased need to issue additional ordinary shares or preference shares or obtain additional financing. Such private share issuances, if any, would need to ensure a return on investment to the private placement investors in return for providing funds facilitating our and our sponsor’s completion of the business combination, as well as providing liquidity and capital to the post-business combination entity. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not, except in connection with the conversion of Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares where the holders of such shares have waived any rights to receive funds from the trust account, issue additional ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or any other proposal presented to our shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary shares or preferred shares:
| • | 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; |
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| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of 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 officers and directors; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. Notwithstanding any data security protections we may implement, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the continued effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets, as well as protectionist legislation in our target markets.
Since late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruption to global economies and markets and the virus has continued to spread on a global scale. A significant outbreak of the COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, including the resurgence or variants thereof, could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect economies and financial markets worldwide, business operations and the conduct of commerce generally and could have a material adverse effect on the business of any potential target business with which we complete a business combination. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner or even to conduct requisite due diligence. In addition, countries or supranational organizations in our target markets may develop and implement legislation that makes it more difficult or impossible for entities outside such countries or target markets to acquire or otherwise invest in companies or businesses deemed essential or otherwise vital. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity and new variants of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. While vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, there is no guarantee that such vaccines will be durable. The treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 and any potentially emerging variants may be ineffective or underutilized. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.
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 Israel-Hamas conflict.
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
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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 the escalation of 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 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 escalation of the Israel- Hamas conflict 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.
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,
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although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our 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 (i) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th or (ii) 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 the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing our initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2026. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome for us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our 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.
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Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that the courts of the Cayman Islands will be the exclusive forums for certain disputes between us and our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for complaints against us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the courts of the Cayman Islands shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim or dispute arising out of or in connection with our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or otherwise related in any way to each shareholder’s shareholding in us, including but not limited to (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of any fiduciary or other duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees to us or our shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Companies Law or our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine (as such concept is recognized under the laws of the United States of America) and that each shareholder irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Cayman Islands over all such claims or disputes. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association also provide that, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies that we may have, each of our shareholders acknowledges that damages alone would not be an adequate remedy for any breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum and that accordingly we shall be entitled, without proof of special damages, to the remedies of injunction, specific performance or other equitable relief for any threatened or actual breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum. The forum selection provision in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not apply to actions or suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are, as a matter of the laws of the United States of America, the sole and exclusive forum for determination of such a claim.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association also provide that, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies that we may have, each of our shareholders acknowledges that damages alone would not be an adequate remedy for any breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum and that accordingly we shall be entitled, without proof of special damages, to the remedies of injunction, specific performance or other equitable relief for any threatened or actual breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum.
This choice of forum provision may increase a shareholder’s cost and limit the shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any of our shares or other securities, whether by transfer, sale, operation of law or otherwise, shall be deemed to have notice of and have irrevocably agreed and consented to these provisions. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. It is possible that a court could find this type of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could have adverse effect on our business and financial performance.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
| • | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| • | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
| • | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| • | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| • | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | actual and potential conflicts of interest relating to M. Klein and Company and our directors, officers and other affiliates; |
| • | our ability to draw from the support and expertise of the M. Klein and Company and our directors, officers and other affiliates; |
| • | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| • | the adverse impacts of certain events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of infectious diseases) on our ability to consummate an initial business combination; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| • | the lack of a market for our securities; |
| • | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| • | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| • | our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 30,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement units will be used as set forth in the following table.
| Without Over- Allotment Option |
Over-Allotment Option Fully Exercised |
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| Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) |
$ | 300,000,000 | $ | 345,000,000 | ||||
| Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement |
3,000,000 | 3,000,000 | ||||||
| Total gross proceeds |
$ | 303,000,000 | $ | 348,000,000 | ||||
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| Offering expenses(2)(3) |
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| Legal fees and expenses |
325,000 | 325,000 | ||||||
| Printing and engraving expenses |
35,000 | 35,000 | ||||||
| Accounting and bookkeeping fees and expenses |
40,000 | 40,000 | ||||||
| SEC/FINRA expenses |
119,359 | 119,359 | ||||||
| Nasdaq listing and filing fees |
85,000 | 85,000 | ||||||
| Travel and roadshow expenses |
10,000 | 10,000 | ||||||
| Miscellaneous |
385,641 | 385,641 | ||||||
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| Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting discounts and commissions) |
$ | 1,000,000 | $ | 1,000,000 | ||||
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| Proceeds after offering expenses |
$ | 302,000,000 | $ | 347,000,000 | ||||
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| Held in trust account(1)(3) |
$ | 300,000,000 | $ | 345,000,000 | ||||
| % public offering size |
100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||
| Not held in trust account |
$ | 2,000,000 | $ | 2,000,000 | ||||
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The following table shows the use of the approximately $2,000,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account, excluding permitted withdrawals(4)(5).
| Amount | % of total | |||||||
| Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with business combination(6) |
$ | 300,000 | 15.0 | % | ||||
| Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations |
100,000 | 5.0 | % | |||||
| Reimbursement for office space and administrative support ($30,000 per month for up to 24 months) |
720,000 | 36.0 | % | |||||
| Consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during search for initial business combination target |
100,000 | 5.0 | % | |||||
| Director and Officer liability insurance premiums |
500,000 | 25.0 | % | |||||
| Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses |
280,000 | 14.0 | % | |||||
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| Total |
$ | 2,000,000 | 100.0 | % | ||||
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| (1) | Includes amounts payable to public shareholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. |
| (2) | A portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $600,000 as described in this prospectus. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering as part of the estimated $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting discounts and commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. These expenses are estimates only. In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this |
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| table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account. |
| (3) | The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting discounts and commissions equal to 1.0% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $3,000,000, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred underwriting discounts and commissions (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full; this amount may be reduced to $1,500,000 in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming shareholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other businesses or assets or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. |
| (4) | 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 our business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify a business combination 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. The proceeds held in the trust account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. 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. Additionally, when we determine to hold the funds in the trust account as cash or in demand deposit accounts at a bank (based on our management team’s ongoing assessment of all factors related to our potential status under the Investment Company Act), the amount of interest we may receive would likely be less. |
| (5) | This amount includes an amount not to exceed $100,000 that we have agreed to pay the underwriters for the expenses of their legal counsel in connection with this offering. |
| (6) | Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing. |
Nasdaq rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units must be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, $300,000,000 (or $345,000,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), including $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full; this amount may be reduced to $1,500,000 in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”) of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, will be placed into a U.S. based trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $3,000,000 will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds held in the trust account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less
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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; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. 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. Additionally, when we determine to hold the funds in the trust account as cash or in demand deposit accounts at a bank, the amount of interest we may receive would likely be less. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us as permitted withdrawals, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of (i) the completion of our initial business combination (including the release of funds to pay any amounts due to any public shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights in connection therewith), (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within the completion window, 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, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates and the taxes we currently expect to be applicable to us, we expect that the interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes and to fund permitted withdrawals.
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 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 business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released 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 businesses or assets or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.
We believe that amounts not held in trust along with permitted withdrawals 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 advance funds to, or invest in, us.
We will reimburse the managing member of our sponsor in an amount equal to $30,000 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.
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Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $600,000 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 (x) December 31, 2025, or (y) or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering as part of the estimated $1,000,000 of offering expenses.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would 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 units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in 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 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.
A public shareholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with our completion of an initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares
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held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, 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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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. A Cayman Islands company may pay a dividend on its shares out of either profit or the share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if following such payment the company would be unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. 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 other share dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a share dividend or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in an amount necessary to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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The difference between the public offering price per unit and the net tangible book value (NTBV) per Class A ordinary share after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. NTBV per share is determined by dividing our NTBV, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares. See the section “Dilution.”
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, (iii) no working capital loans are converted into private placement units, as further described in this prospectus and (iv) no value is attributed to the warrants, and (B) assume the issuance of 30,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 of which are assumed to be forfeited in the scenario in which the over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and 300,000 private placement shares. Such calculations do not reflect any dilution associated with the exercise of warrants as the warrants are accounted for as equity and are only exercisable following the consummation of our initial business combination. The assumed exercise of the warrants would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Further, we may need to issue additional securities as we intend to seek an initial business combination with a target company with an enterprise value greater than the net proceeds of the offering and the sale of private placement units and the issuance of the issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares may significantly dilute the equity interest of public shareholders, which dilution would even further increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares.
The following table illustrates the difference between the public offering price and our NTBV, as adjusted to give effect to this offering and assuming redemption of our public shares at varying levels and the full exercise and no exercise of the over-allotment option:
The following table illustrates the difference between the public offering price per unit and our NTBV per share, as adjusted to give effect to this offering and assuming redemption of our public shares at varying levels and the full exercise and no exercise of the over-allotment option:
| As of December 31, 2024 |
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| Offering Price of $10.00 |
25% of Maximum Redemption |
50% of Maximum Redemption |
75% of Maximum Redemption |
Maximum Redemption |
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| NTBV | NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
NTBV | Difference between NTBV and Offering Price |
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| Assuming Full Exercise of Over-Allotment Option |
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| $ | 7.92 | $ | 7.41 | $ | 2.59 | $ | 6.55 | $ | 3.45 | $ | 4.94 | $ | 5.06 | $ | 0.05 | $ | 9.95 | |||||||||||||||||
| Assuming No Exercise of Over-Allotment Option |
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| $ | 7.90 | $ | 7.38 | $ | 2.62 | $ | 6.51 | $ | 3.49 | $ | 4.90 | $ | 5.10 | $ | 0.00 | $ | 10.00 | |||||||||||||||||
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For each of the redemption scenarios above, the NTBV was calculated as follows:
| No Redemption | 25% of Maximum Redemption |
50% of Maximum Redemption |
75% of Maximum Redemption |
Maximum Redemption |
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| Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
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| Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
(0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Increase attributable to public shareholders |
7.92 | 7.94 | 7.40 | 7.43 | 6.53 | 6.57 | 4.92 | 4.96 | 0.02 | 0.07 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Pro forms net tangible book value after this offering |
7.90 | 7.92 | 7.38 | 7.41 | 6.51 | 6.55 | 4.90 | 4.94 | 0.00 | 0.05 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dilution to public shareholders |
$ | 2.10 | $ | 2.08 | $ | 2.62 | $ | 2.59 | $ | 3.49 | $ | 3.45 | $ | 5.10 | $ | 5.06 | $ | 10.00 | $ | 9.95 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Percentage of dilution to public shareholdes |
21.00 | % | 20.80 | % | 26.20 | % | 25.90 | % | 34.90 | % | 34.50 | % | 51.10 | % | 50.60 | % | 100.00 | % | 99.50 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Numerator: |
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| Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
$ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | $ | (184,847 | ) | ||||||||||
| Net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants (1) |
302,000,000 | 347,000,000 | 302,000,000 | 347,000,000 | 302,000,000 | 347,000,000 | 302,000,000 | 347,000,000 | 302,000,000 | 347,000,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plus: Offering costs accrued for or paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value |
157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | 157,937 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: Deferred underwriting commissions (2) |
(3,000,000 | ) | (3,000,000 | ) | (3,000,000 | ) | (3,000,000 | ) | (3,000,000 | ) | (3,000,000 | ) | (1,500,000 | ) | (1,500,000 | ) | (1,500,000 | ) | (1,500,000 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: Over-allotment liability |
(443,900 | ) | — | (443,900 | ) | — | (443,900 | ) | — | (443,900 | ) | — | (443,900 | ) | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: Amounts paid for redemptions (3) |
— | — | (75,000,000 | ) | (86,250,000 | ) | (150,000,000 | ) | (172,500,000 | ) | (225,000,000 | ) | (258,750,000 | ) | (300,000,000 | ) | (345,000,000 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
|
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|
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|
|
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|
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|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Total |
$ | 298,529,190 | $ | 343,973,090 | $ | 223,529,190 | $ | 257,723,090 | $ | 148,529,190 | $ | 171,473,090 | $ | 75,029,190 | $ | 86,723,090 | $ | 29,190 | $ | 473,090 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Denominator: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering |
8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | 8,625,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised |
(1,125,000 | ) | — | (1,125,000 | ) | — | (1,125,000 | ) | — | (1,125,000 | ) | — | (1,125,000 | ) | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares offered |
30,000,000 | 34,500,000 | 30,000,000 | |
34,500,000 |
|
30,000,000 | |
34,500,000 |
|
30,000,000 | |
34,500,000 |
|
30,000,000 | |
34,500,000 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| No Redemption | 25% of Maximum Redemption |
50% of Maximum Redemption |
75% of Maximum Redemption |
Maximum Redemption |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
Without Over- Allotment |
With Over- Allotment |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Private placement shares |
300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: ordinary shares redeemed |
— | — | (7,500,000 | ) | (8,625,000 | ) | (15,000,000 | ) | (17,250,000 | ) | (22,500,000 | ) | (25,875,000 | ) | (30,000,000 | ) | (34,500,000 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
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| Total |
37,800,000 | 43,425,000 | 30,300,000 | 34,800,000 | 22,800,000 | 26,175,000 | 15,300,000 | 17,550,000 | 7,800,000 | 8,925,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| (1) | Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of approximately $1,000,000 (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: $0.10 per unit on all units sold ($3,000,000 in the aggregate) payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions (this amount may be reduced to $1,500,000 in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”). See also “Underwriting” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters. |
| (3) | 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, initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of ordinary shares subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See “Proposed Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.” |
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at December 31, 2024, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the sale of our units in this offering and the sale of the private placement units and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their overallotment option:
| December 31, 2024 | ||||||||
| Actual | As Adjusted(1) | |||||||
| Note payable to related party(1) |
$ | 184,847 | $ | — | ||||
| Deferred underwriting discounts and commissions |
— | 3,000,000 | ||||||
| Over-allotment liability(5) |
— | 443,900 | ||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; zero and 30,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively(2) |
— | 300,000,000 | ||||||
| Preferred shares, $0.0001 par value per share, 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding, actual and as adjusted |
— | — | ||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; zero and 300,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively |
— | 30 | ||||||
| Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized; and 8,625,000 and 7,500,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(3) |
863 | 750 | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital(4) |
24,137 | — | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit |
(51,910 | ) | (1,471,590 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
| Total shareholders’ equity (deficit) |
$ | (26,910 | ) | $ | (1,470,810 | ) | ||
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| Total capitalization |
$ | 157,937 | $ | 301,973,090 | ||||
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| (1) | Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $600,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of December 31, 2024, we have borrowed $184,847 under the note. The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the repayment of any loans made under this note out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units. |
| (2) | All of the 30,000,000 Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in the offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with our liquidation, if there is a shareholders’ vote or tender offer in connection with the business combination and in connection with certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In accordance with SEC guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the 30,000,000 Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in the offering will be issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants), the initial carrying value of Class A ordinary shares classified as temporary equity will be the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. Our Class A ordinary shares are subject to ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, we have the option to either (i) accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or (ii) recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. We have elected to recognize the changes immediately. |
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| (3) | Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares and as adjusted share amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. |
| (4) | The ‘as adjusted’ additional paid-in capital includes the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units over their estimated fair value at issuance as a deemed capital contribution from our sponsor, less the immediate accretion of the carry value of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption value to reduce additional paid-in capital to zero. |
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on January 4, 2024 for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, 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 units, our shares, debt or a combination of the foregoing.
The issuance of additional ordinary or preferred shares in connection with a business combination to the owners of the target or other investors:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of our ordinary shares if preferred shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our ordinary shares; |
| • | could cause a change in 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 officers and directors; |
| • | 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; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary shares; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions and fund 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; |
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| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and 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 December 31, 2024, we had no cash and deferred offering costs of approximately $157,937. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. 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 after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as expenses as we conduct due diligence on prospective business combination candidates. 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 completion of this offering through the payment of $25,000 of expenses on our behalf by our sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares and loans to us of up to $600,000 by our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. As of December 31, 2024, we had borrowed $184,847 under the note. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $1,000,000 (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full; this amount may be reduced to $1,500,000 in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”), and (ii) the sale of the private placement units for a purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $302,000,000 (or $347,000,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $300,000,000 (or $345,000,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full; this amount may be reduced to $1,500,000 in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”) of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. The proceeds held in the trust account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. 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. We will disclose in each quarterly and annual report filed with the SEC prior to our initial business combination whether the proceeds deposited in the trust account are invested in U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds or a combination thereof or as cash or cash items, including in demand deposit accounts. The remaining approximately $2,000,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, 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 $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
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We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less permitted withdrawals and deferred underwriting discounts and commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual tax obligations generally will depend on the nature and amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. Based on current interest rates and the taxes we currently expect to be applicable to us, we expect that the interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes and to fund permitted withdrawals. To the extent that our 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.
After the closing of this offering, we will have available to us the approximately $2,000,000 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 their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
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 prior to our initial business combination. 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. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors 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. 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 for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $300,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with any business combinations; $100,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $720,000 for office space, utilities and administrative support; $100,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses, $500,000 for directors and officers liability insurance premiums, and $280,000 for general working capital to cover 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.
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Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, 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 mya incur material dilution.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
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 our internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
| • | staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties; |
| • | reconciliation of accounts; |
| • | proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate; |
| • | evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions; |
| • | documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and |
| • | documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404. 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.
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Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination. 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.
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 February 15, 2024, our sponsor acquired an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our public shareholders may incur material dilution due to the anti-dilution adjustments that result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued.
Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on Nasdaq, we have agreed to reimburse the managing member of our sponsor in an amount equal to $30,000 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, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their 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 consummation of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $600,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of December 31, 2024, we had borrowed $184,847 under the note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of (x) December 31, 2025 or (y) the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering as part of the estimated $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that have been allocated for the payment of offering expenses.
Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals.
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In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. 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 for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant contained in the private placement units is exercisable to purchase one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement units (including their underlying securities) until 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except that, our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the private placement units held by it to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to it, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as our sponsor. The private placement warrants contained in the private placement units will be non-redeemable. The private placement warrants may also be exercised for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation; provided, however, that for so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA rules. Otherwise, the private placement warrants contained in the private placement units have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial shareholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders and holders of units issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we offer securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to certain underwritten offerings we may conduct. We will bear the costs and expenses of registering these securities.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of December 31, 2024, 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 not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
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
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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, (i) provide an independent registered public accounting firm’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the independent registered public accounting firm’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
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Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, 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. We may pursue an initial business combination in any business or industry but expect to focus on a target in an industry where we believe our management team and founder’s expertise will provide us with a competitive advantage.
Our founder, Michael Klein, is also the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company, which he founded in 2012. M. Klein and Company is a global strategic advisory firm that provides its clients a variety of advice tailored to their objectives. Mr. Klein is a strategic advisor to global companies, boards of directors, senior executives, governments, and institutional investors. Mr. Klein’s background in strategic advisory work was built during his 35-year career, including more than two decades at Citi and its predecessors, during which he initiated and executed strategic advisory transactions. He began his career as an investment banker in the M&A Advisory Group at Salomon Brothers and subsequently became Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Citi Markets and Banking, with responsibilities for Global Corporate and Investment Banking and Global Transaction Services across Citi. In his role as Co-Chief Executive Officer, he was responsible for all relationship, advisory, underwriting, and capital markets issuance activity.
Mr. Klein was previously Chief Executive Officer of Global Banking at Citi, Chief Executive Officer of Citi Markets & Banking, Europe, and Co-Head of Global Investment Banking for Salomon Smith Barney for the decade prior. In early 1999, he was given responsibility for the expansion of the firm’s European investment banking business. A major step in that development was the merger, in May 2000, of Salomon Smith Barney’s European operation with Schroders, a leading UK and European Merchant Bank. Prior to becoming Co- Head of the Global Investment Bank, he had been responsible for the firm’s Global Financial Entrepreneurs and Private Equity Groups, a leading provider of acquisition ideas and financing for leading private equity sponsors. We will seek to capitalize on the experience and expertise of our founder.
Mr. Klein has significant experience running investment banking and advisory organizations with an overarching mission of providing high quality deal sourcing and transactional advice to a broad range of clients. For example, in 2018, Mr. Klein co-founded and became Chairman of the Board of Directors of CCC, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $690 million initial public offering in September 2018 and merged in May 2019 with Clarivate, a provider of comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, analytical tools, and services.
In April 2019, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $690 million initial public offering in July 2019. In June 2021, Churchill Capital Corp II merged with both Software Luxembourg Holding S.A. (“Skillsoft”), a provider of digital learning and talent management solutions, and Global Knowledge Training LLC, a provider of IT and professional skills development. In October 2019, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp III, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $1.1 billion initial public offering in February 2020. In October 2020, Churchill Capital Corp III merged with MultiPlan, Inc., a technology-enabled provider of end-to-end healthcare cost management solutions. As of February 2025, MultiPlan, Inc. rebranded as Claritev Corporation (NYSE:CTEV). In April 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp IV, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $2.07 billion initial public offering in August 2020. In July
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2021, Churchill Capital Corp IV merged with Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID), a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles. In May 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp V, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $500 million initial public offering in December 2020. Churchill Capital Corp V elected to not complete an initial business and in October 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. In December 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp VI and Churchill Capital Corp VII, special purpose acquisition companies that completed their $552 million and $1.38 billion initial public offerings, respectively, in February 2021. Churchill Capital Corp VI elected to not complete an initial business and in December 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq Holdings Limited (“CorpAcq”), a corporate compounder with a record of acquiring and supporting founder-led businesses. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. In March 2021, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AltC Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition corporation formally known as Churchill Capital Corp VIII, the eighth corporation in the Churchill series of special purpose acquisition corporations and completed its $500 million initial public offering in July 2021. In July 2023, AltC Acquisition Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Oklo Inc. (“Oklo”), a fission technology and nuclear fuel recycling company which seeks to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy globally through the design and deployment of next-generation fast reactor technology, which was approved by the shareholders of AltC Acquisition Corp. in May 2024. Mr. Klein is also the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX), a blank check company which raised $287.5 million in its initial public offering in May 2024 and is currently searching for a business combination target.
Our Chief Financial Officer, Jay Taragin, has held this position since February 2024 and is also the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp VII since December 2020, AltC Acquisition Corp. since March 2021 and M. Klein and Company, which he joined in May 2019. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq, and in August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII began the process of liquidation and returning cash held in trust to its shareholders. Mr. Taragin is also the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX), a blank check company which raised $287.5 million in its initial public offering in May 2024 and is currently searching for a business combination target. Prior to joining M. Klein and Company, Mr. Taragin served as the US Scotiabank Chief Financial Officer from 2013 to 2017. Prior to Scotiabank, Mr. Taragin held a Chief Operating and Financial Officer role from 2009 to 2012 at a mortgage hedge fund and held a variety of senior finance and audit roles at Merrill Lynch & Company from 1993 to 2009. In addition, Mr. Taragin worked at Credit Suisse and PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior auditor and accountant. Mr. Taragin is a CPA and holds a master’s degree in business administration from New York University Stern School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University.
We believe that our management team, our managing member, and M. Klein and Company, which is an affiliate of our sponsor, are well positioned to identify and execute attractive business combination opportunities. Our objectives are to generate attractive returns for shareholders and enhance value through selecting a high-quality target at an attractive valuation, negotiating favorable acquisition terms for our shareholders and improving operational performance of the acquired company. We expect to favor potential target companies with certain industry and business characteristics. Key industry characteristics include compelling long-term growth prospects, opportunities to affect valuation improvements at the company, attractive competitive dynamics and consolidation opportunities. Key business characteristics include competitive advantages, significant potential; streams of recurring revenue, opportunity for operational improvement, attractive steady-state margins, high incremental margins and attractive free cash flow characteristics.
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M. Klein and Company has established strategic relationships with selected leading investors and financing providers (“Strategic Partners”). Such Strategic Partners may invest in our sponsor, thereby sharing in the appreciation of founder shares and private placement units and assist M. Klein and Company in evaluating potential acquisition targets.
M. Klein and Company has established an entity within the firm, Archimedes Advisors LLC, which consists of Operating Partners who will assist us in sourcing potential acquisition targets and creating long-term value in the business combination for us. M. Klein and Company’s Operating Partners are comprised of former senior operating executives of leading S&P 500 companies across multiple sectors and industries, including consumer, industrial, materials, energy, mining, chemicals, finance, data, software, enterprise technology, and media. With our breadth of sector coverage and deep operational expertise, we believe we can review a wide range of targets to find the most attractive target for our shareholders. Each Operating Partner has held senior leadership positions with companies where they have a proven strong track record of creating shareholder value, organically and through transformational acquisitions or corporate restructurings, as well as extensive relationships with owners and operators of companies within their respective industries. In addition to assisting in the sourcing of a potential transaction, one Operating Partner is expected to join the acquired company as a director or in another senior executive capacity in order to enhance shareholder value by improving the operational performance of the company and undertaking broader strategic initiatives.
To best align the incentives of Operating Partners with our shareholders, each Operating Partner will be eligible to share in a portion of the appreciation in founder shares and private placement units, provided that we successfully complete a business combination. The Operating Partner that takes on a director, substantial senior executive, or operating role at the acquired company, on a post-business combination basis, will acquire additional founder shares from M. Klein Associates Inc. and will have a vesting schedule that is highly aligned with shareholder interests by requiring value creation for shareholders. Operating Partners will not receive any cash compensation from us prior to a business combination. We believe that the combination of our management team, M. Klein and Company and its Operating Partners and our board of directors is an innovative approach to identifying potential high quality business combination targets and aligns incentives with our shareholders, providing us with distinctive and differentiated capabilities to create shareholder value.
With respect to the foregoing experiences of our management, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, past performance is not a guarantee (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management’s, M. Klein and Company’s or our Strategic and Operating Partners’ performance as indicative of our future performance. For more information on the experience and background of our management team and the Operating Partners, see below and the sections entitled “Management” and “Proposed Business.”
Business Strategy
Our strategy is to:
| • | leverage the strategic and transactional experience of our founder to bring advice and attention to potential business combination targets; |
| • | deliver creative approaches to transaction sourcing; and |
| • | utilize an understanding of global financial markets and events, financing, and overall corporate strategy options. |
Our selection process will leverage our founder’s and our Strategic and Operating Partners’ network of industry, venture capital sponsor, private equity sponsor, credit fund sponsor and lending community relationships as well as relationships with management teams of public and private companies, investment
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bankers, restructuring advisors, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We intend to deploy a proactive, thematic sourcing strategy and to focus on companies where we believe the combination of our operating experience, relationships, capital and capital markets expertise can be catalysts to transform a target company and can help accelerate the target’s growth and performance. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team, M. Klein and Company, our Strategic and Operating Partners will communicate with their network of relationships to articulate our initial business combination criteria, including the parameters of our search for a target business, and will begin the disciplined process of pursuing and reviewing promising leads.
Our management team and M. Klein and Company have experience in:
| • | sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses; |
| • | fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers and target management teams; |
| • | negotiating transactions favorable to investors; |
| • | executing transactions in multiple geographies and under varying economic and financial market conditions; and |
| • | accessing the capital markets, including financing businesses and helping companies transition to public ownership. |
M. Klein and Company’s Operating Partners have experience in:
| • | operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, monitoring and recruiting world- class talent; and |
| • | acquiring and integrating companies; and |
| • | developing and growing companies, both organically and through acquisitions and strategic transactions and expanding the product range and geographic footprint of a number of target businesses. |
Competitive Strengths
The sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution capabilities of our management team, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners will provide us with a significant pipeline of opportunities from which to evaluate and select a business that will benefit from our expertise. We may also have the benefit of using M. Klein and Company, or another affiliate of our sponsor, as a financial advisor on our business combinations and other transactions. Our competitive strengths include the following:
| • | Deep Experience of Operating Partners. We believe that our ability to leverage the experience of the Operating Partners, who comprise former senior operating executives of S&P500 companies across multiple sectors and industries, will provide us a distinct advantage in being able to source, evaluate and consummate an attractive transaction. |
| • | Proprietary Sourcing Channels and Leading Industry Relationships. We believe the capabilities and connections associated with our management team, in combination with those of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, will provide us with a differentiated pipeline of acquisition opportunities that would be difficult for other participants in the market to replicate. We expect these sourcing capabilities will be further bolstered by our management team’s, M. Klein and Company’s and our Strategic and Operating Partners’ reputation and deep industry relationships. |
| • | Investing Experience. We believe that our management’s track record of identifying and sourcing transactions positions us well to appropriately evaluate potential business combinations and select one that will be well received by the public markets. |
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| • | Execution and Structuring Capability. Our management team and sponsor believe that our and our Strategic Partners’ combined expertise and reputation will allow us to source and complete transactions possessing structural attributes that create an attractive investment thesis. These types of transactions are typically complex and require creativity, industry knowledge and expertise, rigorous due diligence, and extensive negotiations and documentation. We believe that by focusing our investment activities on these types of transactions, we are able to generate investment opportunities that have attractive risk/reward profiles based on their valuations and structural characteristics. |
Investment Criteria
We have developed the following high-level, non-exclusive investment criteria that we will use to screen for and evaluate target businesses. We will seek to acquire a business that:
| • | Is Sourced Through our Proprietary Channels. We do not expect to participate in broadly marketed processes, but rather will aim to leverage our extensive network to source our business combination. |
| • | Would Benefit from our Capabilities. We will seek to acquire a business where the collective capabilities of our management and sponsor can be leveraged to tangibly improve the operations and market position of the target. |
| • | Has a Committed and Capable Management Team. We will seek to acquire a business with a professional management team whose interests are aligned with those of our investors and complement the expertise of our founder. Where necessary, we may also look to complement and enhance the capabilities of the target business’s management team by recruiting additional talent through our network of contacts. |
| • | Potential to Generate Stable Free Cash-Flow. We will seek to acquire a business that has historically generated, or has the near-term potential to generate, strong and sustainable free cash flow. |
| • | Has the Potential to Grow Through Further Acquisition Opportunities. We will seek to acquire a business that has the potential to grow inorganically through additional acquisitions. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as on other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a 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, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our transactional, financial, managerial and investment experience.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. 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 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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within the completion window. 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 within the completion window 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, the founder shares and private placement units 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.
Our sponsor and its principals may from time to time become aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a 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.
As described in “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for 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. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, none of the Strategic Partners or Operating Partners or their personnel are officers or directors of our company and therefore owe us no fiduciary duties as such. While we expect that they will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. Our Strategic and Operating Partner may have fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to other organizations to present business combination opportunities to such other organizations rather than to us. Accordingly, if any Strategic or Operating Partner becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he, she or it has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he, she or it will honor those obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.
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While neither M. Klein and Company nor any of our Strategic and Operating Partners will have any duty to offer acquisition opportunities to us, they may become aware of a potential transaction that is an attractive opportunity for us, which they may decide to share with us. Conflicts may arise from their affiliation with our company, their provision of services both to us and to third-party clients, as well as from actions undertaken by them for their own account. In performing services for other clients and also when acting for their own account, they may take commercial steps which may have an adverse effect on us. Any of M. Klein and Company’s or our Strategic and Operating Partners’ other activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners or their respective clients or counterparties may at times be averse to ours. Please see “Proposed Business—Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest Relating to M. Klein and Company” for additional information regarding certain potential conflicts of interest relating to M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors, or of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, or policies applicable to M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners 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 of their existing or future blank check companies, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. As a result, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it has sponsored 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. There are no contractual obligations governing the allocation of opportunities among the various blank check companies. Any determination as to which blank check company will pursue a particular acquisition target will be made based on the circumstances of the particular situation, including but not limited to the relative sizes of the blank check companies compared to the sizes of the targets, the need or desire for additional financings and the relevant experience of the directors, officers and Operating Partners involved with a particular blank check company. Mr. Klein currently does not have any existing contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties to offer acquisition opportunities to such parties unless presented to him solely in his capacity as a director or officer of such parties. However, no assurance can be given that Mr. Klein will not in the future, agree or be required, pursuant to additional contractual obligations or fiduciary duties, to offer acquisition opportunities coming to his attention to other entities.
Because there are numerous 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 target 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. Thus, our ability to identify and evaluate a target company may be impacted by significant competition among other special purpose acquisition companies 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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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 units, 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. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Prior SPAC Experience
Our Chairman and CEO, Michael Klein, and the members of our management team have extensive experience with blank check companies and have served as executive officers and directors in nine prior SPACs, five of which successfully completed business combinations with substantial committed capital.
| • | Churchill I (2018): Churchill Capital Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $690 million initial public offering in September 2018 and merged in May 2019 with Clarivate, a provider of comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, analytical tools, and services. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in May 2019, Churchill Capital Corp delivered approximately $705 million of gross transaction proceeds to Clarivate. There were redemptions of less than 0.01% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp arranged PIPE financing for $15 million in connection with the business combination. Post closing of the business combination, the Clarivate (NYSE:CLTV) ordinary shares reached a high of $34.79 per share on June 7, 2021. As of April 25, 2025, Clarivate ordinary shares closed at $3.62 per share. |
| • | Churchill II (2019): Churchill Capital Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $690 million initial public offering in July 2019. In June 2021, Churchill Capital Corp II merged with both Software Luxembourg Holding S.A. (“Skillsoft”), a provider of digital learning and talent management solutions, and Global Knowledge Training LLC, a provider of IT and professional skills development. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in June 2021, Churchill Capital Corp II delivered approximately $876.5 million of gross transaction proceeds to Skillsoft. There were redemptions of approximately 50.3% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp II arranged PIPE financing for |
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| $530 million in connection with the business combination. Post closing of the business combination, the Skillsoft (NYSE:SKIL) common stock reached a high of $257.60 per share on November 15, 2021. As of April 25, 2025, Skillsoft common stock closed at $20.85 per share. |
| • | Churchill III (2020): Churchill Capital Corp III, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $1.1 billion initial public offering in February 2020. In October 2020, Churchill Capital Corp III merged with Claritev Corporation (formerly known as MultiPlan, Inc.), a technology-enabled provider of end-to-end healthcare cost management solutions. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in October 2020, Churchill Capital Corp III delivered approximately $3.6 billion of gross transaction proceeds to Claritev. There were redemptions of approximately 7.9% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp III arranged PIPE financing for $2.6 billion. Post closing of the business combination, the Claritev (NYSE: CTEV) common stock reached a high of $418.80 per share on November 9, 2020. As of April 25, 2025, Claritev common stock closed at $22.99 per share. |
| • | Churchill IV (2020): Churchill Capital Corp IV, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $2.07 billion initial public offering in August 2020. In July 2021, Churchill Capital Corp IV merged with Lucid Group, Inc., a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles. There was no extension of the SPAC term. At closing of the business combination in July 2021, Churchill Capital Corp IV delivered approximately $4.6 billion of gross transaction proceeds to Lucid. There were redemptions of less than 0.01% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Churchill Capital Corp IV arranged PIPE financing for $2.5 billion. Post closing of the business combination, the Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) common stock reached a high of $57.75 per share on November 17, 2021. As of April 25, 2025, Lucid common stock closed at $2.50 per share. |
| • | Churchill V (2020): Churchill Capital Corp V, a special purpose acquisition company, completed a $500 million initial public offering in December 2020. Churchill Capital Corp V elected to not complete an initial business combination and in October 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. |
| • | Churchill VI (2021): Churchill Capital Corp VI, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $552 million initial public offering in February 2021. Churchill Capital Corp VI elected to not complete an initial business combination and in December 2023 was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. |
| • | Churchill VII (2021): Churchill Capital Corp VII, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $1.38 billion initial public offering in February 2021. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq Holdings Limited (“CorpAcq”), a corporate compounder with a record of acquiring and supporting founder-led businesses. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII was liquidated with the cash held in trust returned to shareholders. |
| • | AltC Acquisition Corp (2021): AltC Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $500 million initial public offering in July 2021. AltC Acquisition Corp was formally known as Churchill Capital Corp VIII, the eighth corporation in the Churchill series of special purpose acquisition corporations. In July 2023, AltC Acquisition Corp entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Oklo Inc., a fission technology and nuclear fuel recycling company which seeks to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy globally through the design and deployment of next-generation fast reactor technology. In October 2023, the AltC Acquisition Corp stockholders approved a nine-month extension of the SPAC to provide sufficient time for the closing of the announced business combination with Oklo. There were redemptions of approximately 44.4% by the public shareholders in connection with the nine-month extension vote. AltC Acquisition Corp retained in excess of $300 million in its trust account following the extension. In May 2024, AltC Acquisition Corp stockholders approved the business combination with Oklo. At closing of the business combination, AltC Acquisition Corp delivered approximately $306 million of gross transaction proceeds to Oklo. There were redemptions of less than |
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| 0.01% by the public shareholders in connection with the business combination. Post closing of the business combination, the Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) common stock reached a high of $59.14 per share on February 7, 2025. As of April 25, 2025, Oklo common stock closed at $23.74 per share. |
| • | Churchill Capital Corp. IX (2024): Churchill Capital Corp IX, a special purpose acquisition company, completed its $287.5 million initial public offering in May 2024. Churchill Capital Corp IX is currently searching for a business combination target. As of April 25, 2025, Churchill Capital Corp IX (NASDAQ:CCIX) Class A ordinary shares closed at $10.85 per share. |
Sponsor Information
Our sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company, which was recently formed to invest in our company. 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. Michael Klein is the controlling shareholder of M. Klein Associates Inc., which is the managing member of Churchill Sponsor X LLC, and controls the management of our sponsor, including the exercise of voting and investment discretion over the securities of our company held by our sponsor. The securities beneficially owned by Churchill Sponsor X LLC may also be deemed to be beneficially owned by Mr. Klein. Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. Separately, BTIG, LLC will be admitted as a member of our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering and will be allocated interests in our sponsor corresponding to 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount. BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI will not have voting or dispositive control of such securities while such securities are held by our sponsor, and thus disclaim beneficial ownership of such securities except to the extent of their respective pecuniary interests. In addition, our independent directors may each receive, for their services as a director, an indirect interest in founder shares through membership interests in our sponsor but would have no right to control the sponsor or participate in any decision regarding the disposal of any security held by the sponsor, or otherwise. As of the date of this prospectus, other than Mr. Klein and M. Klein Associates Inc., no other person has a direct or indirect material interest in our sponsor. Other than our management team, none of the other members of our sponsor will participate in our company’s activities. Assuming, as described above, BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI are issued membership interests in our sponsor, Mr. Klein will hold approximately 80% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the founder shares (approximately 80% in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) and approximately 17% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the private placement units (including in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full). The managing member expects to admit third party accredited investors with prior business relationships with the managing member as members of the sponsor holding approximately 13% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the founder shares and approximately 67% of the sponsor membership interests reflecting indirect interests in the private placement units. Such parties will have no right to control the sponsor or participate in any decision regarding the disposal of any security held by the sponsor, and will not have any direct or indirect material interest in our sponsor. Additionally, M. Klein and Company has established strategic and working relationships with Strategic Partners and Operating Partners. Such Strategic Partners and Operating Partners may, but have not as of the date of this prospectus, invest in our sponsor, thereby sharing in the appreciation of founder shares and private placement units and assist M. Klein and Company in evaluating potential acquisition targets. Such parties will have no right to control the sponsor or participate in any decision regarding the disposal of any security held by the sponsor, and will not have any 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 | ||
| M. Klein & Associates | $30,000 per month | Office space, administrative and shared personnel support services | ||
| Churchill Sponsor X LLC | 8,625,000 Class B Ordinary Shares (of which 1,125,000 are subject to forfeiture to the extent the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option) | $25,000 | ||
| 300,000 Private Placement Units to be purchased simultaneously with the closing of this offering | $300,000 | |||
| Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination | Services in connection with identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination | |||
| Up to $600,000 | Repayment of loans made to us to cover offering related and organizational expenses. | |||
| Up to $1,500,000 in working capital loans, which loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit | Working capital loans to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial business combination | |||
| Holders of Class B ordinary shares | Anti-dilution protection upon conversion into Class A ordinary shares at a greater than one-to-one ratio | Issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable in connection with the conversion of the founder shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. | ||
| Churchill Sponsor X LLC, our officers, directors, or our or their affiliates | Finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee | Any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination.
We may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets or providing financial advisory services, and may pay such affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. | ||
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Because our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price of $.003 per share, our public shareholders will incur immediate and substantial dilution upon the closing of this offering, assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units. Further, the Class A ordinary shares issuable in connection with the conversion of the founder shares may result in material dilution to our public shareholders due to the anti-dilution rights of our founder shares that may result in an issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. Additionally, our public shareholders may experience dilution from the exercise of the 300,000 private placement warrants into 300,000 Class A ordinary shares to be purchased in the private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Further, our public shareholders may experience material dilution if the $1,500,000 in working capital loans is fully advanced by the sponsor and the sponsor elects to convert the working capital loans into private placement units at $10.00 per unit, resulting in the sponsor receiving an additional 150,000 private placement units. See the section titled “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Management Team — The nominal purchase price paid by our initial shareholders 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.” and “Dilution.”
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, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (including any Class A ordinary shares issued pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued to the sponsor), 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 and their underlying securities issued to our sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans); provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. See the section titled “Prospectus Summary — Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
If we raise additional funds through equity or convertible debt issuances, our public shareholders may suffer significant dilution. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-for-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination.
Pursuant to a letter agreement to be entered 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 units, as summarized in the table below. In addition to the restrictions set forth below, up to 1,125,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent the over-allotment option is not exercised; further, in the event of a transfer of sponsor membership interests by members of our sponsor or their affiliates, there will be an indirect transfer of the founder shares and private placement units held by our sponsor.
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| Subject Securities |
Expiration Date |
Natural Persons and Entities Subject to Restrictions |
Exceptions to Transfer Restrictions | |||
| Founder Shares | The earlier of (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions. | Churchill Sponsor X LLC Michael Klein Jay Taragin William Sherman |
Transfers permitted (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or their affiliates, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, transfers by gift to members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, transfers by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) transfers by virtue of the laws of our sponsor’s operating agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; and (f) transfers by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased. | |||
| Private Placement Units | 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination | Churchill Sponsor X LLC | Same as above | |||
| Any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares | 180 days after the date of this prospectus | Churchill Sponsor X LLC Michael Klein Jay Taragin William Sherman |
No transfer without the prior written consent of BTIG, LLC, provided, however that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement units; (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ overallotment option (if any); (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement units and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares; and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of | |||
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| Subject Securities |
Expiration Date |
Natural Persons and Entities Subject to Restrictions |
Exceptions to Transfer Restrictions | |||
| founder shares to any current or future independent director of the company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement, filed herewith, at the time of such transfer; and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). | ||||||
| Interests in our sponsor corresponding to the 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) to be paid as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount | 180 days after the date of this prospectus | BTIG, LLC Condor Investments VI |
Lock-up restrictions, as required by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1); such securities may not be sold during the offering, or 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 effective economic disposition of such securities by any person, except as provided in FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). | |||
Up to 1,125,000 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. In addition, in order to facilitate our initial business combination as determined by our sponsor in its sole discretion, our sponsor may surrender or forfeit, transfer or exchange our founder shares, private placement units 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. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein.
Pursuant to the letter agreement to be entered with us, each of our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed to a lock-up and restrictions on their ability to transfer, assign, or sell the founder shares and private placement units and securities underlying the private placement units. Further, the sponsor membership interests (including the interests held by the non-managing members) are locked up and not transferable because the letter agreement prohibits indirect transfers.
Our letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval. Such transfer restrictions have been amended in connection with business combinations for certain other special purpose acquisition companies. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement.
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Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals, in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions. 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 units, their component securities 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.
Initial Business Combination
So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes paid or payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of execution of the definitive agreement for such business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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 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 units will be worthless.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors and each of the non-independent directors nominated by our sponsor, to approve our initial business combination.
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 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. However, we will only complete a business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise is not 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 the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business
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combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the 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 transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for seeking shareholder approval or for purposes of a tender offer, as applicable. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we would be required to comply with such 80% rule.
Our Management Team
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 members of our management team 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.
We believe our management team’s operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Management” for a more complete description of our management team’s experience.
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 a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary 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. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, 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 or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its equity as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
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While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
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 (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), 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 is held by non-affiliates equals or 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 shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th or (ii) 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 the prior June 30th.
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 applicable to Exchange Act registered companies. 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.
In addition, 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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Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of up to $297,000,000 after payment of $3,000,000 of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions (or up to $342,000,000 after payment of $3,000,000 of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full; this amount may be reduced to $1,500,000 in certain circumstances, as further described in “Underwriting”), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, 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 or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, our shares, debt or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary 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 businesses or assets 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. Additionally, we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business, other than our officers and directors. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
Members of our management team, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners are from time to time made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) engaged in any substantive discussions with a business combination target, with respect to a business combination transaction with us. Please see “—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” for additional information regarding limitations on our access to investment opportunities sourced by M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners may compete with us for acquisition opportunities that we may target for our initial business combination. If M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners decides to pursue any such opportunity or determines in its sole discretion not to offer such opportunity to us, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners or by persons who
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may make decisions for us or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners may be suitable for both us and for M. Klein and Company or the relevant Strategic and Operating Partner and may be directed to M. Klein and Company, the relevant Strategic and Operating Partner or other third parties rather than to us. Neither M. Klein and Company nor any of our Strategic and Operating Partners has any fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to our company, including, without limitation, to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware.
We have not contacted any of the prospective target businesses that M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners in their prior SPACs had considered and rejected as target businesses to acquire. However, we may contact such targets subsequent to the closing of this offering if we become aware that such targets are interested in a potential initial business combination with us and such transaction would be attractive to our shareholders. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
Our management team, in their other endeavors (including any affiliation they may have with M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners), may choose or be required to present potential business combinations or other transactions to M. Klein and Company, the relevant Strategic and Operating Partner or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. Please see “Risk Factors—Certain of our officers and directors 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 or other transaction should be presented.” We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with M. Klein and Company, any of our Strategic and Operating Partners, our sponsor, officers or directors, nor are we prohibited from doing so with a business that is affiliated with any M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with M. Klein and Company, any of our Strategic and Operating Partners, our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested 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. Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals. In addition, we have agreed, pursuant to the administrative and indemnification services agreement with the managing member our sponsor, that we will indemnify the managing member of our sponsor from any claims arising out of or relating to this offering or the company’s operations or conduct of the company’s business (including our initial business combination) or any claim against the managing member our sponsor alleging any expressed or implied management or endorsement by the managing member our sponsor of any of the company’s activities or any express or implied association between the managing member our sponsor and the company or any of its affiliates, which agreement will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with our sponsor, officers or directors, or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm 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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As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has 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 officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. See “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination
So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. 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 is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. 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 in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or if the post-transaction company is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 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 business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors. In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information that 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.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will 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, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our 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. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
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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. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. By completing our business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
| • | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and |
| • | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
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 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. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our 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 a 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 unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether shareholder approval is currently required under Cayman Islands law for each such transaction.
| Type of Transaction |
Whether Shareholder Approval is Required |
|||
| Purchase of assets |
No | |||
| Purchase of stock, shares or other equity interests of target not involving a merger with the company |
No | |||
| Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company |
No | |||
| Merger of the company with a target |
Yes | |||
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So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, 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 our Class A ordinary shares then issued and outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
| • | any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and 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. |
Permitted Purchases of our Securities
In the event we seek shareholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Such a purchase would include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules. It is intended that, if Rule 10b-18 would apply to purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, then such purchases will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, to the extent it applies, which provides a safe harbor for purchases made under certain conditions, including with respect to timing, pricing and volume of purchases.
There is no limit on the number of shares or warrants our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in 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.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such transactions may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
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Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the class of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling 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, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made 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. 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, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will be subject to restrictions in making purchases of ordinary shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of 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. Additionally, in the event our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
| • | if our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates were to purchase 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not be voted in favor of or against approving the business combination transaction; |
| • | our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
| • | the purpose of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; |
| • | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
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| • | the identities of our security holders who sold to our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; and |
| • | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
Please see “Risk Factors—If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, sponsors, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may elect to enter into certain transactions, including purchasing shares or public warrants from public shareholders or public warrantholders, which may influence the outcome of a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.”
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares (including any securities for which such shares are exchanged in any prior migration or other restructuring) upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-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 discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination.
Limitations on Redemptions
We may be subject to a minimum cash requirement or a maximum redemption requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) 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 Class A ordinary 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 Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial 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 requirements. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock or 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
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ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. If we structure an initial business combination with a target company in a manner that requires shareholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a shareholder vote to approve the proposed initial business combination. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with Nasdaq’s shareholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq. Such provisions may be amended if approved by a special resolution of our shareholders, which is a resolution passed by at least a two-thirds (2/3) majority (or such higher approval threshold as specified in the company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) of the votes cast by such shareholders as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting of the company of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been duly given.
If we hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, 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. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval at an ordinary resolution for such business combination under Cayman Islands law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (or such higher approval threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association). However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution, which requires the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds 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. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares the company representing at least one-third (1/3) of the voting power of all outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial shareholders will count toward this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the requisite majority of our outstanding ordinary shares voted, abstentions and non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in respect of such ordinary resolution, if all outstanding shares are voted on a resolution to approve our initial business combination, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriter’s overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, vote their shares, regardless of such vote pertains to an ordinary resolution or a special resolution of two-thirds of our ordinary shares voted at the meeting, we would not need any public shares in
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addition to our founder shares and private placement shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an 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. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether it votes for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, 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. 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. |
Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, 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 the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to the Excess Shares without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public 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 our management 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 without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our 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 the Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.
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Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents (as applicable) mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination (or any later date determined by our board of directors) 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 proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents (as applicable) that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable 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 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. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, 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.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, unless otherwise agreed to by us.
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 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 until 24 months from the closing of this offering (or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering) or until such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, to consummate an initial business combination. No redemption rights shall be offered to our public shareholders in connection with any such extension from 24 months to 27 months if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
If we are unable to complete our business combination within the completion window 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, we will: (i) cease all operations
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except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter (and subject to lawfully available funds therefor), redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire without value to the holder if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window.
Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after this offering, 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 completion window.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the right of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, such an amendment would need to be approved by a special resolution.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our liquidation, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $2,000,000 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 liquidation, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account following permitted withdrawals, 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 units, 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
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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 only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) 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 permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) 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 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 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public 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 or 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
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approximately $2,000,000 from the proceeds of this offering, as well as permitted withdrawals, 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 $1,000,000, 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 $1,000,000, 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 petition or a winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and a liquidator may determine that such funds should be included in our bankruptcy or insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third-party creditors with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy or 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 petition or a winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be subject to challenge under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a “voidable preference” or a “fraudulent conveyance, preference or disposition.” As a result, a liquidator or a bankruptcy or other 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 us or 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 (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination, subject to applicable law and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a such shareholder redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete our Initial Business Combination.
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or 27 months from the closing of this offering if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering). No redemption rights shall be offered to our public shareholders in connection with any such extension from 24 months to 27 months if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
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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 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 as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to any limitations (including but not limited to cash | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. If our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates were to purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through our redemption process. | If we are unable to complete our business combination within the completion window, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares. | |||
| requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | ||||||
| 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 | If the permitted purchases described above are made there would 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 business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial shareholders, who will be our only |
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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 Business Combination | ||||
| deferred underwriting discounts and commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay our taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account). |
In the event our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates were to purchase 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 disclosing the following in our registration statement/ proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction: the possibility that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; a representation that any of our securities purchased by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not be voted in favor of or against approving the business combination |
remaining shareholders after such redemptions. | ||||
| transaction; and our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to our securities or, if they do acquire and possess |
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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 Business Combination | ||||
| redemption rights, they would waive such rights. Additionally, 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, along with the purchase price; the purpose of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; the impact, if any, of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; the identities of our security holders who sold to our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their 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, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; and the number of our securities for which the we have |
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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 Business Combination | ||||
| received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
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 discounts and 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 overallotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
| Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| Escrow of offering proceeds |
Nasdaq rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a U.S.-based trust account. $300,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | Approximately $267,300,000 of the offering proceeds would 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. | ||
| Investment of net proceeds |
$300,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement units held in trust will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of | |||
| facilitating the intended business combination. 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 | 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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| Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| 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. | ||||
| Receipt of interest on escrowed funds |
Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (i) permitted withdrawals, and (ii) 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. | ||
| Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business |
So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. | The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. | ||
| Trading of securities issued |
The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising 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 BTIG, LLC 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 | No trading of the units or the underlying Class A ordinary shares and 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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| Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the overallotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide information to reflect the exercise of the overallotment option. | ||||
| Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. | ||||
| Exercise of the warrants |
The warrants cannot be exercised until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. | 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. | ||
| Election to remain an investor |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account 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 (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 law and do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles | 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 | ||
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| Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| 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. | 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. | |||
| 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 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 ten 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. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution for such business combination under Cayman Islands law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (or such higher approval threshold as required by Cayman Islands law or other applicable law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association). Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote | ||||
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| Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| for or against the proposed transaction. | ||||
| A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of the company representing at least one-third (1/3) of the voting power of all outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. | ||||
| Business combination deadline |
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the completion window, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter (and subject to lawfully available funds therefor), 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 and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. | 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 | |||
| Release of funds |
Except with respect to permitted withdrawals, the proceeds from this offering held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination (including the release of funds to pay any amounts due to any public shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights in connection therewith), (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within the completion window, 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. | ||
| Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote |
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 will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), | 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 | |||
| will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to the 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 the 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 the Excess Shares in open market transactions. | ||||
| 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 (or any later date determined by our board of directors) in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. | 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
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
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Certain Potential Conflicts of Interest Relating to M. Klein and Company
Our sponsor is an affiliate of M. Klein and Company. Mr. Klein is the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company and acts as a strategic advisor to its clients. Mr. Klein has a fiduciary duty to M. Klein and Company. As a result, Mr. Klein may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to clients of M. Klein and Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Mr. Klein will have no duty to offer acquisition opportunities to the company unless presented to him solely in his capacity as an officer or director of the company and after he has satisfied his contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties.
As a result, M. Klein and Company’s clients may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. If any of them decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within M. Klein and Company, including by Mr. Klein and other persons who may make decisions for the company, may be suitable both for us and for M. Klein and Company or any of its clients, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us. To the fullest extent permitted by law, none of Mr. Klein, M. Klein and Company or members of our management team who are also employed by M. Klein and Company have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware unless it is offered to them solely in their capacity as a director or officer of the company and after they have satisfied their contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties (including other special purpose acquisition companies they are or may become involved with).
In addition, Mr. Klein and M. Klein and Company may sponsor or form other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. In particular, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners, as well as our board of directors, have incorporated and are actively engaged in Churchill Capital Corp IX, a special purpose acquisition corporation currently searching for a business combination target. Churchill Capital Corp. IX, like us, may pursue initial business combination targets in any business or industry. Any such companies, including Churchill Capital Corp. IX, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners are also actively engaged in AltC Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition corporation that completed its $500 million initial public offering and is currently in the process of consummating its initial business combination, which may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target (if such initial business combination is unsuccessful). M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners 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 of their existing or future blank check companies. As a result, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it has sponsored 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. There are no contractual obligations governing the allocation of opportunities among the various blank check companies. Any determination as to which blank check company will pursue a particular acquisition target will be made based on the circumstances of the particular situation, including but not limited to the relative sizes of the blank check companies compared to the sizes of the targets, the need or desire for additional financings and the relevant experience of the directors, officers and Operating Partners involved with a particular blank check company. Mr. Klein currently does not have any existing contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties to offer acquisition opportunities to such parties unless presented to him solely in his capacity as a director or officer of such parties. However, no assurance can be given that Mr. Klein will not in the future, agree or be required, pursuant to additional contractual obligations or fiduciary duties, to offer acquisition opportunities coming to his attention to other entities.
The potential conflicts described above may limit our ability to enter into a business combination or other transactions. These circumstances could give rise to numerous situations where interests may conflict.
Additionally, we may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential
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targets or providing financial advisory services. We may pay such affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. Any such affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with advising on, sourcing and consummating of an initial business combination.
Limitations on Our Access to Investment Opportunities Sourced by M. Klein and Company
M. Klein and Company may compete with us for acquisition opportunities that we may target for our initial business combination. If M. Klein and Company decides to pursue any such opportunity or determines in its sole discretion not to offer such opportunity to us, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within M. Klein and Company or by persons who may make decisions for us may be suitable for both us and for M. Klein and Company may be directed to M. Klein and Company or other third parties rather than to us. M. Klein and Company does not have any fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to our company, including, without limitation, to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware.
Our management team, in their other endeavors (including any affiliation they may have with M. Klein and Company), may choose or be required to present potential business combinations or other transactions to M. Klein and Company or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. Please see “Risk Factors—Certain of our officers and directors 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 or other transaction should be presented.”
Not all Members of Our Management Team are Independent of M. Klein and Company
Our management team is responsible for the management of our affairs. Mr. Klein is the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company and acts as a strategic advisor to its clients. Mr. Klein has a fiduciary duty to M. Klein and Company. As a result, Mr. Klein may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to clients of M. Klein and Company. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Mr. Klein will have no duty to offer acquisition opportunities to the company unless presented to him in his capacity as an officer or director of the company and after he has satisfied his contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties. Please see “Management—Conflicts of Interest” for additional information regarding conflicts of interest relating to our management team.
Facilities
Our executive offices are located at 640 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10019, and our telephone number is (212) 380-7500. The cost for this space is included in the $30,000 per month fee that we will pay the managing member of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. 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 to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents (as applicable) sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with GAAP, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that any applicable requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition 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 will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such 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 applicable to Exchange Act registered companies. 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 (i) 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
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of at least $1.235 billion (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), 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 is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt 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 (i) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th or (ii) 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 the prior June 30th.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
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Officers, Directors and Director Nominees
Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:
| Name |
Age | Title | ||||
| Michael Klein |
60 | Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors | ||||
| Jay Taragin |
57 | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
| William Sherman |
61 | Director nominee | ||||
Michael Klein has served as our Chief Executive Officer, President and the Chairman of our Board of Directors as of January 2024. Mr. Klein is also the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp VII, a blank check company whose sponsor is an affiliate of M. Klein and Company, LLC and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AltC Acquisition Corp., a blank check company whose sponsor is an affiliate of M. Klein and Company, LLC. Mr. Klein was the co-founder and Chairman of Churchill Capital Corp, a blank check company formed in 2018. Churchill Capital Corp merged with Clarivate Analytics, a provider of comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, analytical tools, and services, in May 2019. Mr. Klein served as a member of the board of directors of Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT) from May 2019 until October 2020. Mr. Klein was the founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp II, a blank check company formed in 2019. Churchill Capital Corp II merged with Skillsoft Corp., a provider of digital learning and talent management solutions, and Global Knowledge Training LLC, a provider of IT and professional skills development in June 2021, and Mr. Klein currently serves on the board of directors of the combined company, Skillsoft Corp.(NYSE: SKIL). Mr. Klein was also the founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp III, a blank check company formed in 2019. Churchill Capital Corp III merged with MultiPlan, Inc., a technology-enabled provider of end-to-end healthcare cost management solutions, in October 2020, and Mr. Klein currently serves on the board of directors of MultiPlan, Inc. (NYSE: MPLN). Mr. Klein was also the founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp IV, a blank check company formed in 2020. Churchill Capital Corp IV merged with Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID), a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles, in July 2021. Mr. Klein was also the founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp V, a blank check company formed in 2020. Churchill Capital Corp V did not consummate an initial business combination and was liquidated in October 2023. Mr. Klein was also the founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp VI, a blank check company formed in 2021. Churchill Capital Corp VI did not consummate an initial business combination and was liquidated in October 2023. In December 2020, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp VII, a special purpose acquisition company that completed a $1.38 billion initial public offering in February 2021. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq., a corporate compounder with a record of acquiring and supporting founder-led businesses. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII began the process of liquidation and returning cash held in trust to its shareholders. In March 2021, Mr. Klein founded and became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AltC Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition corporation formally known as Churchill Capital Corp VIII, the eighth such corporation in the Churchill series of special purpose acquisition corporations, and completed its $500 million initial public offering in July 2021. In July 2023, AltC Acquisition Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Oklo, a fission technology and nuclear fuel recycling company which seeks to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy globally through the design and deployment of next-generation fast reactor technology, which was approved by the shareholders of AltC Acquisition Corp. in May 2024. Mr. Klein has been the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX), a blank check company which raised $287.5 million in its initial public offering in May 2024 and is currently searching for a business combination target. Mr. Klein served as a Director of Credit Suisse Group AG and Credit Suisse AG from April 2018 to October 2022
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Mr. Klein is the founder and managing partner of M. Klein and Company, LLC (“MKC”), which he founded in 2012. MKC is a global strategic advisory firm that provides its clients a variety of advice tailored to their objectives. Mr. Klein is a strategic advisor to global companies, boards of directors, senior executives, governments, and institutional investors. Mr. Klein’s background in strategic advisory work was built during his 35-year career, including more than two decades at Citi and its predecessors, during which he initiated and executed strategic advisory transactions. He began his career as an investment banker in the M&A Advisory Group at Salomon Smith Barney and subsequently became Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Citi Markets and Banking, with responsibilities for global corporate and investment banking and Global Transaction Services across Citi. Mr. Klein is a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Bachelors of Science in Economics with concentrations in finance and accounting.
Mr. Klein was selected to serve on the Churchill Capital Corp X board of directors due to his significant investment banking and advisory experience as well as his extensive experience with special purpose acquisition companies.
Jay Taragin has served as our Chief Financial Officer since February 2024. Mr. Taragin has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp VII since May 2020, Chief Financial Officer of AltC Acquisition Corp since February 2021, and Chief Financial Officer of MKC which he joined in May 2019. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp III and Churchill Capital Corp IV, until they completed their respective business combinations. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp V and Churchill Capital Corp VI, until they completed their respective liquidations. In August 2023, Churchill Capital Corp VII entered into a definitive agreement to merge with CorpAcq. In August 2024, the definitive agreement with CorpAcq was terminated and Churchill Capital Corp VII began the process of liquidation and returning cash held in trust to its shareholders. Mr. Taragin has been the Chief Financial Officer of Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX), a blank check company which raised $287.5 million in its initial public offering in May 2024 and is currently searching for a business combination target, since February 2024. Prior to joining MKC, Mr. Taragin served as the US Scotiabank Chief Financial Officer from 2013 to 2017. Prior to Scotiabank, Mr. Taragin held a Chief Operating and Financial Officer role from 2009 to 2012 at Fundcore Finance Group LLC and held a variety of senior finance and audit roles at Merrill Lynch & Company from 1993 to 2009. In addition, Mr. Taragin worked at Credit Suisse and PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior auditor and accountant. Mr. Taragin is a certified public accountant and holds a master’s degree in business administration from New York University Stern School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University.
William Sherman will serve as a Director upon the commencement of trading of our securities on Nasdaq. Since July 2024, he has served as a Director of Churchill Capital Corp IX. He has served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Nat Sherman Inc. (“Nat Sherman”), a third-generation, family-owned tobacco company from 1991 to January 2017. During his time at Nat Sherman, Mr. Sherman played a pivotal role in the growth of the brand, establishing it as a leading luxury product in its category. His responsibilities spanned operations, manufacturing oversight, product development, and international sales management. As a leader in small manufacturing, Mr. Sherman was actively involved in numerous industry boards. He was a vocal advocate on regulatory and legislative issues, ensuring that the industry’s interests were well-represented. In 2017, Mr. Sherman successfully spearheaded the sale of Nat Sherman to Altria Group Inc., marking a significant milestone in Nat Sherman’s history. Following the sale, Mr. Sherman retired but remains actively engaged in various roles. He serves on the Statesmen Athletic Association board of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, his alma mater, and has dedicated himself to an array of investment and philanthropic efforts. Mr. Sherman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Mr. Sherman is well-qualified to serve as a member of the Board due to his significant operational, financial and leadership experience.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
We intend to have two directors upon completion of this offering. Our board of directors will be divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class
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of directors, consisting of directors to be appointed after completion of this offering pursuant to Nasdaq’s phase-in rules, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Sherman, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Mr. Klein, will expire at the third annual general meeting. We may not hold an annual general meeting until after we consummate 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. Holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote to appoint and remove all of our directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended if approved by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting.
Approval of our initial business combination will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors and each of the non-independent directors nominated by our sponsor.
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 any Chairman or co-Chairman of the Board, a Vice Chairman of the Board, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, a Secretary, a Treasurer, Vice Presidents, one or more assistant Vice Presidents, one or more assistant Treasurers, one or more assistant Secretaries and such other officers as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, a majority of our board of directors generally must be independent, subject to certain limited exceptions set forth under the rules of Nasdaq. 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. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Sherman is an “independent director” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. Pursuant to Nasdaq’s phase-in rules for newly listed companies, we have ninety days from the completion of this offering to have at least two independent directors, and one year from the date on which we are first listed on Nasdaq for a majority of our board of directors to be independent. We intend to appoint at least two additional independent directors within the applicable time periods.
Officer and Director Compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us as of the date of this prospectus. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account, including permitted withdrawals. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement or payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.
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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 (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals:
| • | repayment of up to an aggregate of $600,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| • | reimbursement to the managing member our sponsor in an amount equal to $30,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us; |
| • | at the closing of our initial business combination, payment of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination; |
| • | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; |
| • | repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors 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 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender; and |
| • | Our independent directors may each receive, for their services as a director, an indirect interest in founder shares through membership interests in our sponsor. |
In addition, we have agreed, pursuant to the administrative services and indemnification agreement with the managing member of our sponsor relating to the monthly reimbursement for office space and administrative services described above, that we will indemnify the managing member of our sponsor from any claims arising out of or relating to this offering or the company’s operations or conduct of the company’s business (including our initial business combination) or any claim against the managing member of our sponsor alleging any expressed or implied management or endorsement by the managing member of our sponsor of any of the company’s activities or any express or implied association between the managing member of our sponsor and the company or any of its affiliates, which agreement will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account. After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents (as applicable) furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
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Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and certain limited exceptions, Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. In addition, Nasdaq rules generally require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, subject to certain limited exceptions set forth thereunder.
Audit Committee
Upon the commencement of trading of our securities on Nasdaq, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors.Mr. Sherman will serve as a member of our audit committee. Under Nasdaq’s listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent., subject to the exception described below. Mr. Sherman is independent. Pursuant to Nasdaq’s phase-in rules for newly listed companies, we have ninety days from the completion of this offering to appoint a second independent director on our audit committee, and one year from the date on which we are first listed on Nasdaq for our audit committee to be made up of three independent directors. We intend to appoint additional independent directors to our audit committee within the applicable time period.
Mr. Sherman will serve as interim chair of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Sherman qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including, among other things:
| • | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent auditor’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| • | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| • | pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
| • | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations; |
| • | 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 (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, (ii) 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 and (iii) all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and us to assess the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence; |
| • | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; |
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| • | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
| • | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Compensation Committee
Upon the commencement of trading of our securities on Nasdaq, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. Mr. Sherman will serve as a member of our compensation committee. Mr. Sherman will also serve as the chair of the compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we generally would be required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to certain limited exceptions set forth under the rules of Nasdaq. We intend to appoint another independent director to serve on our compensation committee within the applicable phase-in periods discussed above.
We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including, among other things:
| • | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, if any is paid by us, 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 approving on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our other officers; |
| • | reviewing on an annual basis 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; |
| • | if required, 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, legal counsel or other advisor and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such advisor. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other advisor, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such advisor, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Clawback Policy
We will adopt a compensation recovery policy that is compliant with Nasdaq listing rules as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.
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Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The director who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees will initially be Mr. Murphy, and upon selection of additional independent directors following the consummation of this offering will include such additional director(s). In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, Mr. Murphy is independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
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, our 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 officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees (“Code of Ethics”). We have filed a copy of our form Code of Ethics and our audit committee and compensation committee charters as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics, 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, in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
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 authority for the purpose for which it is conferred and a 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. |
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In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge, skill and experience of that director.
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 at the expense of the company. 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.
Our management team is responsible for the management of our affairs. As described above and below, each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. 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. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our Strategic and Operating Partners and their personnel, if any, may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to clients or other parties. To the fullest extent permitted by law, such persons will have no duty to offer acquisition opportunities to the company unless presented to them solely in their capacity as a director of the company and after they have satisfied any contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties.
As a result, such persons may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. Consequently, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas may be suitable both for us and for a Strategic Partner or Operating Partner or any of its clients, and will be directed initially to such persons rather than to us.
In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers, directors, M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners 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 of their existing or future blank check companies, including Churchill Capital Corp IX, described above. As a result, M. Klein and Company, Mr. Klein and the Operating Partners may pursue business combinations for blank check companies that it has sponsored 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. There are no contractual obligations governing the allocation of opportunities among the various blank
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check companies. Any determination as to which blank check company will pursue a particular acquisition target will be made based on the circumstances of the particular situation, including but not limited to the relative sizes of the blank check companies compared to the sizes of the targets, the need or desire for additional financings and the relevant experience of the directors, officers and Operating Partners involved with a particular blank check company. Mr. Klein currently does not have any existing contractual and fiduciary obligations to other parties to offer acquisition opportunities to such parties unless presented to him solely in his capacity as a director or officer of such parties. However, no assurance can be given that Mr. Klein will not in the future, agree or be required, pursuant to additional contractual obligations or fiduciary duties, to offer acquisition opportunities coming to his attention to other entities.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors, or of M. Klein and Company and our Strategic and Operating Partners, or policies applicable to M. Klein and Company or any of our Strategic and Operating Partners, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| • | None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities. |
| • | In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. Please see “—Directors, Director Nominees and Executive Officers” for a description of our management’s other affiliations, |
| • | Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial shareholders, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial shareholders or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquire public shares in or after this offering, 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 completion window. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial shareholders until the earlier of: (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the ordinary shares underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor, officers and directors will directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction. 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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within the completion window. Upon the closing of this offering, our |
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| sponsor will have invested in us an aggregate of $3,025,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares (or approximately $0.003 per share) and the $3,000,000 purchase price for the private placement units (or $10.00 per unit), which may be exercised on a cashless basis. Accordingly, our management team, which owns interests in our sponsor, 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 and if our sponsor were required to pay cash to exercise the private placement warrants contained in the private placement units. |
| • | 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 and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction as such loans may not be repaid and/or such expenses may not be reimbursed unless we consummate such business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of working capital loans made to us by the sponsor may be convertible into private placement units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Such units would be identical to the private placement units. 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. |
| • | We will reimburse the managing member of our sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us, in an amount equal to $30,000 per month. |
| • | We will reimburse the sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination. |
| • | 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 to proceed with a particular business combination. |
| • | Our key personnel may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such key personnel was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
| • | Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals. In addition, we have agreed, pursuant to the administrative services and indemnification agreement with the managing member of our sponsor relating to the services described above, that we will indemnify the managing member of our sponsor from any claims arising out of or relating to this offering or the company’s operations or conduct of the company’s business (including our initial business combination) or any claim against the managing member of our sponsor alleging any expressed or implied management or endorsement by the managing member of our sponsor of any of the company’s activities or any express or implied association between the managing member of our sponsor and the company or any of its affiliates, which agreement will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account. If we agree to pay our sponsor or a member of our management team any such 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, and in negotiating or accepting the terms of the transaction, as any such fee may not be paid unless we consummate such business combination. See “Risk Factors—We may engage one or more affiliates of our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after |
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| this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.” |
| • | We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors; 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. |
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:
| Name of Individual |
Entity Name |
Entity’s Business |
Affiliation | |||
| Michael Klein |
M. Klein and Company | Strategic advice | Founder and Managing Partner | |||
| MultiPlan, Inc. | Healthcare cost management solutions | Director | ||||
| AltC Acquisition Corp. | Blank check company | Director | ||||
| Skillsoft Corp. | Educational technology | Director | ||||
| Churchill Capital Corp IX | Blank check company | Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors | ||||
| Jay Taragin |
M. Klein and Company | Strategic advice | Chief Financial Officer | |||
| Churchill Capital Corp | ||||||
| IX | Blank check company | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
| William Sherman |
Churchill Capital Corp IX | Blank check company | Director | |||
Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us (including as described in “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors, M. Klein and Company, or policies applicable to M. Klein and Company, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with M. Klein and Company, one of our Strategic and Operating Partners, our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with M. Klein and Company, one of our Strategic and Operating Partners, our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested 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.
In addition, our sponsor or any of its affiliates, or any of their respective clients, 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, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination, and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote public shares purchased by them (if any) during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, 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, actual fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We expect to purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Our officers and directors have agreed, and any persons who may become officers or directors prior to the initial business combination will agree, to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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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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 ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
| • | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
| • | each of our named executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns ordinary shares upon completion of this offering; and |
| • | all of our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
On February 15, 2024, our sponsor acquired an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).
The following table presents the number of shares and percentage of our ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders before and after this offering. The post-offering numbers and percentages presented assume that the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option, that our sponsor forfeits 1,125,000 founder shares, and that there are 37,800,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering. Our public shareholders may incur material dilution due to anti-dilution adjustments that result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion.
| Before Offering | After Offering | |||||||||||||||
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) |
Number
of |
Approximate |
Number
of |
Approximate |
||||||||||||
| Churchill Sponsor X LLC(our sponsor)(3) |
8,625,000 | 100 | % | 6,550,000 | 20.8 | % | ||||||||||
| Michael Klein |
8,625,000 | 100 | % | 6,550,000 | 20.8 | % | ||||||||||
| Jay Taragin |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| William Sherman |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| All directors, director nominees and executive officers as a group (three (3) individuals) |
8,625,000 | 100 | % | 6,550,000 | 20.8 | % | ||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Churchill Capital Corp X, 640 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10019. |
| (2) | Before Offering interests shown consist solely of 8,625,000 founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares (1,125,000 of which are subject to forfeiture to the extent the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option). Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment and forfeiture, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” After Offering interests shown consist of |
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| 7,500,000 founder shares and 300,000 private placement shares (assuming the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option). Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. Separately, BTIG, LLC will be admitted as a member of our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering and will be allocated interests in our sponsor corresponding to 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount. BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI will not have voting or dispositive control of such securities while such securities are held by our sponsor, and thus disclaim beneficial ownership of such securities except to the extent of their respective pecuniary interests. |
| (3) | Michael Klein is the controlling shareholder of M. Klein Associates Inc., which is the managing member of Churchill Sponsor X LLC. The securities beneficially owned by Churchill Sponsor X LLC may also be deemed to be beneficially owned by Mr. Klein. |
Immediately after this offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 20.8% of the then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares (including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a share dividend or a share surrender, or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amounts to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the appointment and removal of directors, amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions, including approval of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, holders of our Class B ordinary shares have the exclusive right to elect, remove and replace any director prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. This provision may only be amended if approved by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting.
The holders of the founder shares and private placement shares 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 or private placement shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. Our initial shareholders will own 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law. As a result, in respect of such ordinary resolution, if all outstanding shares are voted on a resolution to approve our initial business combination, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriter’s overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, vote their shares, we would not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares and private placement shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an initial business combination.
Our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private
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placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the private placement units will expire without value to the holder. The private placement units and their underlying securities are subject to the transfer restrictions described below. The private placement warrants contained in the private placement units will be non-redeemable. The private placement warrants may also be exercised for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation; provided, however, that for so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA rules. Otherwise, the private placement warrants contained in the private placement units have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares.
Our sponsor, its affiliates and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier of (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions.
Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement units (including the underlying securities) until 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except that, among other limited exceptions, as described below, transfers may be made to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with such affiliate of our sponsor. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.
Additionally, in the event of (i) our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the completion of a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, the lock-up period shall terminate. However, in the case of clauses (a) through (f) below, such securities may be transferred during the lock-up period to certain permitted transferees, provided that they enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions. Permitted transfers include: (a) transfers to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or their affiliates, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, transfers by gift to members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, transfers by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) transfers by virtue of the laws of our sponsor’s operating agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; and (f) transfers by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased.
Any permitted transferees of any founder shares or private placement units and their underlying securities would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to such founder shares and private placement units and their underlying securities.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
On February 15, 2024, our sponsor acquired an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a share dividend or a share surrender or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Our public shareholders may incur material dilution due to the anti-dilution adjustments that result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. Up to 1,125,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised. The founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant contained in the private placement units is exercisable to purchase one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation.
As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on Nasdaq, we will reimburse M. Klein Associates Inc., the managing member of our sponsor, in an amount equal to $30,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us. In addition, we have agreed, pursuant to the administrative services and indemnification agreement with the managing member of our sponsor described above, that we will indemnify them from any claims arising out of or relating to this offering, or our operations or conduct of our business (including our initial business combination) or any claim against them alleging any expressed or implied management or endorsement by them of any of our activities or any express implied association between them and us, which agreement will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, there may be payment by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, of a finder’s fee, advisory fee,
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consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial business combination, will be paid from (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals.
Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account, including permitted withdrawals.
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 may loan us up to $600,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans would be non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of (x) December 31, 2025, or (y) the closing of this offering. The loan would be repaid upon the closing of this offering as part of the estimated $1,000,000 of offering expenses. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors or their respective affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. 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 for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We have agreed to indemnify our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law from any claims made by us or a third party in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by them or any liability arising with respect to their activities in connection with our affairs, to the extent that such indemnification, hold harmless and exoneration obligations with respect to such matters are not expressly covered by a separate written agreement between us and any such party. Such indemnity will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held 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 and director compensation.
We will enter into a registration rights agreement with respect to the private placement units and their underlying securities , the units issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and their underlying securities and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the founder shares, which is described under the heading “Description of Securities—Registration Rights.”
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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 consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) 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. A form of the audit committee charter that we plan to adopt prior to the consummation of this offering is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We also require each of our directors and executive officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.
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 will not consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with any of our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained 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 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 (i) funds held outside the trust account or (ii) permitted withdrawals:
| • | repayment of up to an aggregate of $600,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| • | reimbursement to the managing member of our sponsor in an amount equal to $30,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us; |
| • | payment of a finder’s fee, advisory fee, consulting fee or success fee for any services they render in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination; |
| • | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; |
| • | repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors 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 units, at a price of |
$10.00 per unit at the option of the lender; and
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| • | Our independent directors may each receive, for their services as a director, an indirect interest in founder shares through membership interests in our sponsor. |
Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our authorized share capital consists of 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, and 5,000,000 undesignated preferred shares, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes certain 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.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one whole Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrantholder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrantholder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least four units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising 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 BTIG, LLC 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 warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least four units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K that includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K that includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option.
Additionally, the units that have not already been separated will automatically separate into their component parts in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and will no longer be listed thereafter.
Private Placement Units
The private placement units (including the private placement warrants or private placement shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Shareholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor). The private placement units will be identical to the units sold as part of this offering, except as set forth below under “Private Placement Warrants.”
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us
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funds as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such working capital loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. Such units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period of the underlying warrants. The terms of such working capital loans by our sponsor or its affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.
Ordinary Shares
Upon the closing of this offering, 37,800,000 ordinary shares will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 1,125,000 founder shares by our sponsor), consisting of:
| • | 30,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units being offered in this offering; |
| • | 300,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units sold as part of the private placement; and |
| • | 7,500,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders. |
If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share dividend or share surrender or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial shareholders prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering and not including their ownership of the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units).
Holders of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares 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 or the applicable stock exchange rules then in effect; provided that holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote to appoint and remove all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and holders of our Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the election or removal of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended if approved by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) of our ordinary shares voting at the applicable general meeting. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Law 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 election or removal of directors), and an ordinary resolution of the founder shares (only) is required to approve the election 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 (other than with a 90% subsidiary of ours). Our board of directors will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares eligible to vote and voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. In addition, to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside of the Cayman Islands, including the adoption of the organizational documents for such jurisdiction, our board of directors will be able to approve such continuation and organizational documents without the vote of any holders of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the
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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 business combination.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings or appoint directors other than to ensure that the company has at least one director at all times. We may not hold an annual general meeting to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares (including any securities for which such shares are exchanged in any prior migration or other restructuring) 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $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 discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination. 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 law, if a shareholder vote is not required by law 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 will 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, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution for such business combination under Cayman Islands law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (or such higher approval threshold as required under Cayman Islands law or other applicable law and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association). A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of the company representing at least one-third (1/3) of the voting power of all outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our 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 outstanding ordinary shares voted, abstentions and non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our business combination once a quorum is obtained. 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to the Excess
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Shares without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including the Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Our shareholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, 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 business combination, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in respect of such ordinary resolution, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and private placement shares, we would need 11,100,001, or 37.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriter’s overallotment option is not exercised), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, subject to any higher consent threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether it votes for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window 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, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or 27 months, as applicable). However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed timeframe.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders are 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 public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, 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, except as described below, are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have
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the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that (i) only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, (ii) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (iii) our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to (A) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination, (B) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, private placement shares and public shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (a) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (b) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, or (C) rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares or private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within such time period, (iv) the founder shares are our Class B ordinary shares that will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors) or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein, and (v) the founder shares are subject to registration rights. If we submit our business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law. Our initial shareholders have agreed to vote any founder shares and private placement shares held by them and any public shares 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 (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of our initial business combination, as may be determined by our directors), or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment for share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this offering and related to the closing of the 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, on an as-converted basis, 20% of (i) the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (including any Class A ordinary shares issued pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and excluding the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units issued to the sponsor), 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 and their underlying securities issued to our sponsor or any of its affiliates or to our officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans); provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier of (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject
to certain limited exceptions.
Our sponsor (or its permitted transferees) will forfeit up to 1,125,000 founder shares depending on the exercise of the overallotment option in order to maintain our initial shareholders’ ownership of 20% of our
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ordinary shares after this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). The founder shares are identical to the ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering. However, the holders of founder shares and private placement shares have agreed (i) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (ii) not to convert any founder shares or private placement shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there will 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 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 member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members will 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 will 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.
Preferred Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize 5,000,000 preferred shares and will provide that preferred 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 preferred 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 preferred 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 preferred shares issued and outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preferred shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preferred shares are being issued or registered in this offering.
Warrants
Public Shareholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed herein, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act
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covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) 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. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrantholder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrantholder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire without value to the holder. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of the initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post- effective amendment to the registration statement for this offering or a new registration statement registering, under the Securities Act, the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the issuance of shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. To exercise warrants on a cashless basis, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants in exchange for a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, and (ii) the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) such fair market value. Solely for the purposes of the preceding sentence, “fair market value” shall mean the 10-day average trading price as of the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00.
Beginning 30 days after completion of our initial business combination, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants for cash:
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
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| • | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”); and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share dividends, 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 we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders. We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout such 30 trading day period and the 30 day redemption period. |
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.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrantholder will be entitled to exercise its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption Procedures
A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the Class A ordinary shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-Dilution Adjustments
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a share dividend payable in Class A ordinary shares, or by a subdivision of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such share dividend, subdivision or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding Class A ordinary shares. A rights offering to holders of Class A ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a share dividend of a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the product of (i) 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) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per Class A ordinary share paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) 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, (ii) 10-day average closing price means, as of any date, the average last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to such date and (iii) fair market value means the 10-day average closing price the first date on which the Class A ordinary shares trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay 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 shares into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described
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above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our Class A ordinary shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, or reclassification of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reclassification or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter. The warrant agreement provides that no adjustment to the number of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant will be required until cumulative adjustments amount to 1% or more of the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant as last adjusted. Any such adjustments that are not made will be carried forward and taken into account in any subsequent adjustment. All such carried forward adjustments will be made (i) in connection with any subsequent adjustment that (taken together with such carried forward adjustments) would result in a change of at least 1% in the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant and (ii) on the exercise date of any warrant.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the 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 entity in which any “person” or “group” (as such terms are used in Section 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act) acquires more than 50% of the voting power of the securities, 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, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of our Class A ordinary shares immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which 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 warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make generally any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
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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 warrantholders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A ordinary shares or any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
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 located in the County 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—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 warrantholders 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. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrantholder.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants contained in the private placement units will be non-redeemable. The private placement warrants may also be exercised for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation; provided, however, that for so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the private placement warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in this offering in accordance with FINRA rules. Otherwise, the private placement warrants contained in the private placement units have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a “cashless basis,” they would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants in exchange for a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (A) the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, and (B) the excess of the “10-day average closing price” (as defined below), as of the date prior to the date on which notice of exercise is sent or given to the warrant agent less the warrant price by (y) such 10-day average closing price. The “10-day average closing price” shall mean, as of any date, the average last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to such date. If the holders of private placement warrants are affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit 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 sell the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market to fund their cash exercise price, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis” is appropriate.
Neither the private placement warrants nor the public warrants contain any provisions that are dependent upon the characteristics of the holder of the warrant.
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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 a business combination. A Cayman Islands company may pay a dividend on its shares out of either profit or the share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if following such payment the company would be unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses 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.
Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.
Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Law. The Companies Law 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 Law applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Law allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands 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 or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (i) a special resolution of the shareholders of each company; and (ii) 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 holds issued shares that together represent 90% of the votes at a general meeting of the subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company, provided the parent company is the surviving entity and a copy of the plan of merger is given to every member of each subsidiary company to be merged unless that member agrees otherwise. 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 Law (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
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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 company are also required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that certain requirements have been met, including the following requirements: (i) 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; (ii) 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 applicable jurisdictions; (iii) 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; (iv) 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; and (v) there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
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 following requirements have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidation is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) 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; and (iii) 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.
The Companies Law provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid the fair value of their shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation in certain circumstances if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, where such rights apply, that procedure is as follows: (i) the shareholder must give his 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 their shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (ii) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is authorized by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (iii) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of their shares; (iv) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (ii) 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 their shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (v) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree on 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 of all dissenting shares and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. A shareholder who dissents must do so in respect of all shares that that person holds in the constituent company. Upon the giving of a notice of dissent under paragraph (iii) above, the shareholder to whom the notice relates shall cease to have any of the rights of a shareholder except the right to be
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paid the fair value of that person’s shares and certain rights specified in the Companies Law. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenting shareholders 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, 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 has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement,” which may be tantamount to a merger. Schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved (i) in relation to a compromise or arrangement between a company and its creditors or any class of them, a majority in number of such creditors or class of creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent 75% in value of such creditors or class of creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting summoned for that purpose; and (ii) in relation to a compromise or arrangement between a company and its shareholders or any class of them, shareholders who represent 75% in value of the company’s shareholders or class of shareholders, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a 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 satisfies itself that:
| • | we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
| • | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
| • | the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
| • | the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Law 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 dissenters’ rights or appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% in value of the shares to whom the offer relates within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period after the expiration of the initial four-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 means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements of an operating business.
Shareholders’ Suits. Ogier (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 officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands
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authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be 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 which have actually been obtained; or |
| • | those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.” |
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by Ogier (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) 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 (ii) 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 Law. The Companies Law 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:
| • | annual reporting requirements are minimal and consist mainly of a statement that the company has conducted its operations mainly outside of the Cayman Islands and has complied with the provisions of the Companies Law; |
| • | an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection and can be kept outside of the Cayman Islands; |
| • | an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting; |
| • | an exempted company may issue shares with no nominal or par value; |
| • | an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 30 years in the first instance); and |
| • | an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
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“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstance in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a special resolution is a resolution that (i) has been passed by a majority of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s shareholders entitled to vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, has been approved by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders who are entitled to vote on such matter (or such lower threshold as may be allowed under the Companies Law from time to time). The provisions regulating the appointment and removal of directors and continuing the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands may only be amended by a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of at least 90% (or, where such amendment is proposed in respect of the consummation of our initial business combination, two-thirds) 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. Other than as described above, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds 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 (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a written resolution passed in accordance with the Companies Law.
Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will 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 provides, among other things, that:
| • | If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window 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, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, 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 less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law; |
| • | Prior to our initial business combination, we may not, except in connection with the conversion of Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares where the holders of such shares have waived any rights to receive funds from the trust account, issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or any other proposal presented to our shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination; |
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| • | 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; whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above; |
| • | So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination; |
| • | If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A 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 (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then-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. |
| • | Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the courts of the Cayman Islands shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim or dispute arising out of or in connection with our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or otherwise related in any way to each shareholder’s shareholding in us, including but not limited to (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of any fiduciary or other duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees to us or our shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Companies Law or our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine (as such concept is recognized under the laws of the United States of America) and that each shareholder irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Cayman Islands over all such claims or disputes. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association also provide that, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies that we may have, each of our shareholders acknowledges that damages alone would not be an adequate remedy for any breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum and that accordingly we shall be entitled, without proof of special damages, to the remedies of injunction, specific performance or other equitable relief for any threatened or actual breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum. The forum selection provision in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not apply to actions or suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are, as a matter of the laws of the United States of America, the sole and exclusive forum for determination of such a claim. |
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Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Terrorist Financing, Prevention of Proliferation Financing and Financial Sanctions Compliance—Cayman Islands
If any person resident in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects, or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting, that another person is engaged in criminal conduct, is involved with terrorism or terrorist property or proliferation financing or is the business combination partner of a financial sanction 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 (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct, money laundering or proliferation financing or is the business combination partner of a financial sanction; or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report will not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise. We reserve the right to refuse to make any payment to a shareholder if our directors or officers suspect or are advised that the payment to such shareholder might result in a breach of applicable anti- money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, prevention of proliferation financing and financial sanctions or other laws or regulations by any person in any relevant jurisdiction, or if such refusal is considered necessary or appropriate to ensure our compliance with any such laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction.
Should a shareholder or its duly authorized delegates or agents be, or become (or is believed by the company or its affiliates (“Agents”) to be or become) at any time while it owns or holds an interest in the company, (a) an individual or entity named on any sanctions list maintained by the United Kingdom (including as extended to the Cayman Islands by Orders in Council) or the Cayman Islands or any similar list maintained under applicable law or is otherwise subject to applicable sanctions in the Cayman Islands (a “Sanctions Subject”) or (b) an entity owned or controlled directly or indirectly by a Sanctions Subject, as determined by the company in its sole discretion, then (i) the company or its Agents may immediately and without notice to the shareholder cease any further dealings with the shareholder or freeze any dealings with the interests or accounts of the shareholder (e.g., by prohibiting payments by or to the shareholder or restricting or suspending dealings with the interests or accounts) or freeze the assets of the company (including interests or accounts of other shareholders who are not Sanctions Subjects), until the relevant person ceases to be a Sanctions Subject or a license is obtained under applicable law to continue such dealings (a “Sanctioned Persons Event”), (ii) the company and its Agents may be required to report such action or failure to comply with information requests and to disclose the shareholder’s identity (and/or the identity of the shareholder’s beneficial owners and control persons) to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Cayman Islands Financial Reporting Authority, or other applicable governmental or regulatory authorities (without notifying the Subscriber that such information has been so provided) and (iii) the company and its Agents have no liability whatsoever for any liabilities, costs, expenses, damages and/or losses (including but not limited to any direct, indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of reputation and all interest, penalties and legal costs and all other professional costs and expenses) incurred by the shareholder as a result of a Sanctioned Persons Event.
Data Protection—Cayman Islands
We have certain duties under the Data Protection Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, as amended from time to time and any regulations, codes of practice, or orders promulgated pursuant thereto (the “DPL”) based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
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 DPL
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(“personal data”). In the following discussion, the “company” refers to us and our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
We are committed to processing personal data in accordance with the DPL. In our use of personal data, we will be characterized under the DPL as a “data controller,” whilst certain of our service providers, affiliates, and delegates may act as “data processors” under the DPL. These service providers may process personal data for their own lawful purposes in connection with services provided to us. For the purposes of this Privacy Notice, “you” or “your” shall mean the subscriber and shall also include any individual connected to the subscriber.
By virtue of your investment in the company, we and certain of our service providers may collect, record, store, transfer, and otherwise process personal data by which individuals may be directly or indirectly identified. We may combine personal data that you provide to use with personal data that we collect from, or about you. This may include personal data collected in an online or offline context including from credit reference agencies and other available public databases or data sources, such as news outlines, websites and other media sources and international sanctions lists.
Your personal data will be processed fairly and for lawful purposes, including (a) where the processing is necessary for us to perform a contract to which you are a party or for taking pre-contractual steps at your request, (b) where the processing is necessary for compliance with any legal, tax, or regulatory obligation to which we are subject, (c) where the processing is for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by us or by a service provider to whom the data are disclosed, or (d) where you otherwise consent to the processing of personal data for any other specific purpose. As a data controller, we will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will contact you.
We anticipate that we will share your personal data with our service providers for the purposes set out in this privacy notice. We may also share relevant personal data where it is lawful to do so and necessary to comply with our contractual obligations or your instructions or where it is necessary or desirable to do so in connection with any regulatory reporting obligations. In exceptional circumstances, we will share your personal data with regulatory, prosecuting, and other governmental agencies or departments, and parties to litigation (whether pending or threatened), in any country or territory including to any other person where we have a public or legal duty to do so (e.g. to assist with detecting and preventing fraud, tax evasion, and financial crime or compliance with a court order).
Your personal data shall not be held by the company for longer than necessary with regard to the purposes of the data processing.
We will not sell your personal data. Any transfer of personal data outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the DPL. Where necessary, we will ensure that separate and appropriate legal agreements are put in place with the recipient of that data.
We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPL, 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.
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 to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPL, 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.
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In our use of this personal data, we will be characterized as a “data controller” for the purposes of the DPL, 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 DPL 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 to 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:
| • | where this is necessary for the performance of our rights and obligations under any purchase agreements; |
| • | where this is necessary for compliance with a legal and regulatory obligation to which we are subject (such as compliance with anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing, prevention of proliferation financing, financial sanctions and FATCA/CRS requirements); and/or |
| • | 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 United States, the Cayman Islands or the European Economic Area), who will process your personal data on our behalf.
The Data Protection Measures We Take
Any transfer of personal data by us or our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the DPL.
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We and our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates shall apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
We shall notify you of any personal data breach that is reasonably likely to result in a risk to your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms or those data subjects to whom the relevant personal data relates.
Rights of Individual Data Subjects
Individual data subjects have certain data protection rights, including the right to:
| • | be informed about the purposes for which your personal data are processed; |
| • | access your personal data; |
| • | stop direct marketing; |
| • | restrict the processing of your personal data; |
| • | have incomplete or inaccurate personal data corrected; |
| • | ask us to stop processing your personal data; |
| • | be informed of a personal data breach (unless the breach is unlikely to be prejudicial to you); |
| • | complain to the Data Protection Ombudsman; and |
| • | require us to delete your personal data in some limited circumstances. |
If you consider that your personal data has not been handled correctly, or you are not satisfied with our responses to any requests you have made regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to complain to the Cayman Islands’ Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can be contacted by email at info@ombudsman.ky or by accessing their website here: ombudsman.ky.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will 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 preferred 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 preferred 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.
Extraordinary General Meetings
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that extraordinary general meetings may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman.
Advance Notice Requirements for Shareholder Proposals and Director Nominations
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that shareholders seeking to bring business before our annual general meeting, or to nominate candidates for appointment as directors at our
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annual general meeting must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a shareholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 150th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual general meeting. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a shareholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our shareholders from bringing matters before our annual general meeting or from making nominations for directors at our annual general meeting. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will allow the chairman of the meeting at a meeting of the shareholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of us.
Written Resolutions
Subsequent to the consummation of the offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our shareholders may be effected by a duly called annual general meeting or extraordinary general meeting or by written resolution passed in accordance with the Companies Law.
Classified Board of Directors
Our board of directors will initially be divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with members of each class serving staggered three year terms. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors. Subject to the terms of any preferred shares, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time by an ordinary resolution of the outstanding shares entitled to vote generally in the appointment or removal of directors, voting together as a single class. Prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by a vote of a majority of our directors then in office.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after the consummation of this offering, we will have 37,800,000 (or 43,425,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) ordinary shares outstanding. Of these shares, the 30,000,000 shares (or 34,500,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment 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 7,500,000 (or 8,625,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) founder shares and all 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) including their underlying securities, are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the Class B ordinary shares and private placement units (and their underlying securities) are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. These restricted securities will be subject to registration rights as more fully described below under “—Registration Rights.”
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 (i) such person is not deemed to have been one
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of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted ordinary shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
| • | 1% of the total number of ordinary shares then outstanding, which will equal 378,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 434,250 if the underwriters exercises its overallotment 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 materials 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 and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement units (and their underlying securities) and units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and their underlying securities) and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders at the completion of this offering or acquired prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, 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, having a value of at least $25 million in the aggregate, are entitled to make up to three demands that we offer such securities in an underwritten offering. These holders also have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to certain underwritten offerings we may conduct. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with registering these securities. BTIG, LLC and Condor
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Investments VI may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and may not exercise its demand rights on more than one occasion.
Listing of Securities
We intend to apply to list our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “ CCCXU,” “CCCX” and “CCCXW,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. Following the date our Class A ordinary shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq. 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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CERTAIN INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a discussion of the material Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations with respect to an investment in our units, Class A ordinary shares and public warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. This discussion 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 address all possible tax considerations with respect to an investment in our securities, such as the tax considerations under state, local and other tax laws.
Prospective investors should consult with and rely solely upon their own tax advisors regarding the possible tax consequences of investing in our securities under the laws of their country of citizenship, residence or domicile.
Cayman Islands Taxation
The following is a discussion on certain Cayman Islands income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. The discussion is a general summary of present law, which is subject to prospective and retroactive change. It is not intended as tax advice, does not consider any investor’s particular circumstances, and does not consider tax consequences other than those arising under Cayman Islands law.
Under Existing Cayman Islands Laws
The Cayman Islands currently levies no taxes on individuals or corporations based upon profits, income, gains, or appreciation and there is no taxation in the nature of inheritance tax, gift tax or estate duty. There are no other taxes likely to be material to us levied by the Government of the Cayman Islands except for stamp duties which may be applicable on instruments executed in, or, after execution, brought within the jurisdiction of the Cayman Islands. No stamp duty is payable in the Cayman Islands on the issue of shares by, or any transfers of shares of, Cayman Islands companies (except those which hold interests in land in the Cayman Islands). There are no exchange control regulations or currency restrictions in the Cayman Islands.
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.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of the warrants, the units or the Class A ordinary shares. An instrument of transfer in respect of a warrant, a unit or a Class A ordinary share is stampable if executed in or brought into the Cayman Islands.
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 Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands in a form substantially similar to the following on January 8, 2024:
“The Tax Concessions Act
(Revised)
Undertaking as to Tax Concessions
In accordance with the Tax Concessions Act (Revised), the following undertaking is hereby given to the Company:
| 1. | That no law which is hereafter enacted in the Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to the Company or its operations; and |
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| 2. | In addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable: |
| 2.1 | on or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of the Company; or |
| 2.2 | by way of the withholding in whole or part, of any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Act (Revised). |
These concessions shall be for a period of 30 years from the 8th day of January 2024.”
U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations
General
The following is a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations related to the acquisition, ownership and disposition by U.S. Holders (as defined below) and Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below) of our units, Class A ordinary shares and public warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Although not entirely clear, we intend to treat, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the holder of a unit as the owner of two separate securities (i.e., the one Class A ordinary share and the fraction of one public warrant that are the components of the unit). See “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit” below. This disclosure assumes this treatment is appropriate, in which case the discussion below with respect to actual holders of our Class A ordinary shares and public warrants should also apply to holders of units. This discussion applies only to our securities that are held as a capital asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes (generally property held for investment) and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering. Further, this discussion assumes any distributions on Class A ordinary shares and public warrants will be paid in U.S. dollars.
This discussion is based on the provisions of the Code, U.S. Treasury regulations, administrative rulings and judicial decisions, all as in effect on the date hereof, and all of which are subject to change or differing interpretations, possibly with retroactive effect. We cannot assure you that a change in law will not significantly alter the tax considerations that we describe in this summary. We have not sought any ruling from the IRS or formal written opinion from our tax advisors with respect to the statements made and the positions or conclusions described in the following summary. Such statements, positions and conclusions are not free from doubt, and there can be no assurance that your tax advisor, the IRS or a court will agree with such statements and conclusions.
This summary does not discuss the alternative minimum tax or the application of Section 451(b) of the Code, and does not address the Medicare tax on certain investment income, U.S. federal estate or gift tax laws, any state, local or non-U.S. tax laws, any tax treaties or any other tax law other than U.S. federal income tax law. Furthermore, this discussion does not address all U.S. federal income tax considerations that may be relevant to a particular holder in light of the holder’s circumstances or that may be relevant to certain categories of investors that may be subject to special rules, such as:
| • | our founders, sponsor, officers or directors or other holders of our Class B ordinary shares or private placement warrants; |
| • | banks, insurance companies or other financial institutions; |
| • | tax-exempt or governmental organizations; |
| • | “qualified foreign pension funds” as defined in Section 897(l)(2) of the Code (or any entities all of the interests of which are held by a qualified foreign pension fund); |
| • | dealers in securities or foreign currencies; |
| • | U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar; |
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| • | traders in securities that use the mark-to-market method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes; |
| • | “controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies” and corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid U.S. federal income tax; |
| • | entities or arrangements treated as partnerships or pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes or holders of interests therein; |
| • | persons deemed to sell our securities under the constructive sale provisions of the Code; |
| • | persons that acquired our securities through the exercise of employee share options or otherwise as compensation or through a tax-qualified retirement plan; |
| • | persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more (by vote or value) of any class of our shares; |
| • | persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, appreciated financial position, synthetic security, hedge, conversion transaction or other integrated investment or risk reduction transaction; |
| • | certain former citizens or long-term residents of the United States; |
| • | regulated investment companies; and |
| • | real estate investment trusts. |
PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONSULT WITH AND RELY SOLELY UPON THEIR TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS (INCLUDING ANY POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES THERETO) TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATION, AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES ARISING UNDER ANY OTHER TAX LAWS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE U.S. FEDERAL ESTATE OR GIFT TAX LAWS OR UNDER THE LAWS OF ANY STATE, LOCAL, NON-U.S. OR OTHER TAXING JURISDICTION OR UNDER ANY APPLICABLE INCOME TAX TREATY.
Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of our units or instruments similar to our units for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. We intend to treat, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the acquisition of a unit as the acquisition of the one Class A ordinary share and the fraction of one public warrant that are the components of the unit and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
As a result, 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 one Class A ordinary share and the fraction of one public warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make its own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, each investor is strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon its own tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The purchase price allocated to each of our Class A ordinary shares and the fraction of one public warrant should be the holder’s tax basis in such share or fraction of one public warrant, as the case may be. In addition, any disposition of a unit should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a disposition of the Class A ordinary share and the fraction of one public warrant that make up the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A ordinary share and the fraction of one public warrant based on their relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of Class A ordinary shares and public warrants constituting units should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
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The foregoing treatment of our Class A ordinary shares and public warrants and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts, and because there is no authority that directly addresses the U.S. federal income tax implications of instruments that are similar to the units, there can be no assurance that your tax advisor, the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult with and rely solely upon its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including any potential alternative characterizations of a unit). The remainder of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Holder and Non-U.S. Holder Defined
A “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or public warrants that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is:
| • | an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; |
| • | a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; |
| • | an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or |
| • | a trust (A) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and which has one or more “United States persons” (within the meaning of Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code) who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (B) that has made a valid election under applicable U.S. Treasury regulations to be treated as a United States person. |
A “Non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or public warrants that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, an individual, corporation, estate or trust, in each case that is not a U.S. Holder, but such term generally does not include an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of a disposition of such securities. If you are such an individual, you should consult with and rely solely upon your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to your particular situation.
If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our units, Class A ordinary shares or public warrants, the tax treatment of a partner in such partnership might depend upon the status of the partner or the partnership, upon the activities of the partnership and upon certain determinations made at the partnership or partner level. Accordingly, we urge partners in partnerships (including entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes) considering the purchase of our securities to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal income and other tax considerations of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our securities by such partnership.
Considerations for U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a U.S. Holder.
Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares
If we pay distributions of cash or other property to U.S. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares, such distributions generally will 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, and will be treated as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Distributions Treated as Dividends.”
Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated as a non-taxable return of capital to the extent of the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A ordinary shares, that will be
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applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A ordinary shares. Any remaining portion of the distribution will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of our Class A ordinary shares and will be treated as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants” below.
Possible Constructive Distributions with Respect to Public Warrants
The terms of the public warrants provide for an adjustment to the number of our Class A ordinary shares for which public warrants may be exercised or to the exercise price of the public warrants in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment that has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. U.S. Holders of public warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the warrantholders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of Class A ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the public warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property to the holders of our ordinary shares. Any such constructive distribution would be treated in the same manner as if U.S. Holders of public warrants received a cash distribution from us generally equal to the fair market value of the increased interest and would be taxed in a manner similar to distributions to holders of our Class A ordinary shares described herein. See “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares” above. For certain information reporting purposes, we are required to determine the date and amount of any such constructive distributions. Proposed U.S. Treasury regulations, which we may rely on prior to the issuance of final regulations, specify how the date and amount of constructive distributions are determined.
Distributions Treated as Dividends
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, any portion of a distribution that is treated as a dividend paid by us 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. If we are not classified as a PFIC during the taxable year in which the dividend is paid or a preceding taxable year, any portion of a distribution that is treated as a dividend paid to a non-corporate U.S. Holder generally will constitute a “qualified dividend” that will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate only if our Class A ordinary shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States and certain holding period and other requirements are met. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A ordinary shares described in this prospectus may be deemed to be a limitation of a shareholder’s risk of loss and suspend the running of the applicable holding period of such shares for this purpose during the period in which the U.S. Holder has redemption rights with respect to the Class A ordinary shares (i.e., the period prior to the consummation of our initial business combination). If the applicable holding period requirements are not satisfied, a non-corporate U.S. Holder may be subject to tax on the dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential income tax rate that applies to qualified dividend income. U.S. Holders should consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the availability of the lower preferential income tax rate for qualified dividend income for any dividends paid with respect to our Class A ordinary shares.
Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants (which in general would include a redemption of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period), a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount
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realized and the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis with respect to its Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. Holder will be an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A 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 Class A ordinary shares or the public warrants based upon the then-fair market values of the Class A ordinary shares and the public warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in the relevant Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares or public warrants generally will equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of our Class A ordinary shares or fraction of one public warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. Holder’s initial basis for our Class A ordinary shares received upon exercise of public warrants) less, in the case of our Class A ordinary shares, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital, as discussed above.
Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary shares or public warrants, as applicable, so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A ordinary shares described in this prospectus may be deemed to be a limitation of a shareholder’s risk of loss and suspend the running of the applicable holding period of such shares for this purpose during the period in which the U.S. Holder has redemption rights with respect to the Class A ordinary shares (i.e., the period prior to the consummation of our initial business combination). If the one-year holding period is not satisfied, any gain on a sale or other taxable disposition of the Class A ordinary shares or public warrants, as applicable, would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. Holders may be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Ordinary Shares for Cash
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, in the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares are redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under the section entitled “Description of Securities—Ordinary Shares” or if we repurchase a U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares in an open market transaction (generally referred to herein as a “redemption”), the treatment of the redemption for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether it qualifies as a sale of the Class A ordinary shares under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a distribution from us with the tax consequences described above under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares.”
Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of our shares treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any shares constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning public warrants or otherwise) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of our Class A ordinary shares generally will be treated as a sale of Class A ordinary shares (rather than as a distribution from us) if the redemption satisfies one of the following tests (which we refer to as the “redemption sale tests”): (i) it is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. Holder, (ii) it results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. Holder’s interest in us, or (iii) it is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. Holder. In determining whether any of the redemption sale tests is satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also shares that are “constructively” owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own (i) shares owned by certain related individuals or entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder and (ii) any shares the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include the Class A ordinary shares which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the public warrants.
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In order to meet the “substantially disproportionate” test, the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of our Class A ordinary shares must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination, the Class A ordinary shares may not be treated as voting shares for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a “complete termination” of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (i) all of our shares both actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of our shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed, the U.S. Holder is eligible to waive and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules the constructive attribution of shares owned by certain family members, and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other of our shares (including as a result of owning public warrants). The redemption of our Class A ordinary shares will not be “essentially equivalent to a dividend” if a U.S. Holder’s redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of the 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, but 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.”
If none of the redemption sale tests is satisfied, the redemption will be treated as a distribution from us and the tax considerations will be as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A ordinary shares will be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining shares or, if it has none, possibly to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its public warrants or in other shares in us constructively owned by it. U.S. Holders are urged to consult with and rely solely upon their own tax advisors as to the allocation of any remaining basis if there are no remaining Class A ordinary shares.
Cash Exercise of a Public Warrant
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss on the acquisition of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of a public warrant for cash. The U.S. Holder’s tax basis in our Class A ordinary shares received upon exercise of the public warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the public warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the public warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price of such public warrant. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary shares received upon exercise of the public warrant will commence on the date of exercise of the public warrant or the immediately following date. In either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the public warrant.
Cashless Exercise of a Public Warrant
The tax characterization of a cashless exercise of a public warrant is not clear under current tax law. Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax characterizations and resultant tax consequences would be adopted by the IRS or upheld by a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a cashless exercise could potentially be characterized as any of the following for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) not a realization event and thus tax-deferred, (ii) a realization event that qualifies as a tax-deferred “recapitalization,” or (iii) a taxable realization event. While not free from doubt, we intend to treat any cashless exercise of a public warrant as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants” as if we redeemed
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such public warrant for shares in a cashless exchange qualifying as a tax-deferred recapitalization. However, there is some uncertainty regarding our intended tax treatment, and it is possible that a cashless exercise could be characterized differently. Accordingly, the tax consequences of all three characterizations are generally described below. U.S. Holders should consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
If a cashless exercise were characterized as either not a realization event or as a realization event that qualifies as a recapitalization, the U.S. Holder would not recognize any gain or loss on the exchange of public warrants for Class A ordinary shares. A U.S. Holder’s basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would generally equal the holder’s basis in the exchanged public warrants. If the cashless exercise were not a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period in the Class A ordinary shares would be treated as commencing on the date of exchange of the public warrants or on the immediately following date, but the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the public warrants. On the other hand, if the cashless exercise were characterized as a realization event that qualifies as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A ordinary shares would include the holding period of the public warrants exercised therefor.
If the cashless exercise were treated as a realization event that does not qualify as a recapitalization, however, the cashless exercise could be treated in whole or in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized by the U.S. Holder. For example, a portion of the public warrants to be exercised on a cashless basis could be deemed to have been surrendered in payment of the exercise price of the remaining portion of such public warrants, which remaining portion would be deemed to be exercised. In such a case, a U.S. Holder would effectively be deemed to have sold a number of public warrants having an aggregate value equal to the exercise price of the remaining public warrants deemed exercised. The U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount generally equal to the difference between the value of the portion of the public warrants deemed sold and its adjusted tax basis in such public warrants (generally in the manner described above under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants”), and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would generally equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the remaining public warrants deemed exercised and the exercise price of such public warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary shares would commence on the date of exercise of the public warrants or on the date following the date of exercise of the public warrants, but the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the public warrants.
Redemption or Repurchase of Public Warrants for Cash
Subject to the PFIC rules described below, if we redeem public warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants” or if we repurchase public warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or repurchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition by the U.S. Holder, taxed as described above under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants.”
Expiration of a Public Warrant
If a public warrant is allowed to expire unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the public warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the public warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”). The deductibility of capital losses is subject to certain limitations.
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Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules
Adverse U.S. federal income tax rules apply to U.S. Holders that hold shares in a foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporation classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In general, we will be treated as a PFIC with respect to a U.S. Holder in any taxable year in which, after applying certain look-through rules, either:
(i) at least 75% of our gross income for such taxable year, including our pro rata share of the gross income of any corporation in which we are considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, consists of passive income (which 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); or
(ii) at least 50% of our assets in a taxable year (ordinarily determined based on fair market value and averaged quarterly over the year), including our pro rata share of the assets of any corporation in which we are considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, produce or are held for the production of passive income.
Because we are a blank check company with no current income from an active business (as defined for these purposes), we believe that it is likely that we will meet one or both of the PFIC tests during the taxable years prior to our acquisition of a company or assets in a business combination (including any short taxable year that might result from a business combination), which would generally result in our being treated as a PFIC in those taxable years. In certain circumstances, a foreign corporation may qualify for a “start-up exception,” pursuant to which it would not be treated as a PFIC for the first taxable year it 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 first two taxable years following the start-up year, and (3) the corporation is not in fact a PFIC for either of those years. If the start-up exception were to apply to us, we would not be a PFIC during our start-up year. However, we do not anticipate that the start-up exception will be applicable to us. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on, among other things, the timing of our business combination, the amount of our passive income and assets in the year of the business combination, whether we combine with a U.S. or non-U.S. target company, and the amount of passive income and assets of the acquired business. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. However, because we anticipate that the start-up exception will not be applicable to us, we anticipate that we are likely to be treated as a PFIC in our current taxable year.
Although our PFIC status is determined in each taxable year, an initial determination that we are a PFIC will generally apply for subsequent years to a U.S. Holder who held (or is deemed to have held) Class A ordinary shares or public warrants while we were a PFIC, whether or not we are treated as a PFIC in those subsequent years. If we are treated as a PFIC for any taxable year in which a U.S. Holder holds our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants (regardless of whether we remain a PFIC for subsequent taxable years) and, in the case of our Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder did not make either a timely qualified electing fund (“QEF”) election or a mark-to-market election (in either case, as described below), such U.S. Holder generally will be subject to special rules with respect to (i) any gain realized on the sale or other disposition of its Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and (ii) any “excess distribution” (generally, the portion of any distributions received by such U.S. Holder during a taxable year in excess of 125% of the average annual distributions received by such U.S. Holder during the three preceding taxable years or, if shorter, such U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A 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 Class A ordinary shares or public warrants; |
| • | the amount allocated to the U.S. Holder’s taxable year in which the U.S. Holder realized the gain or received the excess distribution, or to the portion of the U.S. Holder’s holding period prior to the first day of our first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, will be taxed as ordinary income; and |
| • | the amount allocated to each of the other taxable years (or portions thereof) of the U.S. Holder will be subject to tax at the highest tax rate in effect for the U.S. Holder in that year (and would not be eligible |
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| for the lower long-term capital gains rate), and an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit will be imposed with respect to the resulting tax attributable to each such other taxable year (or portion thereof). |
In general, if we are treated as a PFIC, a U.S. Holder may be able to avoid the PFIC tax consequences described above in respect of our Class A ordinary shares (but not our public warrants) by making a timely and valid QEF election (if eligible to do so) in the first taxable year in which the U.S. Holder held (or was deemed to hold) Class A ordinary shares in which we are classified as a PFIC. If a U.S. Holder makes a timely QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, each year such U.S. Holder will be required to include in its income its pro rata share of our net capital gains (as long-term capital gain) and our ordinary earnings (as ordinary income), if any, for our taxable year that ends with or within the taxable year of the U.S. Holder, regardless of whether or not we make distributions to such U.S. Holder (although a U.S. Holder generally may make a separate election to defer the payment of taxes on undistributed income inclusions under the QEF rules, but if deferred, any such taxes will be subject to an interest charge). Such U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A ordinary shares will be increased to reflect taxed but undistributed earnings and profits. Distributions of earnings and profits that had been previously taxed will result in a corresponding reduction in the adjusted tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares and will not be taxed again once distributed. A U.S. Holder that has made a timely QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares will generally recognize capital gain or loss on the sale or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares, and no additional tax or interest charge will be imposed under the PFIC rules.
It is not entirely clear how various aspects of the PFIC rules apply to the public warrants, and U.S. Holders are strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the application of such rules to their public warrants in their particular circumstances. A U.S. Holder may not make a QEF election with respect to its public warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if a U.S. Holder sells or otherwise disposes of such public warrants (other than upon the exercise of such public warrants) and we were treated as a PFIC at any time during the U.S. Holder’s holding period of such public warrants, any gain recognized generally will be treated in the same manner as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. If a U.S. Holder that exercises such public warrants properly makes a QEF election with respect to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (or has previously made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares), the QEF election will apply to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares. Notwithstanding any such QEF election, the adverse tax consequences relating to PFIC shares, adjusted to take into account the current income inclusions resulting from the QEF election, generally will continue to apply with respect to such newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (which generally will be deemed to have a holding period for purposes of the PFIC rules that includes the period the U.S. Holder held the public warrants), unless the U.S. Holder makes a purging election under the PFIC rules. Under one type of purging election, the U.S. Holder will be deemed to have sold such shares at their fair market value and any gain recognized on such deemed sale will be treated in the same manner as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. As a result of this purging 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 Class A ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the public warrants. The application of the rules related to purging elections described above to a U.S. Holder of a public warrant that already owns Class A ordinary shares is not entirely clear. U.S. Holders are strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the application of the rules governing purging elections to their particular circumstances.
The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and, once made, will apply to all subsequent taxable years of the U.S. Holder during which it holds Class A ordinary shares, unless revoked by the U.S. Holder with the consent of the IRS. A U.S. Holder generally makes a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621, including the information provided in a PFIC annual information statement (discussed below), 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 with and rely solely upon their tax
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advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a retroactive QEF election in 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, upon written request by a U.S. Holder, we will endeavor to provide to such U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable such U.S. Holder to make and maintain a QEF election, but there is no assurance that we will timely provide such required information. There is also 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.
A U.S. Holder that does not make a timely QEF election in the first taxable year (or portion thereof) in which we are a PFIC that is included in the holding period of such U.S. Holder may be able to mitigate the adverse PFIC tax consequences by making a QEF election in a subsequent taxable year and simultaneously making a purging election under the PFIC rules. Under one type of purging election, the U.S. Holder will be deemed to have sold its Class A ordinary shares at their fair market value, and any gain recognized on such deemed sale will be treated in the same manner as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. As a result of this purging election, the U.S. Holder will have additional basis (to the extent of any gain recognized on the deemed sale). U.S. Holders are strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the application of the rules governing purging elections to their particular circumstances.
Alternatively, if we are treated as a PFIC and our Class A ordinary shares are treated as “marketable stock,” a U.S. Holder that holds our Class A ordinary shares at the close of a taxable year may make a mark-to-market election with respect to such Class A ordinary shares, provided the U.S. Holder completes and files IRS Form 8621 in accordance with the relevant instructions and related U.S. Treasury regulations. The mark-to-market election is available only for “marketable stock,” which generally includes stock that is regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Nasdaq (on which we intend to list the Class A ordinary shares), 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 Class A ordinary shares ceased 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 with and rely solely upon their own tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a mark-to-market election in respect of our Class A ordinary shares in their particular circumstances.
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) our Class A ordinary shares and in which we are treated as a PFIC, such U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to the PFIC rules described above in respect of Class A ordinary shares. Instead, in general, such U.S. Holder will include as ordinary income in each taxable year the excess, if any, of the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of the taxable year over its adjusted basis in its Class A ordinary shares. These amounts of ordinary income would not be eligible for the favorable tax rates applicable to qualified dividend income or long-term capital gains. Such U.S. Holder also will be permitted an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of its adjusted basis of its Class A ordinary shares over the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of the taxable year, but only to the extent of the net amount previously included in income as a result of the mark-to-market election. Such U.S. Holder’s basis in its Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss amounts. Any gain recognized by such U.S. Holder on a sale or other disposition of its Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary income, and any loss recognized on the sale or other disposition of its Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary loss to the extent that such loss does not exceed the net mark-to-market gains previously included by the U.S. Holder. Currently, a mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to public warrants.
If we are a PFIC and, at any time, have a direct or indirect interest in another entity that is treated as a PFIC (a “subsidiary PFIC”), each U.S. Holder generally would be treated as owning its pro rata share by value of the
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stock of such subsidiary PFIC, and generally could incur liability for the deferred tax and interest charge described in the general PFIC rules above if we receive a distribution from, or dispose of all or part of our interest in, the subsidiary PFIC or the U.S. Holder is otherwise deemed to have disposed of an interest in the subsidiary PFIC. Upon written request by a U.S. Holder, we will endeavor to cause any subsidiary PFIC to provide to such U.S. Holder the information that may be required to make or maintain a QEF election with respect to the subsidiary PFIC. There can be no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of the status of any such subsidiary PFIC. In addition, we may not hold a controlling interest in any such subsidiary PFIC and thus there can be no assurance we will be able to cause the subsidiary PFIC to provide such required information. A mark-to-market election generally would not be available with respect to a subsidiary PFIC. U.S. Holders are urged to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax issues raised by subsidiary 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 United States Department of the Treasury. Failure to do so, if required, may subject such U.S. Holder to substantial penalties and will extend the statute of limitations on the assessment and collection of all U.S. federal income taxes of such person for the related tax year until such required information is furnished to the IRS.
The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF, purging 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 Class A ordinary shares and public warrants are strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon their own tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules to them in their particular circumstances.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
Information reporting requirements generally will apply to dividends paid to a U.S. Holder and to the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of our securities unless the U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient and certifies to such exempt status. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. Holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number or a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn). Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability (if any) of persons subject to backup withholding will be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If backup withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund generally may be obtained, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
Certain U.S. Holders may be required to file an IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) to report a transfer of property (including cash) to us. Substantial penalties may be imposed on a U.S. Holder that fails to comply with this reporting requirement and the period of limitations on assessment and collection of U.S. federal income taxes will be extended in the event of a failure to comply. Furthermore, certain U.S. Holders who are individuals and certain entities will be required to report information with respect to such U.S. Holder’s investment in “specified foreign financial assets” on IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), subject to certain exceptions. Specified foreign financial assets generally include any financial account maintained with a non-U.S. financial institution and should also include our securities unless held in an account maintained with a U.S. financial institution. Persons who are required to report specified foreign financial assets and fail to do so may be subject to substantial penalties and the period 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 with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the foreign financial asset and other reporting obligations and their application to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and public warrants.
Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a Non-U.S. Holder.
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Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares
The determination of the extent to which a distribution will be treated as a dividend, return of capital or gain from the sale of Class A ordinary shares is generally the same for Non-U.S. Holders as that described in “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares.” To the extent a distribution constitutes gain from the sale of our Class A ordinary shares, see “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants” below, and to the extent such distribution constitutes a dividend, see “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Distributions Treated as Dividends.”
Possible Constructive Distributions with Respect to Public Warrants
The determination for Non-U.S. Holders of whether a constructive distribution from us has occurred as a result of an adjustment to the number of our Class A ordinary shares for which public warrants may be exercised or to the exercise price of the public warrants in certain events (as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants”) is generally the same as the determination for U.S. Holders as described in “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Possible Constructive Distributions with Respect to Public Warrants.” To the extent such adjustment is treated as a constructive distribution, see “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Ordinary Shares” for the consequences of such characterization.
Distributions Treated as Dividends
Any portion of a distribution that is treated as a dividend paid to a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, unless the dividend is effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, that is treated as attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States). Any such effectively connected dividends generally will be taxed on a net income basis at the rates and in the manner generally applicable to United States persons. If the Non-U.S. Holder is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, they may also be subject to a branch profits tax (at a 30% rate or such lower rate as specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on its effectively connected earnings and profits (as adjusted for certain items), which will include effectively connected dividends.
Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants
Subject to the discussion below under “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding,” a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or our public warrants (including a redemption of our Class A ordinary shares as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period), unless such gain is effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, that is treated as attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States). Any such effectively connected gain generally will be taxed on a net income basis at the rates and in the manner generally applicable to United States persons. If the Non-U.S. Holder is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it may also be subject to a branch profits tax (at a 30% rate or such lower rate as specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on its effectively connected earnings and profits (as adjusted for certain items), which will include effectively connected gain.
Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Ordinary Shares for Cash
The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled
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“Description of Securities—Ordinary Shares” or our repurchase of a Non-U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares in an open market transaction generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption or repurchase of a U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares, as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Ordinary Shares for Cash” above, and the consequences of the redemption or repurchase to the Non-U.S. Holder will correspond to that described above in “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Distributions Treated as Dividends” and “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants,” as applicable.
Exercise or Redemption of a Public Warrant
The U.S. federal income tax characterization of a Non-U.S. Holder’s exercise of a public warrant generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of the exercise of a public warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Cash Exercise of a Public Warrant” or “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Cashless Exercise of a Public Warrant” above, as the case may be. To the extent a cashless exercise is characterized as a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described above in “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. Holder of a redemption of public warrants for cash described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants” (or if we purchase public warrants in an open market transaction) generally will correspond to that described above in “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Public
Warrants.”
Expiration of a Public Warrant
The U.S. federal income tax characterization of the expiration of a public warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of the expiration of a public warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described above in “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Expiration of a Public Warrant.”
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
Information reporting requirements and United States backup withholding may apply to payments of dividends to a Non-U.S. Holder and to the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of our securities unless the Non-U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient and certifies to such exempt status. A Non-U.S. Holder generally will eliminate the requirement for information reporting and backup withholding by providing certification of its foreign status, under penalties of perjury, on a duly executed applicable IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E (or other applicable or successor form). Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability (if any) of persons subject to backup withholding will be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If backup withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund generally may be obtained, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
INVESTORS CONSIDERING THE PURCHASE OF OUR SECURITIES ARE URGED TO CONSULT WITH AND RELY SOLELY UPON THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATIONS AND THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY OTHER TAX LAWS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO U.S. FEDERAL ESTATE AND GIFT TAX LAWS AND ANY STATE, LOCAL OR NON-U.S. TAX LAWS AND TAX TREATIES.
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Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, the underwriters named below have agreed to purchase from us the number of units set forth opposite each underwriter’s name at a public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.
| Underwriter |
Number of Units | |||
| BTIG, LLC |
||||
|
|
|
|||
| Total units |
30,000,000 | |||
We do not have any expectation, understanding or agreement with any underwriter for such underwriter to provide any additional services to us after the consummation of this offering relating to our initial business combination, the financing thereof or other related transactions. Any underwriter’s provision of any such additional services in connection with our initial business combination will require our separate engagement of such underwriter in connection with our initial business combination and the entry into a related written engagement agreement between such underwriter and us setting forth the terms and conditions of the additional services to be provided by such underwriter to us.
The underwriting agreement provides that following the completion of this offering, the obligations of the underwriters with respect to this offering will be deemed satisfied and the underwriters are not bound by any commitment or obligation to offer or sell to the public any securities of the company or any business combination transaction counterparty or otherwise solicit holders of securities of the company or any business combination transaction counterparty to approve the business transaction.
The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units in the offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the overallotment option described below.
The underwriters have advised us that, following the completion of this offering, they currently intend to make a market in the units as permitted by applicable laws and regulations. However, the underwriters are not obligated to do so, and the underwriters may discontinue any market-making activities at any time without notice in their sole discretion. Accordingly, no assurance can be given as to the liquidity of the trading market for the units, that you will be able to sell any of the units held by you at a particular time or that the prices that you receive when you sell will be favorable.
We have granted to the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 4,500,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
The offering of the units by the underwriters are subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.
The following table summarizes the cash compensation we will pay.
| Per Unit(1) | Total(1) | |||||||
| With or Without Option to Purchase Additional Units |
With or Without Option to Purchase Additional Units |
|||||||
| Underwriting discounts and commissions paid by us |
$ | 0.10 | $ | 3,000,000 | ||||
| (1) | $0.10 per unit, or $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), is payable in cash to the underwriters for deferred underwriting discounts and commissions and will to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriters only upon the completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. The amount payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions will be reduced from $3,000,000 to |
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| $1,500,000 in the event the amount held in the trust account following a successful consummation of our initial business combination is less than $100,000,000, after taking into account redemptions in connection with the vote on our initial business combination. |
The following table summarizes the equity compensation we will cause to be paid and acquisitions of equity deemed underwriting compensation by FINRA.
| Without Option to Purchase Additional Units (1) |
With Option to Purchase Additional Units (1) |
Value of Equity (3) | ||||
| Upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of cash underwriting discount | 300,000 founder shares | 345,000 founder shares | $3,000,000 (or up to $3,450,000 with option to purchase additional units) | |||
| Investment by Condor Investments VI (1)(2) |
50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares | 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares | $2,500,000 | |||
| Total: | 500,000 founder shares and 50,000 private placement units | 545,000 founder shares and 50,000 private placement units | $5,500,000 (or up to $5,950,000 with option to purchase additional units) |
| (1) | All founder shares and private placement units to be received by BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI in this table will initially be received in the form of interests in our sponsor corresponding to such securities. |
| (2) | Condor Investments VI will pay $500,000 in exchange for its purchase of sponsor interests corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. |
| (3) | Assumes a value of $10.00 per founder share and $10.00 per private placement unit, based on the initial public offering price $10,00 per public unit (assigning no value to the warrants contained in such units), and the purchase price paid by the sponsor for the private placement units of $10,00 per private placement unit (assigning no value to the warrants contained in such units). FINRA does not value the receipt of the 50,000 private placement units as underwriting compensation due to the $500,000 purchase price paid by Condor Investments VI for the sponsor interests corresponding to such private placement units. |
We estimate that our out-of-pocket expenses for this offering will be approximately $1,000,000. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for (i) the expenses of their legal counsel in connection with this offering in an amount not to exceed $100,000 (ii) selling group concessions in connection with this offering in an amount not to exceed $60,000, (iii) the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel in an amount not to exceed $25,000, and (iv) expenses related to background reports, financial services technology, data and analytics services (IPREO), subscription services and miscellaneous expenses in an amount equal to $36,500 for an aggregate expense reimbursement of up to $236,500.
BTIG, LLC will be admitted as a member of our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering and will be allocated interests in our sponsor corresponding to 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount. Separately, Condor Investments VI will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering in exchange for interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares. Condor Investments VI is an investment entity formed by Condor Trading LP, the parent of BTIG, LLC, and was formed for the purpose of investing in the company. Associated persons of BTIG, LLC are members of Condor Investments VI and, as such, the investment by Condor Investments VI is treated as underwriting compensation. Each of BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI will subscribe for interests in our sponsor in connection with the closing of this offering pursuant to a grant agreement and subscription agreement, respectively, with our sponsor in which each party will be admitted as members of our sponsor, and, in the case of
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Condor Investments VI, will make its $500,000 investment in the sponsor. Our sponsor will issue interests to each of its members that correspond, on a one-for-one basis, to our securities held by the sponsor and reflect our securities to be received by each party pursuant to its respective subscription agreement, subject to the terms of our sponsor’s limited liability company operating agreement.
The interests in our sponsor corresponding to the 300,000 founder shares (or up to 345,000 founder shares if the over-allotment is exercised in full) to be paid as upfront underwriting compensation in lieu of a cash underwriting discount to be issued to BTIG, LLC and the interests in our sponsor corresponding to 50,000 private placement units and 200,000 founder shares to be issued to Condor Investments VI will be subject to lock-up restrictions, as required by FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1) and may not be sold during the offering, or 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 effective economic disposition of such securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the date of effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or commencement of sales of the offering, except as provided in FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2). We have granted the holders of the founder shares the registration rights as described under “Description of Securities — Registration Rights.” As described therein, and as required by FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8), BTIG, LLC and Condor Investments VI may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion. Further, for so long as they are held by BTIG, LLC or its affiliates or associated persons, the 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).
The representatives have informed us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.
We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that we will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, charge or grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of BTIG, LLC for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares or enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any units, ordinary shares, warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares owned, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement units; (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ overallotment option (if any); (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement units and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares; and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of founder shares to any current or future independent director of the company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement, filed herewith, at the time of such transfer; and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). BTIG, LLC in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier of (i) six months following the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination, the date on which we consummate a transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions (except as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).
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Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement units or their underlying securities until 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described in this prospectus under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).
We have agreed to indemnify underwriter against certain liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in that respect.
We expect our units to be listed on Nasdaq, under the symbol “CCCXU” 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 “ CCCX” and “CCCXW,” respectively.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities.
The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than 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.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window we and the underwriters have agreed that: (1) the underwriters will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account; and (2) that the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) to the public shareholders.
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 are not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the overallotment option. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in the overallotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their overallotment 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 overallotment option. If the underwriters sell more units than could be covered by the overallotment 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. |
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| • | 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 Nasdaq or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriters prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.
The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include sales and trading, commercial and investment banking, advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, market making, brokerage and other financial and non-financial activities and services. The underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates, officers, directors and employees 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 web sites 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 the 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.
The units are offered for sale in those jurisdictions in the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere 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 or other duties on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.
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Notice to Canadian Residents
Resale Restrictions
The distribution of units in Canada is being made on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the units in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.
Representations of Canadian Purchasers
By purchasing units 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 units 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; |
| • | 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 purchasers are hereby notified that BTIG, LLC is relying on the exemption set out in section 3A.3 or 3A.4, if applicable, of National Instrument 33-105—Underwriting Conflicts from having to provide certain conflict of interest disclosure in this document.
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
Canadian purchasers of units should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the units in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the units for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.
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Notice to Investors in the European Economic Area
In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area (each, a “Member State”), each underwriter represents and agrees that it has not made and will not make an offer of units to the public in that Member State except that it may make an offer of units to the public in that Member State at any time,
| • | to legal entities which are qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Regulation; |
| • | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Regulation) subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or |
| • | in any other circumstances which do not require the publication by the issuer of a prospectus pursuant to Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, provided that no such offer of units shall require the company or any of the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation. |
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of units to the public” in relation to any units in any Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe the units, and the expression Prospectus Regulation means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended or superseded).
Notice to Residents of Hong Kong
The underwriters and each of their affiliates have not (1) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our units other than (A) to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571) of Hong Kong and any rules made under that Ordinance or (B) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32 of Hong Kong) or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance or (2) issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, and will not issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our units which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made under that Ordinance. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong.
You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the offer. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice.
Notice to Residents of Japan
The underwriters will not offer or sell any of our units 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.
Notice to Residents of Singapore
This prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units has not been and will not be registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the units will be offered in Singapore pursuant to exemptions under Section 274 and Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “Securities and Futures Act”). Accordingly our units may not be offered or sold, or be the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly, to the public or any member of the public in Singapore
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other than (a) to an institutional investor or other person specified in Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, (b) to a sophisticated investor, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act or (c) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the Securities and Futures Act.
Notification under Section 309B(1)(c) of the Securities and Futures Act: Solely for the purposes of its obligations pursuant to sections 309B(1)(a) and 309B(1)(c) of the Securities and Futures Act and the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018 of Singapore (the “CMP Regulations 2018”), the Issuer has determined, and hereby notifies all relevant persons (as defined in Section 309A of the SFA) that the Units are (A) prescribed capital markets products (as defined in the CMP Regulations 2018) and (B) 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).
Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom
Each underwriter represents and agrees that it has not made and will not make an offer of units to the public in the United Kingdom, except that it may make an offer of units to the public in the United Kingdom at any time:
| • | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation; |
| • | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the UK Prospectus Regulation) in the United Kingdom subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or |
| • | at any time in any other circumstances falling within section 86 of the FSMA, provided that no such offer of units shall require the company or any of the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to the UK Prospectus Regulation. |
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an offer of units to the public in relation to any units means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the units.
Each of the underwriters severally represents, warrants and agrees as follows:
| • | it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not apply to the company; and |
| • | it has complied with, and will comply with all applicable provisions of FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom. |
Notice to Residents of France
The units 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 units 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 units, 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.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands
No offer or invitation, whether directly or indirectly, is being or may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for any of our securities.
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Ellenoff, Grossman & Schole LLP New York, New York, is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and warrants. Ogier (Cayman) LLP 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, White & Case LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel to the underwriters.
The financial statements of Churchill Capital Corp X as of December 31, 2024 and for the period from January 4, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, 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 firms 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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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
Table of Contents
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholder and the Board of Directors of
Churchill Capital Corp X:
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Churchill Capital Corp. X (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2024 and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholder’s deficit, and cash flows for the period from January 4, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period January 4, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, 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 the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2024.
New York, New York
April 28, 2025
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BALANCE SHEET
| December 31, 2024 |
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| ASSETS |
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| Deferred offering costs |
$ | 157,937 | ||
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| Total assets |
$ | 157,937 | ||
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| LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER’S DEFICIT |
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| Current liabilities: |
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| Promissory note—related party |
184,847 | |||
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| Total current liabilities |
184,847 | |||
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| Commitments and Contingencies |
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| Shareholder’s Deficit |
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| Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding |
— | |||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding |
— | |||
| Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 8,625,000 shares issued and outstanding(1)(2) |
863 | |||
| Additional paid-in capital |
24,137 | |||
| Accumulated deficit |
(51,910 | ) | ||
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|
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| Total shareholder’s deficit |
(26,910 | ) | ||
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|
|
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| Total Liabilities and Shareholder’s Deficit |
$ | 157,937 | ||
|
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|
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| (1) | Includes an aggregate of up to 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (Note 5). |
| (2) | In April 2025 the Company, through a share capitalization, issued the Sponsor an additional 1,437,500 founder shares, for which the Sponsor now holds 8,625,000 founder shares in the aggregate. All share and per share data has been retrospectively presented. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
| For the Period From January 4, 2024 (inception) through |
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| December 31, 2024 |
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| General and administrative costs |
$ | 51,910 | ||
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|
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| Net loss |
$ | (51,910 | ) | |
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|
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| Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1)(2) |
7,500,000 | |||
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| Basic and diluted net loss per share |
$ | (0.01 | ) | |
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| (1) | Excludes an aggregate of up to 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (Note 5). |
| (2) | In April 2025 the Company, through a share capitalization, issued the Sponsor an additional 1,437,500 founder shares, for which the Sponsor now holds 8,625,000 founder shares in the aggregate. All share and per share data has been retrospectively presented. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDER’S DEFICIT
For the period from January 4, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024
| Class B | Additional Paid-In Capital |
Accumulated Deficit |
Total Shareholder’s Deficit |
|||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of January 4, 2024 (inception) |
— | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||||||
| Issuance of ordinary shares to Sponsor(1)(2) |
8,625,000 | 863 | 24,137 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||
| Net loss |
— | — | — | (51,910 | ) | (51,910 | ) | |||||||||||||
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|
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| Balance as of December 31, 2024 |
8,625,000 | $ | 863 | $ | 24,137 | $ | (51,910 | ) | $ | (26,910 | ) | |||||||||
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| (1) | Includes an aggregate of up to 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (Note 5). |
| (2) | In April 2025 the Company, through a share capitalization, issued the Sponsor an additional 1,437,500 founder shares, for which the Sponsor now holds 8,625,000 founder shares in the aggregate. All share and per share data has been retrospectively presented. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
| For the Period from January 4, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 |
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| Cash Flows from Operating Activities |
||||
| Net loss |
$ | (51,910 | ) | |
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
||||
| Payment of formation costs through issuance of Class B ordinary shares |
4,827 | |||
| Payment of expenses through promissory note – related party |
47,083 | |||
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|
|
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| Net cash used in operating activities |
— | |||
| Net increase in cash |
— | |||
| Cash—beginning of period |
— | |||
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|
|
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| Cash—end of period |
$ | — | ||
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|
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| Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: |
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| Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares |
$ | 20,173 | ||
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|
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| Deferred offering costs paid through promissory note—related party |
$ | 137,764 | ||
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|
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
Note 1—Description of Organization and Business Operations
Organization and General
Churchill Capital Corp X (the “Company”) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on January 4, 2024. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses that the Company has not yet identified (the “Initial Business Combination”). The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the “Securities Act”, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”).
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had not yet commenced operations. All activity for the period from January 4, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its Initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
Sponsor and Proposed Financing
The Company’s sponsor is Churchill Sponsor X LLC (the “Sponsor”), having M. Klein Associates, Inc. as its managing member, and is an affiliate of M. Klein and Company, LLC. The Company intends to finance its Initial Business Combination with proceeds from the Proposed Offering of $300 million of Units (as defined below) (See Note 3) and a private placement of 300,000 of Private Placement Units (as defined below) for an aggregate of $3,000,000 (See Note 4). Separately, an affiliate of BTIG, LLC will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, the Sponsor in connection with the closing of the Proposed Offering in exchange for interests in the Sponsor corresponding to 50,000 Private Placement Units (defined below) and 200,000 founder shares (See Note 5).
The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through the Proposed Offering of 30,000,000 Units at $10.00 per unit (or 34,500,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (Note 3) and the sale of 300,000 units (“Private Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement to the Sponsor that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Offering (Note 4).
The Trust Account
The proceeds to be held in the Trust Account will initially be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred eighty-five (185) days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations and, may at any time be held as cash or cash items, including in demand deposit accounts at a bank. Funds will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Initial Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account proceeds as described below. The remaining proceeds outside the Trust Account may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses.
The Company’s second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, other than the permitted withdrawals (as defined below), if any, none of the funds held in the Trust Account will be released until the earlier of (i) the completion of the Initial Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, of the Company (the “Public Shares”), that have been properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) in a manner that would affect the substance or timing of its obligation to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if it does not complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering (or 27 months from the closing of the Public Offering if the Company has executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Public Shares or pre-Initial Business Combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of 100% of the Public Shares if the Company is unable to complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (subject to the requirements of law) (or 27 months from the closing of the Public Offering if the Company has executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering). The proceeds deposited in the Trust Account could become subject to the claims of the Company’s creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of the Company’s public shareholders.
Initial Business Combination
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Offering, although substantially all of the net proceeds of the Proposed Offering are intended to be generally applied toward consummating an Initial Business Combination. The Initial Business Combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the Initial Business Combination. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect an Initial Business Combination.
The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for an Initial Business Combination, will either (i) seek shareholder approval of the Initial Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose in connection with which shareholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the Initial Business Combination, for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of amounts withdrawn to fund the working capital requirements, subject to an annual limit of $1,000,000, and to pay taxes (“permitted withdrawals”)), (ii) provide shareholders with the opportunity to sell their Public Shares to the Company by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a shareholder vote) for an amount in cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Initial Business Combination, including interest less permitted withdrawals. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of the Initial Business Combination or will allow shareholders to sell their Public Shares in a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its 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 the Company to seek shareholder approval, unless a vote is required by law or under Nasdaq rules.
Pursuant to the Company’s memorandum and articles of association if the Company is unable to complete the Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (or 27 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering if the Company has executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor,
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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 (which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish the holders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. The Sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares (as defined below) held by them if the Company fails to complete the Initial Business Combination within 24 months of the closing of the Proposed Offering (or 27 months from the closing of the Public Offering if the Company has executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering). However, if the Sponsor and management team acquires Public Shares in or after the Proposed Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such shares if the Company fails to complete the Initial Business Combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company after an Initial Business Combination, the Company’s shareholder is entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. The Company’s shareholder has no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that the Company will provide its shareholder with the opportunity to redeem its Public Shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, upon the completion of the Initial Business Combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
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 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 the escalation of 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 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.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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 escalation of 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.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had no cash balance and a working capital deficit of $184,847. 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 Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern”, as of December 31, 2024, 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 (see Note 4) that are sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed 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.
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 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Emerging Growth Company
As an emerging growth company, the Company 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 non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such 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
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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.
Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet, primarily due to their short- term nature.
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| • | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
| • | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| • | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement. |
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statement of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date. The underwriters’ over-allotment option is deemed to be a freestanding financial instrument indexed on the shares subject to redemption and will be accounted for as a liability pursuant to ASC 480 if not fully exercised at the time of the initial public offering.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgement. 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.
Deferred Offering Costs Associated with the Proposed Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5A, —“Expenses of Offering.” Deferred offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees that are 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 Class A ordinary shares will be charged to temporary equity, offering costs allocated to the Public and Private Placement Warrants will be charged to shareholder’s deficit after management’s evaluation that these will be accounted for under equity treatment. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. As of December 31, 2024, there were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties. 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 considered to be an exempted Cayman Islands company with no connection to any other taxable jurisdiction 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 periods presented.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Net Loss per Ordinary Share
Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding during the period, excluding ordinary shares subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). At December 31, 2024, 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 share is the same as basic loss per share for the periods presented.
Warrant Instruments
The Company will account for the Public and Private 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 value. There are no Public or Private Warrants currently outstanding as of December 31, 2024.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40)” (“ASU 2020-06”), to simplify certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 as of January 4, 2024 (inception).
In November 2023, the FASB issued 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 officer 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 January 4, 2024 (inception).
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.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 3—Public Offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale up to 30,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit for a total of $300 million (or 34,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit for a total of $345 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one Public Share and one-fourth of one warrant (each, a “Public Warrant” and collectively, the “Public Warrants”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments (see Note 7).
Note 4—Private Placement
The Sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 Private Placement Units at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Offering. Condor Investments VI, the representative of the underwriters of this offering, will commit to invest $500,000 in, and will be admitted as a member of, the Sponsor in connection with the closing of the Proposed Offering in exchange for interests in the Sponsor corresponding to 50,000 Private Placement Units and 200,000 founder shares (see Note 5). Each Unit consists of one Public Share and one-fourth of one warrant (each, a “Private Warrant”). Each Private Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments. Each warrant will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of the Initial Business Combination and will not expire except upon liquidation. If the Initial Business Combination is not completed within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (or 27 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering if the Company has executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering), the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law).
The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units to cover any over-allotments at the Proposed Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The Units that would be issued in connection with the over-allotment option would be identical to the Units issued in the Proposed Offering.
Note 5—Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On February 15, 2024, the Company issued an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value (the “Founder Shares”), in exchange for a $25,000 payment (approximately $0.003 per share) from the Sponsor to cover certain expenses on behalf of the Company. In April 2025 the company, through a share capitalization, issued the Sponsor an additional 1,437,500 founder shares, for which the Sponsor now holds 8,625,000 founder shares in the aggregate. All share and per share data has been retrospectively presented. As used herein, unless the context otherwise requires, “Founder Shares” shall be deemed to include the Public Shares issuable upon conversion thereof. The Founder Shares are identical to the Public Shares included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering except that the Founder Shares automatically convert into Public Shares at the time of the Initial Business Combination (with such conversion taking place immediately prior to, simultaneously with, or immediately following the time of the Initial Business Combination, as may be determined by the directors of the Company) or earlier at the option of the holder and are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below. The Sponsor has agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,125,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the Founder Shares will represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Offering. If the Company increases or decreases
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
the size of the offering, the Company will effect a share dividend or share surrender, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the Proposed Offering in such amount as to maintain the Founder Share ownership of the Company’s shareholders prior to the Proposed Offering at 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of the Proposed Offering. The Sponsor will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and any Public Shares held by the Sponsor in connection with the completion of the Initial Business Combination. If the Initial Business Combination is not completed within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (or 27 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering if the Company has executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering), the Sponsor will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares held by it.
The Sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of (A) six months after the completion of the Initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the Initial Business Combination (the date on which the Company consummates a transaction which results in the shareholder having the right to exchange its shares for cash, securities, or other property subject to certain limited exceptions).
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Units (and their underlying securities) and Units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and their underlying securities), if any, and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the Founder Shares and any Class A ordinary shares held by the initial shareholders at the completion of the Proposed Offering or acquired prior to or in connection with the initial Business Combination, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement for the Proposed Offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands and have “piggyback” registration rights. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Administrative Support Agreement
Commencing on the date of the initial public offering, the Company will agree to reimburse the managing member of the Sponsor in an amount equal to $30,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of the Initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Related Party Loans
On February 15, 2024, the Company and the Sponsor entered into a loan agreement, whereby the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $600,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2025, or the date on which the Company consummates the Proposed Offering. As of December 31, 2024, the Company borrowed $184,847 under the Note.
Working Capital Loans
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with its Initial Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes its Initial Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans. In the event that the Initial Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. If the Sponsor makes any Working Capital Loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units and their underlying securities would be identical to the private placement units. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Note 6—Commitments and Contingencies
Underwriting Agreement
The Company expects to pay 1.0% of the gross offering proceeds, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate (including if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full), payable only upon the Company’s completion of its Initial Business Combination (the “Deferred Discount”). The Deferred Discount will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event the Company completes its Initial Business Combination. The amount payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting discounts and commissions will be reduced from $3,000,000 to $1,500,000 in the event the amount held in the Trust Account following a successful consummation of the Initial Business Combination is less than $100,000,000, after taking into account redemptions in connection with the vote on the Initial Business Combination.
Note 7—Shareholder’s Deficit
Preference Shares
The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 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. As of December 31, 2024, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Ordinary Shares
The authorized ordinary shares of the Company includes up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share and 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. If the Company enters into an Initial Business Combination, it may (depending on the terms of such an Initial Business Combination) be required to increase the number of Class A ordinary shares which the Company is authorized to issue at the same time as the Company’s shareholder votes on the Initial Business Combination to the extent the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with the Initial Business Combination. Holders of the Company’s ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each ordinary share (except as otherwise expressed in the Company’s memorandum and articles of association). As of December 31, 2024, there are no Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
The Sponsor has agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,125,000 Founder Shares depending on the extent to which the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters so that the Founder Shares will represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Offering. As of March 31, 2024 and February 22, 2024, there were 8,625,000 Class B Founder Shares issued and outstanding.
Warrants
As of December 31, 2024, there were no Public Warrants or Private Placement Warrants outstanding. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of the
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
initial Business Combination, provided that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or the Company permits holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) 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. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of the initial Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company is not registering Public Shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, the Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) business days after the closing of the Initial Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially best efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement or a new registration statement registering, under the Securities Act, the issuance of the Public Shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its best efforts to cause the same to become effective 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 applicable warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if the Public Shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but the Company will be required to use its best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00. Beginning 30 days after completion of the Initial Business Combination, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants for cash:
| • | In whole and not in part; |
| • | At a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | Upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”); and |
| • | if, and only if, the last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share dividends, 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 the warrantholders. The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout such 30 trading day period and the 30-day redemption period. |
The Private Placement Warrants contained in the private placement units will be non-redeemable. The Private Placement Warrants may also be exercised for cash or on a “cashless basis.” The private placement warrants will not expire except upon liquidation.
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CHURCHILL CAPITAL CORP X
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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 chief operating decision maker, or group, in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance.
The Company’s chief operating decision makers have been identified as the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer (“CODMs”), who reviews the operating results for the Company as a whole to make decisions about allocating resources and assessing financial performance. Accordingly, management has determined that the Company only has one operating segment.
The CODM assesses performance for the single segment and decides how to allocate resources based on net income or loss that also is reported on the statement of operations as net income or 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 CODMs review several key metrics, which include the following:
| For the Period from January 4, 2024 (Inception) Through December 31, 2024 |
||||
| General and administrative costs |
$ | 51,910 | ||
The key measures of segment profit or loss reviewed by the CODMs are general and administrative costs. General and administrative costs are reviewed and monitored by the CODMs to manage and forecast cash to ensure enough capital is available to complete a Proposed Public Offering and eventually a Business Combination within the business combination period. The CODMs also review general and administrative costs to manage, maintain and enforce all contractual agreements to ensure costs are aligned with all agreements and budget.
Note 9—Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date, up to April 28, 2025, the date the financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustments or disclosure in the financial statements.
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$300,000,000
Churchill Capital Corp X
30,000,000 Units
Preliminary Prospectus
, 2025
Book-Running Manager:
BTIG, LLC
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 dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriter and with respect to unsold allotments or subscriptions.
Table of Contents
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 discounts and commissions) will be as follows:
| SEC expenses |
$ | 58,702 | ||
| FINRA expenses |
60,657 | |||
| Accounting and bookkeeping fees and expenses |
40,000 | |||
| Printing and engraving expenses |
35,000 | |||
| Legal fees expenses |
325,000 | |||
| Nasdaq listing and filing fees |
85,000 | |||
| Travel and roadshow expenses |
10,000 | |||
| Miscellaneous |
385,641 | |||
|
|
|
|||
| Total |
$ | 1,000,000 | ||
|
|
|
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 officers and directors, 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, actual fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide for indemnification of our officers and directors 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 expect to purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
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 February 15, 2024, our sponsor acquired an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares, acquired for $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. In April 2025, we effected a share capitalization in the form of a share dividend of approximately 0.2 fully paid Class B ordinary shares for each Class B ordinary share in issue, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares (up to 1,125,000 shares of which are
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subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). The number of founder shares was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering (not including the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units). Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act. In addition, our sponsor has subscribed to purchase an aggregate of 300,000 private placement units (including if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000 (including if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant contained in the private placement units is exercisable to purchase one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of our initial public offering. These 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.
Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
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| ** | Previously filed. |
Item 17. Undertakings.
| (a) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act 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 Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
| (b) | The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that: |
| (1) | For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, 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, 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. |
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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 New York, NY, on the 8th day of May, 2025.
| Churchill Capital Corp X | ||
| By: | /s/ Michael Klein | |
| Name: Michael Klein | ||
| Title: Chief Executive Officer | ||
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature |
Title |
Date | ||
| /s/ Michael Klein Michael Klein |
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
May 8, 2025 | ||
| /s/ Jay Taragin Jay Taragin |
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Accounting Officer and Financial Officer) |
May 8, 2025 | ||
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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 registration statement, solely in its capacity as the duly authorized representative of Churchill Capital Corp X in New York, New York, on the 8th day of May, 2025.
| By: | /s/ Michael Klein | |
| Name: Michael Klein | ||
| Title: Chief Executive Officer |
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