LPAAU 10-K
Launch One Acquisition Corp. (LPAAU)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
For
the fiscal year ended
or
For the transition period from to
Commission
file number:
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code:
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
| The | ||||
| The | ||||
| The |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports),
and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule
405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant
was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| ☒ | Smaller reporting company | |||||
| Emerging growth company |
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying
with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered
public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act,
indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to
previously issued financial statements.
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes
The registrant’s shares were not listed on any exchange and had
no value as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of 2024. The registrant’s Units begin trading on The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC on July 12, 2024 and the registrant’s Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants began trading on The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC on September 3, 2024. Accordingly, there was no market value for the registrant’s securities as of
the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of 2024. The aggregate market value of the registrant’s outstanding Class A Ordinary
Shares, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for
the Class A Ordinary Shares on December 31, 2024, as reported on The Nasdaq Stock Market
LLC, was $
As of March 26, 2025, there were
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Report (as defined below), including, without limitation, statements under Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act (as defined below) and Section 21E of the Exchange Act (as defined below). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other Business Combination (as defined below) and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on Management’s (as defined below) current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including, but not limited to:
| ● | 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, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements; |
| ● | the potential incentive to consummate an initial Business Combination with an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for public investors due to the low initial price for the Founder Shares (as defined below) paid by our Sponsor (as defined below); |
| ● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination; |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; | |
| ● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| ● | 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 (as defined below) or available to us from interest income on the Trust Account balance; |
| ● | the Trust Account not being subject to claims of third parties; |
| ● | 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 Public Shares (as defined below) at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per Public Share; |
| ● | the impact on the amount held in the Trust Account, our capitalization, principal shareholders and other impacts on our Company (as defined below) or Management Team should we seek to extend the Combination Period (as defined below) consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules; |
| ● | our financial performance; or |
| ● | the other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” below. |
ii
Additionally, in 2024, the SEC (as defined below) adopted additional rules and regulations relating to SPACs (as defined below). The 2024 SPAC Rules (as defined below) require, among other matters, (i) additional disclosures relating to SPAC sponsors and related persons; (ii) additional disclosures relating to SPAC Business Combination transactions; (iii) additional disclosures relating to dilution and to conflicts of interest involving sponsors and their affiliates in connection with proposed Business Combination transactions; (iv) additional disclosures regarding projections included in SEC filings in connection with proposed Business Combination transactions; and (v) the requirement that both the SPAC and its target company be co-registrants in connection with registration statements relating to proposed Business Combination transactions. 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 (as defined below), including its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team. The 2024 SPAC Rules may materially affect our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.
The forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Future developments affecting us may not 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. 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.
Unless otherwise stated in this Report, or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| ● | “2024 SPAC Rules” are to the rules and regulations for SPACs adopted by the SEC on January 24, 2024, which became effective on July 1, 2024; |
| ● | “Administrative Support Agreement” are to the Administrative Support Agreement, dated July 11, 2024, we entered into with an affiliate of our Sponsor, for office space and secretarial and administrative support services; |
| ● | “Amended and Restated Charter” are to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended and restated from time to time, and currently in effect; |
| ● | “ASC” are to the FASB (as defined below) Accounting Standards Codification; |
| ● | “ASU” are to the FASB Accounting Standards Update; |
| ● | “Audit Committee” are to the audit committee of our Board of Directors (as defined below); |
| ● | “Board of Directors” or “Board” are to our board of directors; |
| ● | “Business Combination” are to a merger, capital share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses; |
| ● | “Cantor” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering (as defined below); |
| ● | “Class A Ordinary Shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share; |
| ● | “Class B Ordinary Shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share; |
| ● | “Combination Period” are to (i) the 24-month period, from the closing of the Initial Public Offering to July 15, 2026 (or such earlier time as determined by our Board), that we have to consummate an initial Business Combination, or (ii) such other time period in which we must consummate an initial Business Combination pursuant to an amendment to our Amended and Restated Charter and consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules; |
| ● | “Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| ● | “Company,” “Launch One,” “our,” “we,” or “us” are to Launch One Acquisition Corp. Cayman Islands exempted company; |
iii
| ● | “Continental” are to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, trustee of our Trust Account and warrant agent of our Public Warrants (as defined below); |
| ● | “DWAC System” are to the Depository Trust Company’s Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian System; |
| ● | “Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; |
| ● | “Excise Tax” are to the U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023 as provided for by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; |
| ● | “FASB” are to the Financial Accounting Standards Board; |
| ● | “FINRA” are to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority; |
| ● | “Founder Shares” are to the Class B Ordinary Shares initially purchased by our Sponsor prior to the Initial Public Offering and the Class A Ordinary Shares that (i) will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B Ordinary Shares at the time of our Business Combination as described herein (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A Ordinary Shares will not be “Public Shares” (as defined below)) or (ii) are issued at any time prior to our initial Business Combination, upon conversion of Class B Ordinary Shares at the option of the holder as described herein; |
| ● | “GAAP” are to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; |
| ● | “IFRS” are to the International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board; |
| ● | “Initial Public Offering” or “IPO” are to the initial public offering that we consummated on July 15, 2024; |
| ● | “Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; |
| ● | “IPO Promissory Note” are to that certain unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of up to $300,000 issued to our Sponsor on February 21, 2024; |
| ● | “IPO Registration Statement” are to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 initially filed with the SEC (as defined below) on June 13, 2024, as amended, and declared effective on July 12, 2024 (File No. 333-280188); |
| ● | “JOBS Act” are to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012; |
| ● | “Letter Agreement” are to the Letter Agreement, dated July 11, 2024, which we entered into with our officers, our directors and the Sponsor; |
| ● | “Management” or our “Management Team” are to our executive officers and directors; |
| ● | “Nasdaq” are to The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; | |
| ● | “Nasdaq 36 Month Requirement” are to the requirement pursuant to the Nasdaq Rules (as defined below) that a SPAC must complete one or more Business Combinations within 36 months following the effectiveness of its initial public offering registration statement; | |
| ● | “ Nasdaq Rules” are to the continued listing rules of Nasdaq, as they exist as of the date of this Report; |
| ● | “Ordinary Shares” are to the Class A Ordinary Shares and the Class B Ordinary Shares, together; |
| ● | “PCAOB” are to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States); |
| ● | “Private Placement” are to the private placement of Private Placement Warrants (as defined below) that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering; |
iv
| ● | “Private Placement Warrants” are to the warrants issued to our Sponsor and Cantor in the Private Placement; |
| ● | “Public Shares” are to the Class A Ordinary Shares sold as part of the Units (as defined below) in our Initial Public Offering (whether they were purchased in our Initial Public Offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| ● | “Public Shareholders” are to the holders of our Public Shares, including our Sponsor and Management Team to the extent our Sponsor and/or the members of our Management Team purchase Public Shares, provided that the Sponsor’s and each member of our Management Team’s status as a “Public Shareholder” will only exist with respect to such Public Shares; |
| ● | “Public Warrants” are to the redeemable warrants sold as part of the Units in our Initial Public Offering (whether they were subscribed for in our Initial Public Offering or purchased in the open market); |
| ● | “Registration Rights Agreement” are to the Registration Rights Agreement, dated July 11, 2024, which we entered into with the Sponsor and the other holders party thereto; |
| ● | “Report” are to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024; |
| ● | “Sarbanes-Oxley Act” are to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; |
| ● | “SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; |
| ● | “Securities Act” are to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; |
| ● | “SPACs” are to special purpose acquisition companies; |
| ● | “Sponsor” are to Launch One Sponsor LLC, Delaware limited liability company; |
| ● | “Trust Account” are to the U.S.-based trust account in which an amount of $230,000,000 from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants in the Private Placement was placed following the closing of the Initial Public Offering; |
| ● | “Underwriting Agreement” are to the Underwriting Agreement, dated July 11, 2024, which we entered into with Cantor, as representative of the several underwriters of the Initial Public Offering; |
| ● | “Units” are to the units sold in our Initial Public Offering, which consist of one Public Share and one-half of one Public Warrant; | |
| ● | “Warrant Subscription Agreements” are to the Private Placement Warrant Subscription Agreements, dated as of July 11, 2024, we entered into with our Sponsor and Cantor, respectively, pursuant to which, the Sponsor and Cantor purchased an aggregate of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants in the Private Placement; |
| ● | “Warrants” are to the Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants, together; |
| ● | “Withum” are to WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm; and |
| ● | “Working Capital Loans” are to funds that, in order to provide working capital or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us. |
v
PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on February 21, 2024 as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a Business Combination with one or more businesses or entities. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities, activities related to our Initial Public Offering, and searching for a Business Combination target. As of the date of this Report, we have not selected any specific Business Combination target. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial Business Combination.
The 2024 SPAC Rules may materially affect our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.
Initial Public Offering
On July 15, 2024, we consummated our Initial Public Offering, which was oversubscribed and consisted of 23,000,000 Units, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of an option to purchase up to 3,000,000 Units at the offering price to cover over-allotments. The Units were sold at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds to us of $230,000,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants to our Sponsor and Cantor, the representative of the underwriters, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, generating gross proceeds of $6,000,000.
A total of $230,000,000, comprised of the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the proceeds of the Private Placement was placed in the Trust Account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.
It is the job of our Sponsor and Management Team to complete our initial Business Combination. We must complete our initial Business Combination by July 15, 2026, the end of our Combination Period, which is 24-months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, unless we decide to pursue an amendment to our Amended and Restated Charter and select another time period in which we must consummate an initial Business Combination. If our initial Business Combination is not consummated by the end of our Combination Period, then our existence will terminate, and we will distribute all amounts in the Trust Account, as described further herein.
We may seek to extend the Combination Period consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules by amending our Amended and Restated Charter. Such an amendment would require the approval of our Public Shareholders, who will be provided the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares in connection with the vote on such approval. Such redemptions will decrease the amount held in our Trust Account, and our capitalization may affect our ability to maintain our listing on Nasdaq. In addition, the Nasdaq Rules currently require SPACs (such as us) to complete our initial Business Combination in accordance with the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement. If we do not meet the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement, our securities will likely be subject to a suspension of trading and delisting from Nasdaq.
General
Our Management Team is predominantly composed of a team of high-level senior life sciences executives, including Ryan Gilbert, our Chairman of the Board, Chris Ehrlich, our Chief Executive Officer, and Jurgen van de Vyver, our Chief Financial Officer. Our Board of Directors provides valuable guidance, technical domain expertise, value-added input regarding senior team leadership capabilities of prospective business combination targets, and have access to differentiated ideas and opportunities through complementary networks. They also have specific special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, experience and a proven track record of business combination success.
We believe that our Management Team and Board of Directors are well positioned among other special purpose acquisition vehicles focused on the healthcare or biotechnology industry. Certain members of our Management Team will be dedicated full-time to the process of identifying, evaluating and negotiating with an acquisition target for our initial business combination. Our Management Team and Board of Directors have significant, meaningful experience as, among other titles, investors, executives, corporate strategists and business development heads within public and private biotechnology companies. In addition, our Management Team is aided by Shami Patel, our advisor.
1
Competitive Strengths
We believe our Management Team, with the assistance of our Board and advisors is well positioned to identify unique opportunities within the healthcare or healthcare related industries and, in particular, life sciences, globally. Each member of our Management Team and board has spent significant portions of their careers working with businesses in the life sciences industry and have developed a wide network of professional services contacts and business relationships in that industry. Our selection process will leverage our relationships with venture capitalists and growth equity funds, executives of private and public companies, as well as investment banking firms, which we believe should provide us with a key advantage in sourcing potential business combination targets. Given our profile and industry expertise, we anticipate that target business combination candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investors in and managers of other private and public companies in our networks.
We also intend to deploy a proactive sourcing strategy to focus on unique opportunities that are best positioned for our initial Business Combination. We will leverage our collective deep industry expertise and analytical capabilities to identify characteristics of life science companies historically correlating with outperforming publicly traded peers. We will also leverage our significant operating, corporate strategy, and business development expertise to efficiently triage opportunities to focus on those opportunities that we believe present the highest risk-adjusted return potential for our shareholders. We will attempt to use these insights to identify attractive acquisition targets for our initial Business Combination. We believe the combination of the relationships, capital markets expertise, and operating experience of our advisors can help accelerate the process and make us a preferred partner for these potential targets. We will initially focus on emerging growth healthcare companies in healthcare niches including biotechnology.
Following the completion of our Initial Public Officering, members of our Management Team began (i) communicating with their network of relationships to articulate our initial Business Combination criteria, including the parameters of our search for a target business, and (ii) a disciplined process of pursuing and reviewing promising leads.
Acquisition Criteria
We have identified the following criteria to evaluate prospective target businesses. We may, however, decide to enter into our initial Business Combination with a target business that does not meet these specific criteria. We currently intend to seek companies that we believe:
| ● | are developing products that are unique, and ideally, differentiated from competitors based on scientific rationale, preclinical and/or clinical data, and address unmet medical and commercial needs, suggesting favorable growth opportunities in the markets in which they operate or intend to operate; |
| ● | have developed or are developing products that have progressed sufficiently to be able to evaluate the risks associated with the investment while simultaneously understanding the path toward value creating milestones; |
| ● | offer unrecognized or under-recognized value within the investment community; |
| ● | are led by exceptional management teams and have strong corporate governance and reporting policies in place; and |
| ● | can benefit from our industry expertise and relationships as well as access to the public capital markets and are expected to be well received by public investors. |
Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information about the target and its industry which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial Business Combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial Business Combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds available for us to use to complete another business combination.
2
Initial Business Combination
We intend to effectuate our initial Business Combination using cash from the proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of the Private Placement Warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial Business Combination, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, other securities issuances, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial Business Combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
We will provide our Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A Ordinary Shares upon the completion of our initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial Business Combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law and our Amended and Restated Charter, which requires the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by such shareholders as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at the applicable general meeting of the company. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement.
We have until the date that is 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or until such earlier liquidation date as our Board of Directors may approve, to consummate our initial Business Combination. If we anticipate that we may be unable to consummate our initial Business Combination within such 24-month period, we may seek shareholder approval to amend our Amended and Restated Charter 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 taxes payable), 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 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or by such earlier liquidation date as our Board of Directors may approve, from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, 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 taxes payable 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. We expect the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.00 per Public Share, without taking into account any interest or other income earned on such funds. However, we cannot assure our shareholders that we will in fact be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors, which may take priority over the claims of our Public Shareholders.
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 the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account). 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 likely that our Board of Directors will 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.
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, but we will only complete such Business Combination if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. 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. 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 issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial Business Combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the Business Combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
3
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial Business Combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the Business Combination 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 company that is affiliated (as defined in our Amended and Restated Charter) with our Sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, stating that the consideration to be paid by us in such an initial Business Combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Members of our Management Team and our independent directors directly or indirectly own Founder Shares and/or Private Placement Warrants after the Initial Public Offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial Business Combination. The low price that our Sponsor, executive officers and directors (directly or indirectly) paid for the Founder Shares creates an incentive whereby our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we select an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for Public Shareholders. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants may expire worthless, except to the extent they receive liquidating distributions from assets outside the Trust Account, which could create an incentive for our Sponsor, executive officers and directors to complete a transaction even if we select an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for Public Shareholders. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial Business Combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our Amended and Restated Charter 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, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial Business Combination. As a result, our Sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.
Sourcing of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read the prospectus of our Initial Public Offering and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the track record and business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction.
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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, which, if made prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination, will be paid from funds held outside the Trust Account.
We will engage a finder only to the extent our Management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our Management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the Trust Account.
Financial Position
With funds available for a Business Combination as of December 31, 2024 in the amount of $23.55 million (before redemptions, taxes payable on the interest earned, and payment of $10,950,000 of deferred underwriting fees), we offer a target business a variety of options, such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial Business Combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial Business Combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial Business Combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
| ● | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, 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 closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial Business Combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our Management Team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. 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 initial Business Combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial Business Combination. Moreover, we cannot assure our shareholders that members of our Management Team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
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We cannot assure our shareholders 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 our shareholders that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our Amended and Restated Charter. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under Nasdaq’s listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial Business Combination if, for example:
| ● | We issue Ordinary Shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our Ordinary Shares then 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 earned on the Trust Account (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of Ordinary Shares could result in an increase in outstanding Ordinary Shares or voting power of 5% or more; or |
| ● | The issuance or potential issuance of Ordinary Shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed Business Combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the Company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; (ii) the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; (iii) the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed Business Combination; (iv) other time and budget constraints of the Company; and (v) additional legal complexities of a proposed Business Combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders.
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may purchase Public Shares or Warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial Business Combination, although they are under no obligation or duty to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and 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. It is intended that, if Rule 10b-18 would apply to purchases by Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and 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.
Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial Business Combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire Public Shares, vote their Public Shares in favor of our initial Business Combination or not redeem their Public Shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase Public Shares, rights or Warrants in such transactions.
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The purpose of any such transactions could be to (1) increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the Business Combination, (2) reduce the number of Public Warrants outstanding and/or increase the likelihood of approval on any matters submitted to the Public Warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial Business Combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial Business Combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. 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.
Our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A Ordinary Shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial Business Combination. To the extent that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the Trust Account or vote against our initial Business Combination, 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, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and 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 be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of 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, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates were to purchase Public Shares or Warrants from Public Shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:
| ● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares, rights or warrants from Public Shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
| ● | if our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or 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, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction; |
| ● | our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or 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 Current Report on Form 8-K, before our general meeting of shareholders to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items: |
| o | the amount of our securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
| o | the purpose of the purchases by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates; |
| o | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
| o | the identities of our security holders who sold to our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or 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, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates; and |
| o | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
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Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A Ordinary Shares upon the completion of our initial Business Combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of an initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. As of December 31, 2024, the amount in the Trust Account was approximately $10.24 per Public Share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters.
Our Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into the Letter Agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A Ordinary Shares upon the completion of our initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company (other than with a 90% subsidiary of ours) and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares or seek to amend our Amended and Restated Charter 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 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 are contained in provisions of our Amended and Restated Charter 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, 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, so long as we offer redemption in connection with such amendment.
If we provide our Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in connection with a general meeting, we will, pursuant to our Amended and Restated Charter:
| ● | 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.
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If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial Business Combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law and our Amended and Restated Charter, 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. Our Sponsor, officers and directors will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the Letter Agreement, our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their Founder Shares, private placement shares and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions, aside from shares they may purchase in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act, which would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction) in favor of our initial Business Combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial Business Combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ Founder Shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5%, of the 20,000,000 Public Shares sold in the Initial Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial Business Combination in order to have our initial Business Combination approved, assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised and the parties to the Letter Agreement do not acquire any Class A Ordinary Shares. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares, representing a quorum under our Amended and Restated Charter vote their shares at a general meeting of the Company, we will not need any Public Shares in addition to our Founder Shares to be voted in favor of an initial Business Combination in order to approve an initial Business Combination. 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. In addition, prior to the closing of our initial Business Combination, only holders of our Class B Ordinary Shares (i) have the right to appoint and remove directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination and (ii) are entitled to vote on continuing our company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands (including any special resolution required to amend our constitutional documents or to adopt new constitutional documents, in each case, as a result of our approving a transfer by way of continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands). These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our Sponsor, officers and directors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial Business Combination. Each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or vote against the proposed transaction, or whether they do not vote or abstain from voting on the proposed transaction, or whether they were a Public Shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:
| ● | 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. |
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 redemption 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.
We intend to require our Public Shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial Business Combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a Public Shareholder seeking redemption of its Public Shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our Public Shares in connection with our initial Business Combination will indicate whether we are requiring Public Shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. 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 initial Business Combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by Public Shareholders who elected to redeem their shares.
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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 or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial 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 initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Amended and Restated Charter 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 seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our Initial Public Offering (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 the Initial Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or our Management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public 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 initial Business Combination, particularly in connection with a Business Combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial Business Combination.
Delivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights
As described above, we intend to require our Public Shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial Business Combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a Public Shareholder seeking redemption of its Public Shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our Public Shares in connection with our initial Business Combination will indicate whether we are requiring Public Shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a Public Shareholder would have up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the initial Business Combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their Public Shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $100.00 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 submit or 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.
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Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a Public Share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our Public Shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial Business Combination.
If our initial Business Combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our Public Shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the Trust Account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by Public Shareholders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed Business Combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a Business Combination with a different target until the end of the completion window.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our Amended and Restated Charter provide that we have only the duration of the completion window to complete our initial Business Combination. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within such time period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter (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 taxes 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 worthless if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination within the completion window.
Our Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a Letter Agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination within the completion window, although they are entitled to liquidating distributions from assets outside the Trust Account. However, if our Sponsor or Management Team acquire Public Shares after the Initial Public 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 allotted completion window.
Our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our Amended and Restated Charter (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our Public Shares if we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, in each case unless we provide our Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares.
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We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $1,250,000 of proceeds held outside the Trust Account, although we cannot assure our shareholders that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the Trust Account not required to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the Trust Account balance, 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 the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the Trust Account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the Trust Account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. 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 our shareholders 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 our shareholders that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our Public Shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the Trust Account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the Trust Account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account, our Management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if Management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the Company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by Management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where Management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Withum Smith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering did not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account. 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. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us (except for our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 Account Assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our Company. Therefore, we cannot assure our shareholders 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 our shareholders would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of their 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 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 Account Assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance 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. Accordingly, we cannot assure our shareholders that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.
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We 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, 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 the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. As of December 31, 2024, we had access to up to approximately $850,338 from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering 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.
If we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the Trust Account, we cannot assure our shareholders we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our Public Shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy/insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance, preference or disposition.” As a result, a liquidator or 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 our shareholders that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our Public Shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our Public Shares if we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Charter (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our Public Shares if we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our 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 shareholder’s 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 Charter, like all provisions of our Amended and Restated Charter, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial Business Combination, we encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other SPACs, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting Business Combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses is 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 or are forced to exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial Business Combination and our outstanding Warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial Business Combination.
Employees
We currently have two officers: Messrs. Ehrlich and van de Vyver. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters, but they devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial Business Combination. The amount of time they devote in any time period varies based on the stage of the Business Combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination.
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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our Units, Public Shares and Public Warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports, including this Report, contain financial statement audited and reported on by Withum, our independent registered public accountant.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statement of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statement will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statement 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 conduct an initial Business Combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure our shareholders that any particular target business identified by us as a potential Business Combination candidate will have financial statement prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statement in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential Business Combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such Business Combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from the date of the undertaking, no law that is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following July 16, 2029, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A Ordinary Shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
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 statement. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our Class A Ordinary Shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our Class A Ordinary Shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a smaller reporting company under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, the following is a partial list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors that could have a material effect on us and our operations:
| ● | we are a blank check company and an early-stage company with no revenue or basis to evaluate our ability to select a suitable business target; |
| ● | we may not be able to select an appropriate target business or businesses and complete our initial Business Combination in the prescribed time frame; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses may not be realized; |
| ● | we may not be successful in retaining or recruiting required officers, key employees or directors following our initial Business Combination; |
| ● | our officers and directors may have difficulties allocating their time between our Company and other businesses and may potentially have conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial Business Combination; |
| ● | we may not be able to obtain additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination or reduce the number of shareholders requesting redemption; |
| ● | we may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial Business Combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time; |
| ● | our shareholders may not be given the opportunity to choose the initial business target or to vote on the initial Business Combination; |
| ● | Trust Account funds may not be protected against third party claims or bankruptcy; |
| ● | an active market for our public securities may not develop and our shareholders will have limited liquidity and trading; |
| ● | our financial performance following a Business Combination with an entity may be negatively affected by their lack of an established record of revenue, cash flows and experienced management; |
| ● | there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial Business Combination, which could increase the costs associated with completing our initial Business Combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target; |
| ● | changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial Business Combination; |
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| ● | we may attempt to simultaneously complete Business Combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial Business Combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability; |
| ● | we may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after the Initial Public Offering, which may include acting as a financial advisor in connection with an initial Business Combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the Trust Account only upon completion of an initial Business Combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after the Initial Public Offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial Business Combination; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | since our Sponsor will lose their entire investment in us if our initial Business Combination is not completed (other than with respect to any Public Shares they may acquire during or after the Initial Public Offering), and because our Sponsor, officers and directors may profit substantially even under circumstances in which our Public Shareholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular Business Combination target is appropriate for our initial Business Combination; |
| ● | 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 $10.24 per share (as of December 31, 2024); |
| ● | resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, our Public Shareholders may receive only approximately $10.24 per share (as of December 31, 2024), or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our Warrants will expire worthless; |
| ● | we may not be able to complete an initial Business Combination with certain potential target companies if a proposed transaction with the target company may be subject to review or approval by regulatory authorities pursuant to certain U.S. or foreign laws or regulations, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States; |
| ● | recent fluctuations in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial Business Combination; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | 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;
| |
| ● | if our initial Business Combination involves a company organized under the laws of a state of the United States, it is possible the Excise Tax will be imposed on us in connection with redemptions of our Ordinary Shares after or in connection with such initial Business Combination. | |
| ● | cyber incidents or attacks directed at us or third parties could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss; |
| ● | changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination, and results of operations; | |
| ● | 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; and | |
| ● | to mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, 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 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 of such transfer, we could receive less interest on the funds held in the Trust Account than the interest we would have received pursuant to our original Trust Account investments, which could reduce the dollar amount our Public Shareholders would receive upon any redemption or our liquidation. |
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We may seek to extend the Combination Period, which could reduce the amount held in our Trust Account and have adverse effects on our Company.
If we are unable to consummate our initial Business Combination on or before July 15, 2026, we may seek shareholder approval to extend the Combination Period by amending our Amended and Restated Charter. In such event, our Public Shareholders will be provided the opportunity to have all or a portion of their Public Shares redeemed. Any redemptions will reduce the amount held in our Trust Account, the effect of which may adversely affect our ability to consummate our initial Business Combination and may also impair our ability to maintain our Nasdaq listing.
We anticipate that our securities will be suspended from trading on Nasdaq and delisted if we do not consummate our initial Business Combination by July 11, 2027. Any trading suspension or delisting could have a material adverse effect on the trading of our securities and may adversely affect our ability to consummate an initial Business Combination.
Our IPO Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on July 11, 2024 and our securities are currently listed on the Global Market tier of Nasdaq. Pursuant to our Amended and Restated Charter, we have until July 15, 2024 to consummate our initial Business Combination. However, under the Nasdaq Rules, if a SPAC does not meet the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement, the SPAC will be subject to a suspension of trading and delisting from Nasdaq.
Under the Nasdaq Rules, a SPAC’s Nasdaq-listed securities will be immediately suspended from trading if the SPAC does not meet the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement, and Nasdaq will, at such point, commence delisting procedures. Although a SPAC can request a hearing before the hearing panel of Nasdaq (the “Hearing Panel”), the scope of the Hearing Panel’s review is limited. If a SPAC completes a Business Combination after receiving a delisting determination by the staff of the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq (a “Staff Delisting Determination”) and/or demonstrates compliance with all applicable initial listing requirements, the combined company can apply to list its securities on Nasdaq pursuant to the normal application review process. The Nasdaq Rules contain a list of deficiencies that would immediately result in a Staff Delisting Determination, which includes noncompliance with the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement. Accordingly, were we to amend our Amended and Restated Charter to extend the date by which we are permitted to consummate our initial Business Combination, we would still need to consummate our initial Business Combination on or prior to July 11, 2027 in order to avoid a suspension of our securities from trading on and delisting from Nasdaq. If Nasdaq were to suspend our securities from trading and delist our securities, our securities could potentially be quoted on an over-the-counter market. Even if our securities are then quoted on an over-the-counter market, our Nasdaq suspension and delisting could have significant material adverse consequences, including:
| ● | making our securities appear to be less attractive to potential target companies than the securities of an exchange listed SPAC; |
| ● | limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| ● | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| ● | the possibility that our Class A Ordinary Shares would be deemed “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; |
| ● | limited news and analyst coverage; and |
| ● | decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
In addition, if our securities are delisted from Nasdaq, trading in our securities, and offers and sales of our securities by us, may be subject to state securities regulation and additional compliance costs.
The share price of the post-Business Combination company may be less than the Redemption Price (as defined below) of our Public Shares.
Each Unit sold in our Initial Public Offering at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit consisted of one Public Share and one-half of one Public Warrant. Of the proceeds we received from the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $230,000,000 was placed in our Trust Account. We will provide our Public Shareholders the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination, and potentially upon the occurrence of certain other events prior to our initial Business Combination. We expect that the pro rata redemption price in any redemption will be approximately $10.24 per Public Share as of December 31, 2024 (before taxes payable, if any, the “Redemption Price”), representing a pro rata portion of our Trust Account without taking into account any interest or other income earned on such funds (less any withdrawals from such interest or income for taxes paid), although the Redemption Price may be less in certain circumstances. As a result, Public Shareholders who own our Public Shares on a redemption date can anticipate receiving the Redemption Price in connection with a redemption for each Public Share that they choose to redeem.
There can be no assurance that, after our initial Business Combination, our Public Shareholders would be able to sell their shares in the post-Business Combination company for the Redemption Price, or any higher price. We have not, as yet, identified a target and are therefore unable to provide any assurances as to its financial condition, business prospects or potential risks. It is therefore possible that the share price of the post-Business Combination company may decline below the Redemption Price. In recent years, the share prices of many post-Business Combination companies have fallen following a Business Combination. As a result, if our Public Shareholders continue to hold shares in the post-Business Combination company following our initial Business Combination, we cannot assure our shareholders that the trading price of such shares will be greater than the Redemption Price.
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Certain agreements related to the Initial Public Offering may be amended, or their provisions waived, without shareholder approval.
Certain of the agreements related to the Initial Public Offering to which we are a party may be amended, or their provisions waived, without shareholder approval. Such agreements include, among others, the (i) Underwriting Agreement, (ii) Letter Agreement, (iii) Registration Rights Agreement, (iii) Warrant Subscription Agreements and (iv) Administrative Support Agreement. These agreements contain various provisions that our Public Shareholders might deem to be material. For example, our Letter Agreement and the Underwriting Agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the Founder Shares and other securities held by our Sponsor, officers and directors, subject to certain exceptions. Amendments or waivers to such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and, in certain cases, the consent of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering. Any such modification, such as an amendment to shorten lock-up restrictions, may benefit our Sponsor, officers and/or directors. Any such amendments would not require approval from our shareholders, may result in the completion of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. For example, although we would not amend lock-up provisions to permit securities held by our Sponsor to be freely sold prior to our initial Business Combination, we may amend such provisions to permit them to be freely sold after the Business Combination earlier than they would otherwise be permitted, which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
Uncertainty in connection with certain international economic and political relationships, including the imposition of tariffs on international trade, political disputes, regulatory changes and other international matters could have a material adverse effect on our ability to identify potential targets and to consummate our initial Business Combination, and could adversely affect the financial performance of any target, either foreign or domestic.
The international economic and political environment is dynamic and subject to change. There is currently significant uncertainty about the future economic and political relationships between the United States and a number of other countries. These uncertainties include, among other things, the potential imposition of protective tariffs on goods imported from other countries and reciprocal tariffs other countries may impose on United States products, political disputes that may affect relationships between the United States and other countries and the imposition of regulatory or other restrictions on trade and commerce. Any such matters could potentially limit the number of potential targets we may consider, and could also have a material adverse effect on the financial performance of such potential targets. Among other things, historical financial performance of companies affected by these international matters may not provide as accurate a barometer of future performance as would pertain in a more stable economic environment.
For additional risks relating to our operations, other than as set forth above, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our IPO Registration Statement. Any of these factors could result in a significant or material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Additional risks could arise that may also affect our business or ability to consummate an initial Business Combination. We may disclose changes to such risk factors or disclose additional risk factors from time to time in our future filings with the SEC.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity.
Although
as a blank check company, we do not have any operations, we are nonetheless subject to the risk of cybersecurity incidents. Among other
things, the investments in our Trust Account and bank deposits may be vulnerable to such incidents, and we may depend on the digital
technologies of
Item 2. Properties.
Our executive offices are located at 180 Grand Avenue, Suite 1530, Oakland CA 94612, and our telephone number is (510) 692-9600. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $12,500 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space and secretarial and administrative support services, pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement; upon completion of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
To the knowledge of our Management Team, there is no material litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
(a) Market Information
Our Units, Public Shares and Public Warrants are each traded on the Global Market tier of Nasdaq under the symbols “LPAAU,” “LPAA” and “LPAAW,” respectively. Our Units commenced public trading on July 15, 2024, and our Public Shares and Public Warrants commenced separate public trading on September 3, 2024.
(b) Holders
On March 26, 2025, there were one holder of record of our Units, one holder of record of our Class A Ordinary Shares, one holder of record of our Class B Ordinary Shares, and three holders of record of our Warrants.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our Ordinary Shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial Business Combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial Business Combination will be within the discretion of our Board of Directors at such time. In addition, our Board of Directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial Business Combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e) Performance Graph
As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide the information required by Regulation S-K Item 201(e).
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, pursuant to the Warrant Subscription Agreements, we completed the sale of an aggregate of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor and Cantor in the Private Placement at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to us of $6,000,000. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrant sold in the Initial Public Offering, except as otherwise disclosed in the IPO Registration Statement. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sale. The issuance of the Private Placement Warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
(g) Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering
For a description of the use of proceeds generated in our Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, see Part I, Item 2 of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024, as filed with the SEC on November 13, 2024. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as described in the Registration Statement. The specific investments in our Trust Account may change from time to time.
(h) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
There were no such repurchases of our equity securities by us or an affiliate during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year covered by the Report.
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Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Report including, without limitation, statements under this Item regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of Management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this Report, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our Management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of our Management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our Management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statement and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Report.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on February 21, 2024, formed for the purpose of effecting a Business Combination with one or more businesses or entities. We intend to effectuate our Business Combination using cash derived from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt.
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure our shareholders that our plans to complete a Business Combination will be successful.
We may seek to extend the Combination Period consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules by amending our Amended and Restated Charter. Such an amendment would require the approval of our Public Shareholders, who will be provided the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares in connection with the vote on such approval. Such redemptions will decrease the amount held in our Trust Account, and our capitalization may affect our ability to maintain our listing on Nasdaq. In addition, the Nasdaq Rules currently require SPACs (such as us) to complete our initial Business Combination in accordance with the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement. If we do not meet the Nasdaq 36-Month Requirement, our securities will likely be subject to a suspension of trading and delisting from Nasdaq.
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Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below, and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our Business Combination. Subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, we generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the period from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, we had a net income of $5,129,519, which consisted of interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $5,404,164 and unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $125,357, offset by general and administrative costs of $400,002.
Factors That May Adversely Affect our Results of Operations
Our results of operations and our ability to complete an initial Business Combination may be adversely affected by various factors that could cause economic uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets, many of which are beyond our control. Our results of operations and our ability to consummate an initial Business Combination could be impacted by, among other things, downturns in the financial markets or in economic conditions, increases in oil prices, inflation, fluctuations in interest rates, increases in tariffs, supply chain disruptions, declines in consumer confidence and spending, public health considerations, and geopolitical instability, such as the military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. We cannot at this time predict the likelihood of one or more of the above events, their duration or magnitude or the extent to which they may negatively impact our business and our ability to complete an initial Business Combination.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Until the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, our only source of liquidity was an initial purchase of shares of Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, by the Sponsor and loans from the Sponsor.
On July 15, 2024, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 23,000,000 Units at $10.00 per Units, which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,000,000 Units, generating gross proceeds of $230,000,000.Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of an aggregate of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, in a private placement to the Sponsor and Cantor, the representative of the underwriters of the initial Public Offering, generating gross proceeds of $6,000,000.
Following the Initial Public Offering, the full exercise of the over-allotment option, and the sale of the Units, a total of $230,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $15,574,281, consisting of $4,000,000 of cash underwriting fee, $10,950,000 of deferred underwriting fee, and $624,281 of other offering costs.
For the period from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, cash used in operating activities was $472,305. Net income of $5,129,519 was affected by interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $5,404,164, unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $125,357 and payment of operation costs through promissory note of $50,736. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used $123,039 of cash for operating activities.
As of December 31, 2024, we had marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $235,529,521 consisting of U.S. Treasury Bills with a maturity of 185 days or less. We may withdraw interest from the Trust Account to pay taxes, if any. 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 income taxes payable), to complete our Business Combination. To the extent that our share capital or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our 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. 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’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.
As of December 31, 2024, we had cash of $850,338. We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account 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.
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In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a Business Combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that a 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 Working Capital Loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC 205-40, “Going Concern,” as of December 31, 2024, the Company does not believe it will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating its business. However, if the Company’s estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business prior to its Business Combination. Moreover, the Company may need to obtain additional financing either to complete its Business Combination or because the Company may become obligated to redeem a significant number of its Public Shares upon consummation of its Business Combination, in which case the Company may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to an affiliate of the Sponsor $12,500 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of the management team.
The underwriters had a 45-day option from the date of the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any. On July 15, 2024, simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the underwriters elected to fully exercise the over-allotment option to purchase the additional 3,000,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statement and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statement, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. As of December 31, 2024, we did not have any critical accounting estimates to be disclosed.
Recent Accounting Standards
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.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statement.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this Item.
Item 8. Financial Statement and Supplementary Data.
Reference is made to pages F-1 through F-18 comprising a portion of this Report, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to Management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (together, the “Certifying Officers”), or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our Management, including our Certifying Officers, we carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on the foregoing, our Certifying Officers concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
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Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
This Report does not include a report of Management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by the rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Not applicable.
Item 9B. Other Information.
Trading Arrangements
During
the quarterly period ended December 31, 2024,
Additional Information
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
Not applicable.
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PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this Report, our directors and officers are as follows:
| Name | Age | Position | ||
| Ryan Gilbert | 51 | Chairman of the Board of Directors | ||
| Chris Ehrlich | 55 | Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Jurgen van de Vyver | 35 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
| Brian G. Atwood | 72 | Director | ||
| Rodney A. Ferguson | 68 | Director | ||
| Risa Stack | 56 | Director |
The experience of our directors and executive officers is as follows:
Ryan Gilbert, currently serves as our Director and has served as our Chairman of the Board since July 2024. He is currently the General Partner of Launchpad Capital, a financial services focused venture capital firm which he founded in 2020, and a senior advisor to Castle Creek Capital. He is currently also serving as an advisor to Launch Two Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: LPBB). Mr. Gilbert has over 25 years of global financial services and technology expertise as an entrepreneur, investor and advisor. His public company exits include Eventbrite and Square. Mr. Gilbert has extensive SPAC experience as a Board member, executive and Sponsor investor. He was previously President, Chief Executive and Director of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. which merged with Payoneer Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYO). He was an advisor to the Sponsor of Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp. which successfully merged with CERo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CERO), Newcourt Acquisition Corp. which merged with Psyence Biomedical (Nasdaq: PBM) and Locust Walk Acquisition Corp which merged with eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFTR). From 2016 to 2021, Mr. Gilbert was a founding General Partner of Propel Venture Partners Fund 1, a venture capital fund backed by BBVA Group, and currently serves on the board of directors of Guideline, Inc. As entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firm Venrock, Mr. Gilbert co-founded BillFloat Inc. (dba SmartBiz Loans), a small business lending marketplace, and served as the chief executive officer from 2009 to 2016, and executive chairman from 2016 to 2022. Since 2008, Mr. Gilbert has been an independent director of River City Bank, a community bank based in Sacramento, CA. He co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of real estate payments company PropertyBridge from 2003 to 2007 when it was acquired by MoneyGram International. Mr. Gilbert graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is an inactive member of the State Bar of California. He is well-qualified to serve as a director due to his extensive investment, industry and operational experience.
Chris Ehrlich has been our Chief Executive Officer since inception and has served as a member of our Board of Directors since July 2024. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of CERo Therapeutics Holdings (NASD: CERO) which merged with Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: PBAX) in February of 2024. He served as Chief Executive Officer and Board member of PBAX from 2021 to 2024. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Locust Walk Acquisition Corp. (“LWAC”) from 2020 to 2022 when it merged with eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFTR). Mr. Ehrlich currently serves on the Board of Directors of Prostate Management Diagnostics since 2012. He was a Senior Managing Director at Locust Walk, a Life Sciences transaction firm, where he worked from 2013 to 2021. In that capacity, he served as the Global Head of Biotechnology and Head of Strategic Transactions. Mr. Ehrlich has been involved with sourcing and leading multiple transactions for emerging biopharmaceutical companies, including the sale of Xyphos Biosciences, Inc. to Astellas in 2019 and the sale of Thar Pharmaceuticals to Grunenthal in 2018. Prior to Locust Walk, he was a Managing Director at InterWest Partners, a venture capital firm. As a General Partner, he served on the boards of KAI Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company (acquired by Amgen in 2012), Biomimetic Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company (acquired by Wright Medical Technologies in 2013), Invuity, Inc., a medical technology company acquired by Stryker in 2018) and Xenon Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company (Nasdaq: XENE). He is currently the Principal of Ehrlich Bioventures, LLC, a consultancy working with emerging biopharma companies. He is also a registered representative with FINRA, holding his Series 79, 63 and 24 licenses. Mr. Ehrlich has a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is well-qualified to serve as a director due to his extensive industry, business and operational experience.
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Jurgen van de Vyver has served as our Chief Financial Officer since inception. He has been with Launchpad Capital since May 2021, where he, as a Partner, co-leads early-stage fintech investments and manages the firm’s finance and business operations. He is currently also serving as Chief Financial Officer of Launch Two Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: LPBB). He served as the Chief Financial Officer of Newcourt Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: NCAC) from June 2023 until January 2024, overseeing NCAC’s merger with Psyence Biomedical (Nasdaq: PBM). Mr. van de Vyver was the head of finance and operations at Propel Venture Partners, a venture capital fund backed by BBVA Group, from 2017 to 2021. Mr. van de Vyver also served as a consultant from 2015 to 2017 for CrossCountry Consulting, where his clients included Lending Club (NYSE: LC), Danaher (NYSE: DHR) and Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE: VAC). Mr. van de Vyver is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and obtained his bachelor’s in accounting from Stellenbosch University, South Africa in 2010 and his Honors degree in Accounting in 2011 from Stellenbosch University.
Brian G. Atwood has served as one of our directors since July 2024. He is currently a member of the board of directors of CERo Therapeutics Holdings (Nasdaq: CERO) and the former Chairman of Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PBAX), which merged with Cero in February 2024. Mr. Atwood serves as a Managing Director for Versant Ventures, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm that he co-founded in 1999, but ceased actively participating as an investor principal in 2014. In 2015, Mr. Atwood co-founded Cell Design Labs, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing human cell engineering technology for the treatment of multiple diseases, including cancer, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer until 2018, when it was acquired by Gilead Sciences. Mr. Atwood served on the board of directors of Atreca, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCEL), where he was Chairman. He also served on the board of directors of Immune Design Corp. from 2008 until 2016, Veracyte, Inc., as its Chairman from its founding in 2008 until 2016, OpGen Inc., from 2007 until 2017, Five Prime Therapeutics, as its Chairman from 2002 until 2016, Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2006 until its acquisition in 2014, Helicos Biosciences from 2003 until 2011, Pharmion Corporation from 2000 until its acquisition in 2008, Trius Therapeutics, Inc. from 2007 until its acquisition in 2013 and Locust Walk Acquisition Corporation as its Chairman from January 2021 until the consummation of its business combination in August 2021, in addition to several other public and private companies during his career in the biotechnology industry. Mr. Atwood holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, a M.S. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He is well-qualified to serve as a director because of his experience in the biotechnology industry, his years of business and leadership experience and his financial sophistication and expertise.
Rodney A. Ferguson, Ph.D. has served as one of our directors since July 2024. Dr. Ferguson is currently a Managing Director at Panorama Capital, a technology and life sciences investment firm, which he co-founded in 2006. Prior to co-founding Panorama Capital, Dr. Ferguson served as a Managing Director at JPMorgan Partners, a private equity firm, from 2001 to 2006. From 1999 to 2001, he was a Partner at InterWest Partners, a venture capital firm. Prior to InterWest Partners, he held a variety of positions at Genentech, Inc., a then publicly traded biotechnology company, from 1988 to 1999, including Senior Director of Business and Corporate Development. Prior to Genentech, Inc., Dr. Ferguson was an Associate at the law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen LLP. Dr. Ferguson received a B.S. with honors in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University. He is well-qualified to serve as a director because of his experience in investment banking and in financing pharmaceutical companies.
Risa Stack, Ph.D. has served as one of our directors since July 2024. Since May 2022 Dr. Stack has been a Partner at The Production Board, a company investing in technology businesses across life sciences, agriculture, and software. Previously, Dr. Stack was a Venture Partner at RA Capital, a private equity company focused on healthcare and biotechnologies, from September 2020 to March 2022. Dr. Stack was a founder and served as Chairperson of Menlo Microsystems, Inc., and was a General Manager at General Electric from January 2013 to September 2018. Dr. Stack was a Partner at Kleiner Perkins from June 2003 to December 2012. Prior to joining Kleiner Perkins, she was a Principal at JP Morgan Partners from September 1996 to May 2003. Dr. Stack Dr. Stack served on the boards of Trius Pharmaceuticals, (NASDAQ:TRUS) from March 2008 to June 2013, Metagenomi (NASDAQ MGX) from April 2022 to February 2024, and Corthera, Inc., a biotechnology company (acquired by Novartis AG in 2009) from 2007 to 2009, in addition to many other private biotechnology companies. Dr. Stack received her B.S. in genetics and development from the University of Illinois and her Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Chicago. Dr. Stack was a member of the second class of Kauffman Fellows. She is well-qualified to serve as a director because of her extensive investment experience, knowledge of financial markets and expertise in personalized medicine, therapeutics and platform technology companies.
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Advisor
Shami Patel, our advisor, is currently a Managing Director at Cohen Circle, LLC and an advisor at Launchpad Capital. He has over 25 years of global experience in financial services and capital markets as an executive, board member and investor. His SPAC experience includes being the Chief Operating Officer of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. which merged with Payoneer Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO) in February 2021, as an advisor to Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp., which merged with CERo Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CERO) in February 2024, as an advisor to Newcourt Acquisition Corp. which merged with Psyence Biomedical Ltd. (NASDAQ: PBM) in January 2024, and as an advisor to LWAC, which merged with eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: EFTR) in August 2021. Mr. Patel was also active in origination, due diligence and execution of SPACs as a Board of FinTech Acquisition Corp. which merged with CardConnect LLC (NASDAQ: CCN) in August 2016 and FinTech Acquisition Corp. II which merged with Intermex Holdings II, Inc. in July 2018, and the merged company was renamed International Money Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMXI). Mr. Patel served as a board observer of IMXI following its business combination, until March 2020. He also served as an advisor to FinTech Acquisition Corp. III which merged with Paya Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYA) in October 2020 and FinTech Acquisition Corp. IV which merged with Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ: PWP) in June 2021. Aside from his experience with special purpose acquisition companies, from 2010 to 2015 Mr. Patel served as the Vice Chairman of the board of directors and Chair of the compliance committee of Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc., which was acquired by SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI). From 2012 to 2014, he served at Clean Pacific Ventures Management, LLC, a venture capital firm specializing in early stage investments, as a venture partner. Mr. Patel was a partner at, and served on the executive committee of, Hexagon Securities, LLC, a credit focused investment bank and securities firm from 2010 to 2012. From 2001 to August 2009, he served as Managing Director and Senior Partner at Cohen & Company, where he helped launch Alesco Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AFN), where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer from 2006 to 2009. From 1999 to 2000, he served as Chief Financial Officer for TRM Corporation (NASDAQ: TRMM), a consumer and financial services company. In 2000, Mr. Patel co-founded iATMglobal.net, a middleware software business where he served as Chief Executive Officer and which was sold to NCR Corporation in 2001. He served as Vice President of the West Coast Region for Sirrom Capital Corporation, a mezzanine finance fund, from 1998 to 1999. Prior to this he was in the business services group at Robertson Stephens, an investment banking firm from 1997 to 1998 and served as a strategy consultant in the energy group at Andersen Consulting (now known as Accenture plc) from 1991 to 1993. Mr. Patel served on the Board of Visitors of Duke University School of Law from 2011 to 2023 and where he was a Senior Lecturing Fellow. Mr. Patel received Juris Doctor with honors and Master of Business Administration from Duke University and Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Economics from Trinity University.
Family Relationships
No family relationships exist between any of our directors or executive officers.
Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings
There are no material proceedings to which any director or executive officer, or any associate of any such director or officer is a party adverse to our Company, or has a material interest adverse to our Company.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our Board of Directors consists of four members and is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. 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.
The term of office of the first class of directors, which consists of Messrs. Ferguson and Atwood, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, which consists of Ms. Stack, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, which consists of Messrs. Gilbert and Ehrlich, will expire at the third annual general meeting.
Prior to the closing of our initial Business Combination, only holders of our Class B Ordinary Shares are entitled to vote on the appointment and removal of directors or continuing the Company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands (including any special resolution required to amend our constitutional documents or to adopt new constitutional documents, in each case, as a result of our approving a transfer by way of continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands). Holders of our Public Shares will not be entitled to vote on such matters during such time. These provisions of our Amended and Restated Charter relating to these rights of holders of Class B Ordinary Shares may 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 general meeting of the Company.
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Our officers are appointed by the Board of Directors and serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our Board of Directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our Amended and Restated Charter.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors has two standing committees: the Audit Committee and a compensation committee (the “Compensation Committee”). Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Ms. Stack and Messrs. Atwood and Ferguson serve as the members of our Audit Committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the Audit Committee, all of whom must be independent. Ms. Stack and Messrs. Atwood and Ferguson are each independent.
Ms. Stack serves as the chairwoman of the Audit Committee. Each member of the Audit Committee is financially literate and our Board of Directors has determined that Ms. Stack qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We have adopted an Audit Committee charter, which details the principal functions of the Audit Committee, including:
| ● | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statement, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| ● | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the independent registered public accounting firm have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
| ● | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the independent registered public accounting firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
| ● | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statement and quarterly financial statement with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; |
| ● | 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 statement 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; and |
| ● | advising the Board and any other Board committees if the clawback provisions of Rule 10D-1 under the Exchange Act (the “SEC Clawback Rule”) are triggered based upon a financial statement restatement or other financial statement change, with the assistance of Management and to the extent that our securities continue to be listed on an exchange and subject to the SEC Clawback Rule. |
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Compensation Committee
We have established the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors. The members of our Compensation Committee are Ms. Stack and Messrs. Atwood and Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson serves as chair of the Compensation Committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have a Compensation Committee of at least two members, all of whom must be independent. Ms. Stack and Messrs. Atwood and Ferguson are each independent.
We have adopted a Compensation Committee charter, which details the principal functions of the Compensation Committee, including:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer’s based on such evaluation; |
| ● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
| ● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| ● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| ● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| ● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
| ● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; |
| ● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors; and |
| ● | advising the Board and any other Board committees if the clawback provisions of the SEC Clawback Rule are triggered based upon a financial statement restatement or other financial statement change and perform any other tasks required of it by the Clawback Policy (as defined below), with the assistance of Management and to the extent that our securities continue to be listed on an exchange and subject to the SEC Clawback Rule. |
The charter also provides that the Compensation Committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the Compensation Committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee though we would form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by our Board of Directors. Our 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 directors who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Ms. Stack and Messrs. Atwood and Ferguson. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
The Board of Directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for appointment at the next annual general meeting (or, if applicable, an extraordinary general meeting). Our shareholders that wish to nominate a director for appointment to our Board of Directors should follow the procedures set forth in our Amended and Restated Charter.
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, our Public Shareholders do not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our Board of Directors.
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Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, applicable to our directors, officers and employees (the “Code of Ethics”). A copy of the Code of Ethics and the charters of the committees of our Board of Directors will be provided without charge upon request from us. If we make any amendments to our Code of Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC rules or the Nasdaq Rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
The foregoing description of the Code of Ethics does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the terms and conditions of the Code of Ethics, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 14 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Trading Policies
On
July 11, 2024, we
The foregoing description of the Insider Trading Policy does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the terms and conditions of the Insider Trading Policy, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 19 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Compensation Recovery and Clawback Policy
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in the event of misconduct that results in a financial restatement that would have reduced a previously paid incentive amount, we can recoup those improper payments from our executive officers. The SEC has also adopted the SEC Clawback Rule that directs national stock exchanges to require listed companies to implement policies intended to recoup bonuses paid to executives if the company is found to have misstated its financial results.
On July 11, 2024, our Board of Directors approved the adoption of the Executive Compensation Clawback Policy (the “Clawback Policy”), in order to comply with the final Clawback rules adopted by the SEC under the Rule, and the Nasdaq Rules, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5608 (the “Nasdaq Clawback Rules”).
The Clawback Policy provides for the mandatory recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation from our current and former executive officers as defined in the SEC Clawback Rule (“Covered Officers”) in the event that we are required to prepare an accounting restatement, in accordance with the Nasdaq Clawback Rules. The recovery of such compensation applies regardless of whether a Covered Officer engaged in misconduct or otherwise caused or contributed to the requirement of an accounting restatement. Under the Clawback Policy, our Board of Directors may recoup from the Covered Officers erroneously awarded incentive compensation received within a lookback period of the three completed fiscal years preceding the date on which we are required to prepare an accounting restatement.
The foregoing description of the Clawback Policy does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the terms and conditions of the Clawback Policy, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 97 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us as of the date of this Report.
Our Audit Committee reviews 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 are made from funds held outside the Trust Account. Other than quarterly Audit Committee review of such reimbursements, we do not 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.
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, are paid from funds held outside the Trust Account:
| ● | Repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
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| ● | reimbursement for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support made available to us by an affiliate of our sponsor, in an amount equal to $12,500 per month; |
| ● | Payment of consulting, success or finder fees to our independent directors, advisors, or their respective affiliates in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; |
| ● | We may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such person or entity a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions; |
| ● | Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| ● | Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
After the completion of our initial Business Combination, directors or members of our Management Team who remain with us may be paid consulting 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 materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed Business Combination.
We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of Management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed Business Combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive 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 executive 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 executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our Ordinary Shares as of March 26, 2025 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of Ordinary Shares, by:
| ● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding Ordinary Shares; |
| ● | each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our Ordinary Shares; and |
| ● | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 28,750,000 shares of our Ordinary Shares, consisting of (i) 23,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares and (ii) 5,750,000 Class B Ordinary Shares, issued and outstanding as of March 26, 2025. On all matters to be voted upon, except for (i) the appointment and removal of directors of the Board and (ii) a vote to continue our Company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands, holders of the Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares vote together as a single class, unless otherwise required by applicable law. Only holders of Class B Ordinary Shares have the right to vote on the appointment and removal of directors prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination and on a vote to continue our Company in a jurisdiction outside of the Cayman Islands. Currently, all of the Class B Ordinary Shares are convertible into Class A Ordinary Shares on a one-for-one basis.
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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 such Private Placement Warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Report.
| Class A Ordinary Shares | Class B Ordinary Shares | Approximate | ||||||||||||||||||
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) | Number
of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Percentage
of Total Outstanding Ordinary Shares | |||||||||||||||
| Launch One Sponsor LLC (2)(3) | — | — | 5,750,000 | 100.00 | % | 20.00 | % | |||||||||||||
| Chris Ehrlich (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Ryan Gilbert (3) | — | — | 5,750,000 | 100.00 | % | 20.00 | % | |||||||||||||
| Jurgen van de Vyver (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Brian Atwood (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Rodney A. Ferguson (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Risa Stack (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| All executive officers, and directors as a group (6 individuals) (2)(3) | — | — | 5,750,000 | 100.00 | % | 20.00 | % | |||||||||||||
| Other 5% Shareholders | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MMCAP International Inc. SPC (4) | 1,980,000 | 8.61 | % | — | — | 6.89 | % | |||||||||||||
| Magnetar Financial LLC (5) | 1,960,200 | 8.52 | % | — | — | 6.82 | % | |||||||||||||
| AQR Capital Management, LLC (6) | 1,575,742 | 6.85 | % | — | — | 5.48 | % | |||||||||||||
| First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund (7) | 1,866,241 | 8.11 | % | — | — | 6.50 | % | |||||||||||||
| LMR Partners LLP (8) | 1,980,000 | 8.61 | % | — | — | 6.89 | % | |||||||||||||
| Picton Mahoney Asset Management (9) | 1,669,756 | 7.26 | % | — | — | 5.81 | % | |||||||||||||
| * | Less than 1% |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Launch One Acquisition Corp., 180 Grand Avenue, Suite 1530, Oakland CA 94612. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of Founder Shares, classified as Class B Ordinary Shares. Such shares will (unless otherwise provided in our initial Business Combination agreement) automatically convert into Class A Ordinary Shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial Business Combination, and may be converted at any time prior to our initial Business Combination, at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. |
| (3) | Launch One Sponsor LLC, our Sponsor, is the record holder of such shares. Ryan Gilbert is the sole managing member of Launch One Sponsor LLC and holds voting and investment discretion with respect to the ordinary shares held of record by the Sponsor. Mr. Gilbert disclaims any beneficial ownership of the securities held by the Sponsor other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly. All of our officers and directors and our advisor are members of our Sponsor. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly. |
| (4) | According to a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 10, 2025, by (i) MMCAP International Inc. SPC, a Cayman Islands company (“MMCAP International”) and (ii) MM Asset Management Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of Ontario, Canada (“MM Asset Management”). The address of the principal business office of MMCAP International is c/o Mourant Governance Services (Cayman) Limited, 94 Solaris Avenue, Camana Bay, P.O. Box 1348, Grand Cayman, KY1-1108, Cayman Islands. The address of the principal business office of MM Asset Management is 161 Bay Street, TD Canada Trust Tower Suite 2240, Toronto, ON M5J 2S1 Canada. |
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| (5) | According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on November 6, 2024, by (i) Magnetar Financial LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Magnetar Financial”), (ii) Magnetar Capital Partners LP, a limited partnership incorporated under the laws of Delaware (“Magnetar Capital Partners”), (iii) Supernova Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Supernova Management”), and (iv) David J. Snyderman, a citizen of the United States of America (“Mr. Snyderman”). The shares reported herein are held by Magnetar Constellation Master Fund, Ltd (“Constellation Master Fund”), Magnetar Xing He Master Fund Ltd (“Xing He Master Fund”), Magnetar SC Fund Ltd (“SC Fund”), Purpose Alternative Credit Fund Ltd (“Purpose Credit Fund”), all Cayman Islands exempted companies; Magnetar Structured Credit Fund, LP (“Structured Credit Fund”) a Delaware limited partnership; Magnetar Alpha Star Fund LLC (“Alpha Star Fund”), Magnetar Lake Credit Fund LLC (“Lake Credit Fund”), Purpose Alternative Credit Fund - T LLC (“Purpose Credit Fund – T”), all Delaware limited liability companies; collectively (the “Magnetar Funds”). Magnetar Financial serves as the investment adviser to the Magnetar Funds, and as such, Magnetar Financial exercises voting and investment power over the Shares held for the Magnetar Funds’ accounts. Magnetar Capital Partners serves as the sole member and parent holding company of Magnetar Financial. Supernova Management is the general partner of Magnetar Capital Partners. The manager of Supernova Management is Mr. Snyderman. The address of the principal business office of each of Magnetar Financial, Magnetar Capital Partners, Supernova Management, and Mr. Snyderman is 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor, Evanston, Illinois 60201. |
| (6) | According to a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 14, 2025, by (i) AQR Capital Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“AQR”), (ii) AQR Capital Management Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“AQR Holdings”), (iii) AQR Arbitrage, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (collectively, with AQR and AQR Holdings the “AQR Parties”). The address of the principal business office for the AQR Parties is One Greenwich Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830. |
| (7) | According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on November 14, 2024, by (i) First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund (“VARBX”), a series of Investment Managers Series Trust II, an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, (ii) First Trust Capital Management L.P. (“FTCM”), an investment adviser registered with the SEC that provides investment advisory services to, among others, (x) series of Investment Managers Series Trust II, an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, specifically First Trust Multi-Strategy Fund and VARBX, (y) First Trust Alternative Opportunities Fund, an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and (z) Highland Capital Management Institutional Fund II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, (iii) First Trust Capital Solutions L.P. (“FTCS”), a Delaware limited partnership and control person of FTCM, and (iv) FTCS Sub GP LLC (“Sub GP”), a Delaware limited liability company and control person of FTCM. The principal business address of FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP is 225 W. Wacker Drive, 21st Floor, Chicago, IL 60606. The principal business address of VARBX is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. |
| (8) | According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on November 14, 2024, by (i) LMR Partners LLP, a United Kingdom limited liability partnership, (ii) LMR Partners Limited, a Hong Kong corporation, (iii) LMR Partners LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, (iv) LMR Partners AG, a Swiss corporation, (v) LMR Partners (DIFC) Limited, a United Arab Emirates corporation, (vi) LMR Partners (Ireland) Limited, a limited company incorporated in Ireland, (vii) Ben Levine, a citizen of the United Kingdom, and (viii) Stefan Renold, a citizen of Switzerland. LMR Partners LLP, LMR Partners Limited, LMR Partners LLC, LMR Partners AG, LMR Partners (DIFC) Limited and LMR Partners (Ireland) Limited (collectively, the “LMR Investment Managers”) serve as the investment managers to certain funds holding the shares reported herein. Ben Levine and Stefan Renold are in control of the investment and voting decisions of the LMR Investment Managers with respect to the securities held by such funds. The address of the principal business office for each of the LMR Investment Managers. Ben Levine, and Stefan Renold is c/o LMR Partners LLP, 9th Floor, Devonshire House, 1 Mayfair Place, London, W1J 8AJ, United Kingdom. |
| (9) | According to a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 10, 2025, by Picton Mahoney Asset Management, a company incorporated under the laws of Ontario, Canada. The address of the principal business office of Picton Mahoney Asset Management is 33 Yonge Street, #320, Toronto, ON M5E 1G4. |
Our Sponsor beneficially owns 20.00% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares. Only holders of Class B Ordinary Shares have the right to appoint directors in any election held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination. Holders of our Public Shares do not have the right to appoint any directors to our Board of Directors prior to our initial Business Combination. Because of this ownership block, our Sponsor may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our Amended and Restated Charter and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial Business Combination.
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Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Changes in Control
None.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
On February 21, 2024, our Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 5,750,00 Founder Shares. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the Initial Public Offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent approximately 20% of the outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (not including the Class A Ordinary Shares underlying the Private Placement Units). Of the 5,750,000 Class B Ordinary Shares outstanding, up to 750,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part. On July 15, 2024, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full, so those 750,000 Class B Ordinary Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
Pursuant to the Warrant Subscription Agreements, our Sponsor and Cantor purchased an aggregate of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $6,000,000 in the Private Placement that closed simultaneously with our Initial Public Offering. Each Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share at $11.50 per share. Of those 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, our Sponsor purchased 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, and Cantor purchased 2,000,000 Private Placement Warrants. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants included as part of the Units sold in our Initial Public Offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this Report. If we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions set forth in the Warrant Subscription Agreements.
Pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement, we currently utilize office space at 180 Grand Avenue, Suite 1530, Oakland CA 94612 from Launchpad Capital Management Company LLC, an affiliate of our Sponsor. We pay such Sponsor affiliate $12,500 per month for office space and secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our Management Team; upon completion of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. As of December 31, 2024, we have paid $70,565 pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement.
Our Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, are 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 reviews, 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 are made from funds held outside the Trust Account.
On February 21, 2024, the Sponsor loaned us an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to the IPO Promissory Note. This loan was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2024, or the date on which we consummated the Initial Public Offering. We repaid all the outstanding balance of the note at the closing of the Initial Public Offering on July 15, 2024. Borrowings under the note are no longer available.
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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 certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us Working Capital Loans as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial Business Combination, we would repay such Working Capital Loans. In the event that the initial Business Combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such Working Capital 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.
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.
Any of the foregoing payments to our Sponsor, repayments of loans from our Sponsor or repayments of Working Capital Loans prior to our initial Business Combination will be made using funds held outside the 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 proxy solicitation or tender offer 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 have entered into a registration rights agreement, dated as of July 11, 2024, with respect to the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of any Working Capital Loans (and any underlying Class A Ordinary Shares). Pursuant to such agreement, holders of such securities have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of its securities held by them. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of an initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Director Independence
Nasdaq rules require that a majority of our Board of Directors be independent within one year of our Initial Public Offering. Our Board of Directors has determined that each of Ms. Stack and Messrs. Atwood and Ferguson are “independent directors” as defined in Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Withum for services rendered.
Audit Fees
Audit fees consist of fees for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Withum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees of Withum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 totaled approximately $87,360. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at Audit Committee meetings.
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Audit-Related Fees
Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Withum for any audit-related fees from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024.
Tax Fees
Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay Withum for tax services, planning or advice from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024.
All Other Fees
All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay Withum for any other services from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our Audit Committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the Audit Committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our Audit Committee were approved by our Board of Directors. Since the formation of our Audit Committee, and on a going-forward basis, the Audit Committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services performed and to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the Audit Committee prior to the completion of the audit).
36
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules.
| (a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Report: |
| (1) | Financial Statements |
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedules |
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes thereto beginning on page F-1 of this Report.
| (3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits that are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.
Omitted at our Company’s option.
37
LAUNCH ONE ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | F-2 |
| Financial Statements: | |
| Balance Sheet | F-3 |
| Statement of Operations | F-4 |
| Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Deficit | F-5 |
| Statement of Cash Flows | F-6 |
| Notes to Financial Statements | F-7 to F-18 |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Launch One Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Launch One Acquisition Corp. as of December 31, 2024, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit, and cash flows for the period from February 21, 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 from February 21, 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) (“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 entity’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 audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statement. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2024.
March 26, 2025
PCAOB
#
F-2
LAUNCH ONE ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEET
DECEMBER 31, 2024
| Assets | ||||
| Current assets | ||||
| Cash | $ | |||
| Other receivable | ||||
| Due from Sponsor | ||||
| Short-term prepaid insurance | ||||
| Prepaid expenses | ||||
| Total current assets | ||||
| Long-term prepaid insurance | ||||
| Cash and investments held in Trust Account | ||||
| Total Assets | $ | |||
| Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit | ||||
| Current liabilities | ||||
| Accrued expenses | $ | |||
| Total current liabilities | ||||
| Deferred underwriting fee | ||||
| Total Liabilities | ||||
| Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) | ||||
| Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption, | ||||
Shareholders’ Deficit | ||||
| Preference shares, $ | ||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $ | ||||
| Class B ordinary shares, $ | ||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ||
| Total Shareholders’ Deficit | ( | ) | ||
| Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit | $ | |||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-3
LAUNCH ONE ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 21, 2024 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2024
| General and administrative expenses | $ | |||
| Loss from operations | ( | ) | ||
| Other income: | ||||
| Interest earned on cash and investments held in Trust Account | ||||
| Unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||
| Total other income, net | ||||
| Net income | $ | |||
| Weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares | ||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A ordinary shares | $ | |||
| Weighted average shares outstanding, Class B ordinary shares | ||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, Class B ordinary shares | $ |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-4
LAUNCH ONE ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 21, 2024 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2024
| Class
A Ordinary Shares | Class
B Ordinary Shares | Additional Paid-in | Accumulated | Total Shareholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance — February 21, 2024 (inception) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accretion for Class A ordinary shares to redemption value | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sale of Private Placement Warrants | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fair value of Public Warrants at issuance | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allocated value of transaction costs | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance – December 31, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-5
LAUNCH ONE ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 21, 2024 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2024
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||
| Net income | $ | |||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||
| Payment of expense through promissory note – related party | ||||
| Interest earned on cash and investments held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||
| Unrealized gain on investments held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||
| Other receivable | ( | ) | ||
| Prepaid expenses | ( | ) | ||
| Short-term prepaid insurance | ( | ) | ||
| Long-term prepaid insurance | ( | ) | ||
| Accrued expenses | ||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||
| Investment of cash into Trust Account | ( | ) | ||
| Net cash used in investing activities | ( | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of Private Placements Warrants | ||||
| Due from Sponsor | ( | ) | ||
| Repayment of promissory note - related party | ( | ) | ||
| Payment of offering costs | ( | ) | ||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||
| Net Change in Cash | ||||
| Cash – Beginning of period | ||||
| Cash – End of period | $ | |||
| Noncash investing and financing activities: | ||||
| Deferred underwriting fee payable | $ | |||
| Deferring offering costs paid through promissory note – related party | $ | |||
| Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares | $ | |||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this financial statement.
F-6
LAUNCH ONE ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES
TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2024
NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Launch One Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted corporation on February 21, 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 (the “Business Combination”). The Company had not selected any specific Business Combination target and the Company had not, nor had anyone on its behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any Business Combination target with respect to an initial Business Combination with the Company.
As
of December 31, 2024, the Company had not commenced any operations.
The
registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on July 11, 2024. On July 15, 2024, the
Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of
Simultaneously
with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of an aggregate of
Transaction
costs amounted to $
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination (less deferred underwriting commissions).
The
Company’s Business Combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least
Following
the closing of the Initial Public Offering, on July 15, 2024, an amount of $
F-7
The Company will provide the Company’s public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the 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 the Company will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public shareholders will be entitled to redeem their shares 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 (less taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations.
The ordinary shares subject to redemption were recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity at the completion of the Initial Public Offering, in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”
The
Company has only the duration of the Completion Window to complete the initial Business Combination. However, if the Company is unable
to complete its initial Business Combination within the Completion Window, the Company will as promptly as reasonably possible but
not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate
amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable and
up to $
The Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement shares, and public shares in connection with the completion of the Initial Business Combination or an earlier redemption in connection with the commencement of the procedures to consummate the initial Business Combination if the Company determines it is desirable to facilitate the completion of the initial Business Combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement shares, and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to their founder shares or private placement shares if the Company fails to complete the 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 the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within the Completion Window and to liquidating distributions from assets outside the trust account; and (iv) vote any founder shares and private placement shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions, aside from shares they may purchase in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act, which would not be voted in favor of approving the Business Combination) in favor of the initial Business Combination.
The
Company’s Sponsor has agreed that it is liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered
or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has 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) $
F-8
On
August 29, 2024, Launch One Acquisition Corp. announced that, commencing on September 3, 2024, the holders of the units issued in its
initial public offering (the “Units”), each Unit consisting of
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As
of December 31, 2024, the Company had operating cash of $
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC 205-40, “Going Concern,” as of December 31, 2024, the Company does not believe it will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating its business. However, if the Company’s estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business prior to its Business Combination. Moreover, the Company may need to obtain additional financing either to complete its Business Combination or because the Company may become obligated to redeem a significant number of its Public Shares upon consummation of its Business Combination, in which case the Company may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination.
NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statement is presented in U.S. dollars and has been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the accounting and disclosure rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statement 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.
F-9
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the financial statement in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statement and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statement, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Cash and Investments Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2024, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in U.S. Treasury Bills. The marketable securities are presented at fair value on the balance sheet. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of marketable securities held in the Trust Account are included in interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account in the statement of operations. For the period from February 21, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, the Company did not withdraw any interest earned on the Trust Account.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet, primarily due to its short-term nature.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial
instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution,
which, at times, may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage limit of $
Offering Costs
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 Initial 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 Initial Public Offering proceeds from the Units between Class A ordinary shares and warrants, using the residual method by allocating Initial 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 were charged to temporary equity and offering costs allocated to the Public and Private Placement Warrants were charged to shareholders’ deficit as Public and Private Placement Warrants after management’s evaluation were accounted for under equity treatment.
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.
F-10
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.
Warrant Instruments
The
Company accounted for the
Net Income per Ordinary Share
Net
income per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the
period, excluding ordinary shares subject to forfeiture.
| For
the Period from February 21, 2024 (Inception) Through December 31, 2024 | ||||||||
| Class A | Class B | |||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share | ||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||
| Allocation of net income, as adjusted | $ | $ | ||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||
| Basic and diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding | ||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share | $ | $ | ||||||
F-11
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The
Public Shares contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with the Company’s
liquidation, or if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Company’s initial Business Combination. In
accordance with ASC 480-10-S99, the Company classifies public shares subject to redemption outside of permanent equity as the redemption
provisions are not solely within the control of the Company. The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur
and will adjust the carrying value of redeemable shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Immediately
upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount value.
The change in the carrying value of redeemable shares will result in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available)
and accumulated deficit. Accordingly, at December 31, 2024, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption
value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheet.
| Gross proceeds | $ | |||
| Less: | ||||
| Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants | ( | ) | ||
| Class A ordinary shares issuance costs | ( | ) | ||
| Plus: | ||||
| Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | ||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2024 | $ |
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
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.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statement.
NOTE 3 — INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant
to the Initial Public Offering, on July 15, 2024, the Company sold
Each
warrant will become exercisable
Warrants — As
of December 31, 2024, there were
The Company 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 issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share 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 worthless. In no event will the Company 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.
F-12
Under
the terms of the warrant agreement, the Company has agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than
If the holders exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis, they would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of the Class A ordinary shares over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported closing price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable.
Redemption
of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at a price of $ |
| ● | upon a minimum of |
| ● | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $ |
Additionally, if the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a share capitalization payable in Class A ordinary shares, or by a subdivision of ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such share capitalization, subdivision or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding ordinary shares. A rights offering made to all or substantially all holders of ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a share capitalization 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) and (ii) the quotient of (x) the price per Class A ordinary share paid in such rights offering and (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 and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A ordinary shares trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
F-13
NOTE 4 — PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously
with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. purchased an aggregate of
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants
sold in the Initial Public Offering except that, so long as they are held by the Sponsor, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. or their permitted
transferees, the Private Placement Warrants (i) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these
Private Placement Warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until
The
Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive
their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement shares, and public shares in connection with the completion
of the initial Business Combination or an earlier redemption in connection with the commencement of the procedures to consummate the
initial Business Combination if the Company determines it is desirable to facilitate the completion of the initial Business Combination;
(ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement shares, and public shares in connection
with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to
modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the initial Business Combination
or to redeem
NOTE 5 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On
February 21, 2024, the Sponsor made a capital contribution of $
The
Company’s initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary
shares issued upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of (i)
F-14
Promissory Note — Related Party
The
Sponsor has agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $
Due from Sponsor
The
Company paid the Sponsor an amount $
Administrative Services Agreement
The
Company entered into an agreement, commencing on July 11, 2024, through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination
and the liquidation, to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor $
Related Party Loans
In
order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of
the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (the “Working
Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans. In the event
that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay
the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $
NOTE 6 — COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
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 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 cyberattacks against U.S. companies. Additionally, any resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets.
Any of the above-mentioned factors, or any other negative impact on the global economy, capital markets or other geopolitical conditions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the 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.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such Private Placement Warrants and Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of the Company’s securities held by them and any other securities of the Company acquired by them prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on the effective date of the Initial Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain piggyback registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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Underwriting Agreement
The
underwriters had a
The
underwriters were entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $
NOTE 7 — SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
Preference
Shares — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class A
Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class B
Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary
shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of the initial Business Combination or earlier at the option of the
holder on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share subdivisions, 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 the Initial Public 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,
Holders
of record of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares are entitled to
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NOTE 8 — FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
| Level 1: | Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. |
| Level 2: | Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active. |
| Level 3: | Unobservable inputs based on an assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. |
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on December 31, 2024, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
| Level | December 31, 2024 | |||||
| Assets: | ||||||
| U.S. Treasury Bills held in Trust Account | 1 | $ | ||||
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on July 15, 2024, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
| Level | July
15, 2024 | |||||
| Equity: | ||||||
| Fair value of Public Warrants for Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption allocation | 3 | $ | ||||
The
fair value of Public Warrants was determined using Monte Carlo Simulation Model. The Public Warrants have been classified within shareholders’
deficit and will not require remeasurement after issuance.
| July
15, 2024 | ||||
| Underlying stock price | $ | |||
| Exercise price | $ | |||
| Term (years) | ||||
| Risk-free rate | % | |||
| Volatility | % | |||
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NOTE 9 — 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 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 CODM has been identified as the Chief Financial
Officer, who reviews the assets, operating results, and financial metrics for the Company as a whole to make decisions about allocating
resources and assessing financial performance. Accordingly, management has determined that there is only
The CODM assesses performance for the single segment and decides how to allocate resources based on net income that also is reported on the statement of operations as net income. The measure of segment assets is reported on the balance sheet as total assets. When evaluating the Company’s performance and making key decisions regarding resource allocation, the CODM reviews several key metrics included in net income and total assets, which include the following:
December 31,
| ||||
| Trust Account | $ | |||
| Cash | $ | |||
For
the Period from February 21, December 31, | ||||
| General and administrative expenses | $ | |||
| Interest earned on the Trust Account | $ | |||
The CODM reviews interest earned on the Trust Account to measure and monitor shareholder value and determine the most effective strategy of investment with the Trust Account funds while maintaining compliance with the Trust Agreement.
General and administrative expenses are reviewed and monitored by the CODM to manage and forecast cash to ensure enough capital is available to complete a business combination or similar transaction within the business combination period. The CODM also reviews general and administrative costs to manage, maintain and enforce all contractual agreements to ensure costs are aligned with all agreements and budget. General and administrative costs, as reported on the statement of operations, are the significant segment expenses provided to the CODM on a regular basis.
All other segment items included in net income are reported on the statement of operations and described within their respective disclosures. The accounting policies used to measure the profit and loss of the segment are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies.
NOTE 10 — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statement was issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statement.
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EXHIBIT INDEX
| * | Filed herewith. |
| ** | Furnished herewith. |
| (1) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-280188) initially filed with the SEC on June 13, 2024. |
| (2) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on July 15, 2024. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| March 26, 2025 | Launch One Acquisition Corp. | |
| By: | /s/ Chris Ehrlich | |
| Name: | Chris Ehrlich | |
| Title: | Chief
Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) | |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Name | Position | Date | ||
/s/ Chris Ehrlich |
Chief Executive Officer | March 26, 2025 | ||
| Chris Ehrlich | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||
/s/ Jurgen van de Vyver |
Chief Financial Officer | March 26, 2025 | ||
| Jurgen van de Vyver | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
/s/ Ryan Gilbert |
Chairman of the Board of Directors | March 26, 2025 | ||
| Ryan Gilbert | ||||
/s/ Brian G. Atwood |
Director | March 26, 2025 | ||
| Brian G. Atwood | ||||
/s/ Rodney A. Ferguson |
Director | March 26, 2025 | ||
| Rodney A. Ferguson | ||||
/s/ Risa Stack |
Director | March 26, 2025 | ||
| Risa Stack | ||||
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