PRIAF 10-K
Prime Impact Acquisition I (PRIAF)
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
(State or other jurisdiction of |
(I.R.S. Employer | |
incorporation or organization) |
Identification Number) |
(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Zip Code) |
| Title of each class Symbol(s) |
Trading |
Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
A |
ordinary share and one-third of a |
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Warrant to acquire one Class A ordinary share |
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value |
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$0.0001 per share |
t |
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exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 |
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| ☒ | Smaller reporting company | |||||
| Emerging growth company | ||||||
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| EXHIBIT INDEX | ||
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| • | “Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (2022 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| • | “company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “our company” are to Prime Impact Acquisition I, a Cayman Islands exempted company; |
| • | “founders” are to Michael Cordano, our Co-Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Long, our Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and director; |
| • | “founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our sponsor, and any such shares transferred to our directors, in a private placement prior to the Initial Public Offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”); |
| • | “Initial Public Offering” are to the company’s initial public offering on September 14, 2020 of 32,408,414 units (which included units issued pursuant to the exercise in part of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units to cover overallotments on October 6, 2020) at a price of $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant; |
| • | “initial shareholders” are to our sponsor and each other holder of founder shares upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering; |
| • | “ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
| • | “our founding team” are to our executive officers and directors; |
| • | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants sold to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering and to be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any; |
| • | “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor and founding team to the extent our sponsor and/or members of our founding team purchase public shares, provided that our sponsor’s and each member of our founding team’s status as a “public shareholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
| • | “public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in the Initial Public Offering (whether they were purchased in the Initial Public Offering or thereafter in the open market); and |
| • | “sponsor” are to Prime Impact Cayman, LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company. |
Any forfeiture of shares described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K will take effect as a surrender of shares for no consideration of such shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any conversion of the Class B ordinary shares described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividends described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K will take effect as share capitalizations as a matter of Cayman Islands law.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward- looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may include, for example, statements about:
| • | our ability to select an appropriate partner business or businesses; our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our expectations around the performance of a prospective partner business or businesses; |
| • | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| • | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| • | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our pool of prospective partner businesses; |
| • | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including new variant strains of the underlying virus, current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions, rising energy prices, inflation and interest rates and other geopolitical events globally; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| • | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| • | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| • | our financial performance following our Initial Public Offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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SUMMARY OF THE MATERIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BUSINESS
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
| • | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| • | Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination. |
| • | The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
| • | We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. |
| • | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. |
| • | The New York Stock Exchange may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
| • | Our search for a business combination, and any partner business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions or other geopolitical events globally, the COVID 19 coronavirus pandemic, including new variant strains of the underlying virus, and the status of debt and equity markets. |
| • | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| • | If the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 24 months following the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a partner business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or founding team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
| • | If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share. |
| • | We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination. |
| • | The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. |
| • | Past performance our founding team, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
| • | Although we have identified general criteria that we believe are important in evaluating prospective partner businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a partner that does not meet such criteria, and as a result, the partner business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria. |
| • | Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. |
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| • | Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after our Initial Public Offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination partner is appropriate for our 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. |
| • | We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree. |
| • | The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into our initial business combination with a target. |
| • | The ability of a large number of our shareholders to exercise redemption rights may not allow us to consummate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
| • | The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares and the requirement that we maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash could increase the probability that we cannot consummate our business combination and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares. |
| • | We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a partner business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| • | Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. |
| • | Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited. |
| • | Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the share price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Item 1.A Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in July 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to our organizational activities and activities relating to the Initial Public Offering and the identification and evaluation of prospective acquisition targets for our initial business combination. 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.
Proposed Business Combination
On January 29, 2023, we, Prime Impact Acquisition I, Cheche Group Holdings Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Holdings”), Cheche Merger Sub Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly owned direct subsidiary of Holdings (“Merger Sub”), and Cheche Technology, Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Cheche”), entered into a business combination agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, (a) on the closing date of the Mergers, SPAC will merge with and into Holdings (the “Initial Merger”), with Holdings surviving the Initial Merger (Holdings, in its capacity as the surviving corporation of the Initial Merger, is sometimes referred to herein as the “Surviving Corporation”) and (b) on the Closing Date, following the Initial Merger, Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company (the “Acquisition Merger”, and together with the Initial Merger, the “Mergers”), with the Company surviving the Acquisition Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Surviving Corporation (the Company, in its capacity as the surviving corporation of the Acquisition Merger, is sometimes referred to herein as the “Surviving Subsidiary Company”). The Mergers, together with the other transactions related thereto, are referred to herein as the Proposed Business Combination.
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, among other things, at the effective time of the Initial Merger (the “Initial Merger Effective Time”), (i) each then issued and outstanding SPAC Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share (“SPAC Class A Ordinary Share”) and SPAC Class B ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share (“SPAC Founder Shares”), will convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into one Surviving Company Class A ordinary share, par value $0.00001 per share (“Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Share”); (ii) each then issued and outstanding Holdings ordinary share, par value $0.00001 per share, will be redeemed for par value; (iii) each then issued and outstanding whole warrant exercisable for one SPAC Class A Ordinary Share (each, a “SPAC Warrant”) will be assumed by the Surviving Company and will convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into one whole warrant exercisable for one Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Share (each resulting warrant, an “Assumed SPAC Warrant”); and (iv) each SPAC Class A Ordinary Share and SPAC Founder Share that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Initial Effective Time and held by shareholders of the SPAC who have demanded properly in writing dissenters’ rights for such shares shall be cancelled and cease to exist in consideration for the right to receive payment of such SPAC Class A Ordinary Shares or SPAC Founders Share as provided in Section 3.06(a) of the Business Combination Agreement.
On the Closing Date and immediately prior to the effective time of the Acquisition Merger (the “Acquisition Merger Effective Time”), each preferred share of the Company that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time will convert automatically into a number of ordinary shares, par value $0.00001 per share, of the Company (“Company Ordinary Shares”) at the then-effective conversion rate in accordance with the Company’s sixth amended and restated articles of association (the “Conversion”).
At the Acquisition Merger Effective Time, (i) each then issued and outstanding Company Ordinary Share (including the outstanding Company Ordinary Shares held in the Company’s treasury and other than any Excluded Shares and Company Founder Shares (each as defined below)), will be canceled and converted into the right to receive a number of Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares based on the Per Share Merger Consideration; (ii) each then issued and outstanding Company Ordinary Share held by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and an
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affiliated entity (the “Company Founder Shares”) as of immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time will be canceled and converted into the right to receive a number of Surviving Company Class B Ordinary Shares based on the Per Share Merger Consideration; (iii) each Company Ordinary Share owned by Holdings and Merger Sub immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time (each an “Excluded Share”) will be canceled without any conversion thereof and no payment or distribution will be made with respect thereto; (iv) if the Company Warrant (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) is outstanding and unexercised as of immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time, the Company Warrant will be automatically assumed and converted into a warrant to purchase Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares subject to the same terms and conditions (including exercisability terms) as were applicable to such Company Warrant immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time, taking into account any changes thereto by reason of the Transactions; (v) each Company Option (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) that is outstanding and unexercised as of immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time, whether or not vested, will be assumed and converted into an option to purchase such number of Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares and for a per share exercise price, in each case, based on the applicable Per Share Merger Consideration (each, an “Exchanged Option”); (vi) each Company Restricted Share (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) that is outstanding immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time will be assumed and converted into such number of Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares (“Exchanged Restricted Shares”) based on the Per Share Merger Consideration. Except as specifically provided in the Business Combination Agreement, the Exchanged Restricted Shares shall be subject to the same terms and conditions (including applicable vesting, acceleration, expiration and forfeiture provisions) that applied to the corresponding Company Restricted Shares immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time; (vii) each Company Capital Share (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Initial Effective Time and held by Company shareholders who have demanded properly in writing dissenters’ rights for such shares shall be cancelled and cease to exist in consideration for the right to receive payment of such Company Capital Shares as provided in Section 3.06(b) of the Business Combination Agreement; and (viii) each ordinary share of Merger Sub that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time shall be converted into and become one validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable ordinary share of the Surviving Subsidiary Company. Such ordinary shares of the Surviving Subsidiary Company shall have the same rights, powers and privileges as the ordinary shares of Merger Sub so converted and shall constitute the only issued and outstanding share capital of the Surviving Subsidiary Company.
The consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement is subject to customary conditions, representations and warranties, covenants and closing conditions in the Business Combination Agreement, including, but not limited to, approval by our shareholders of the Business Combination Agreement, the effectiveness of a registration statement on Form F-4 (the “Form F-4”), which will be filed with the SEC, in connection with the Business Combination, and other customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2023.
The Business Combination Agreement and related agreements are further described in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 30, 2023.
Other than as specifically discussed, this Annual Report on Form 10-K does not assume the closing of the Business Combination or the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement.
Initial Public Offering
On September 14, 2020, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 units. The underwriters were granted a 45-day option from the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional units to cover over-allotments at $10.00 per unit. On October 6, 2020 the company completed the sale of the underwriters partially executed option of 2,408,414 units, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value per share, and one-third of one redeemable warrant, each whole public warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units were sold at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds to us of $324,084,140. On October 27, 2020, 522,897 Class B ordinary shares were forfeited by our sponsor due to the underwriter’s failure to exercise the remainder of the over-allotment option within the 45-day option period.
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Simultaneous with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the issuance and sale of the units, we consummated the private placement of 5,400,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant, generating total proceeds of $8,100,000. On October 6, 2020, simultaneous with the closing of the over-allotment exercise we consummated an additional private placement of 321,122 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant, generating total proceeds of $481,683.
Upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the private placements, a total of $300 million was deposited in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer and Trust Company, acting as trustee. Transaction costs of the Initial Public Offering and the private placements amounted to approximately $18.4 million, consisting of approximately $11.3 million of underwriting discounts and commissions and approximately $98,000 was used to repay to our sponsor our borrowings under a $300,000 note and the balance was available to pay accrued offering and formation costs, business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses. Funds held in the trust account were invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred and eighty-five (185) days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), which invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. On September 15, 2022, the Company converted all of the assets held in the trust account into cash, which was deposited in a non-interest bearing account. As of February 8, 2023, the Company deposited the assets held in the trust account in an interest-bearing demand deposit account at a bank. Interest on such deposit account is currently 3.25% per annum, but such deposit account carries a variable rate and the Company cannot provide assurances that such rate will not decrease or increase significantly. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds in the trust account that may be released to us to pay income taxes, if any, the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account (1) to us until the completion of its initial business combination or (2) to our public shareholders, until the earliest of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholders properly elect to redeem, subject to certain limitations, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a (i) shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the substance or timing of its obligation to provide holders of its Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with its initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, subject to applicable law.
Extension of Deadline to Complete an Initial Business Combination
On September 13, 2022, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “General Meeting”) to consider and vote upon a proposal to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to: (i) extend from September 14, 2022 to December 14, 2022, the date (the “Termination Date”) by which, if the Company has not consummated a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination involving one or more businesses or entities, the Company must: (a) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (b) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares; and (c) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law, provided that the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees) deposits an amount into the Trust Account equal to the lesser of (A) US$1,120,000 or (B) $0.16 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees), and (ii) in the event that the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination by December 14, 2022, without further approval of the Company’s shareholders, to allow the Company, by resolution of the board of directors of the Company if requested by the Sponsor, and upon five days’ advance notice prior to the applicable Termination Date to extend the Termination Date up to three times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to three additional months to complete a Business Combination), provided that the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees) will deposit into the Trust Account: (I) for the first
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such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$385,000 or (b) $0.055 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting; (II) for the second such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$385,000 or (b) $0.055 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting; and (III) for the third such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$385,000 or (b) $0.055 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting, for an aggregate deposit of up to the lesser of: (x) $1,155,000 or (y) US$0.165 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees). If the Company completes its initial Business Combination, it will, at the option of the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees), repay the amounts loaned under the promissory note(s) or convert a portion or all of the amounts loaned under such promissory note(s) into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the private placement warrants issued to the Sponsor at the time of the Company’s initial public offering. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination by the deadline to consummate an initial Business Combination, such promissory notes will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account. On September 13, 2022 the shareholders voted to approve the extension proposal. In connection with the extraordinary general meeting and vote to extend the Termination Data, shareholders elected to redeem 25,614,246 Public Shares.
On December 13, 2022, the sponsor deposited an aggregate of $373,679.24 (representing $0.055 per public share) into the Company’s trust account for its public shareholders. This deposit enabled the Company to extend the date by which the Company has to complete its initial business combination from December 14, 2022 to January 13, 2023.
On January 13, 2023, the sponsor deposited an aggregate of $373,679.24 (representing $0.055 per public share) into the Company’s trust account for its public shareholders. This deposit enables the Company to extend the date by which the Company has to complete its initial business combination from January 14, 2023 to February 13, 2023 (the “Second Extension”). The Second Extension is the second of three one-month extensions permitted under the Company’s governing documents and provides the Company with additional time to complete its initial business combination.
On February 13, 2023, the sponsor deposited an aggregate of $373,679.24 (representing $0.055 per public share) into the Company’s trust account for its public shareholders. This deposit enables the Company to extend the date by which the Company has to complete its initial business combination from February 14, 2023 to March 13, 2023 (the “Third Extension”). The Third Extension is the last of three one-month extensions permitted under the Company’s governing documents and provides the Company with additional time to complete its initial business combination.
On March 3, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Second General Meeting”) to consider and vote upon a proposal to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to: (i) extend from March 14, 2023 (the “Original Termination Date’) to April 14, 2023 (the “Extended Date”), the date (the “Termination Date”) by which, if the Company has not consummated a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganisation or similar business combination involving one or more businesses or entities, the Company must: (a) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (b) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the shares sold in the Company’s initial public offering (the “Public Shares”); and (c) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law, provided that Prime Impact Cayman, LLC (the “Sponsor”) (or its affiliates or permitted designees) (the “Lender”) will deposit into a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, the lesser of (A) US$210,000 or (B) $0.035 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the Second General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Lender, and (ii) in the event that the Company has not consummated an initial business combination by April 14, 2023, without approval of the Company’s shareholders, to allow the Company, by resolution of the board of directors of the Company if requested by our Sponsor, and upon notice delivered by the Sponsor prior to 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time on the applicable Termination Date to extend the Termination Date up to five additional times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to five additional months to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension Date”), provided that a Lender will
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deposit into the Trust Account: for each such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$210,000 or (b) $0.035 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the Second General Meeting, $0.035 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the Second General Meeting, for an aggregate deposit of up to the lesser of: (a) US$1,050,000; or (b) US$0.175 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the Second General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Lender. If the Company completes its initial business combination, it will, repay the amounts loaned under the promissory note(s). If the Company does not complete a business combination by the deadline to consummate an initial business combination, such promissory notes will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account. On March 3, 2023 the shareholders voted to approve the extension proposal. In connection with the Second General Meeting and vote to extend the Termination Data, shareholders elected to redeem 2,154,301 Public Shares. Following such redemptions, approximately $48.3 million remains in the Trust Account and 4,639,867 Public Shares remain issued and outstanding.
Our Objective and Industry Opportunity
We are focusing on acquisition opportunities that capitalize on the growth of the data-centric economy. This economy is characterized by the dramatic growth in data, the increasing value that can be generated from that data and the profound disruption that harnessing and managing such data can have throughout the global economy.
According to an industry source, the annual volume of data created worldwide from mobile devices, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and a host of other sources is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of over 28% from 2019 to 2025. That data is also becoming more valuable, as new applications allow consumers, businesses and governments to transform the way they live and operate and to address evolving needs, from healthcare and education to transportation, commerce and entertainment, among many others. According to an industry source, by 2025, digitization and the adoption of new technologies that leverage the resulting data sets could add up to $33 trillion in economic impact globally. The ability to adapt to the rapidly changing digital ecosystem and exploit the value of the explosion in increasingly valuable data will be an important source of competitive differentiation.
We believe that advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud computing, mobile applications, automation throughout global supply chains, clean energy solutions, autonomous vehicles and the consumer and industrial IoT will drive sustained growth and accelerate the digital transformation of the enterprise and lead to significant value creation. The development and application of these new technologies are expected to create massive opportunities within new and existing sectors, such as technology, media and telecom (TMT), medicine and healthcare (Med Tech) and traditional industries (Industrial Tech).
At the same time, growing geopolitical and macroeconomic complexity and uncertainty are fueling volatility, creating financial market dislocations and increasing the availability of attractive assets. The traditional model of globalization is evolving under the pressures of geopolitical competition, especially between the U.S. and China. Nonetheless, we believe global interconnection via trade remains and will continue to be a powerful driver of economic growth. For companies to operate in this new environment, they will need to re-examine their market access strategies to navigate new barriers and restrictions, reengineer their supply chains for greater resilience and structure their organizations to leverage the best talent globally. Our management team possesses the skills and expertise needed to unlock growth and value in this dynamic environment.
It is our goal to acquire companies that can evolve to exploit the opportunities and navigate the challenges of the complex, data-centric global economy. We are targeting companies that are benefiting from the disruptive impact of new technologies and the continuing growth in developing markets, such as China and India.
We intend to drive long-term growth and build a successful public company through disciplined strategic execution and a commitment to environmental sustainability, social responsibility and strong corporate governance (ESG).
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Our Team
With CXO-level operating capabilities developed at leading large-scale global technology companies, as well as entrepreneurial insight and expertise, we believe our founders’ diverse and complementary backgrounds can have a transformative impact on a target business. Mike Cordano and Mark Long are proven technology executives with a shared history of acquiring and building successful companies, while generating attractive shareholder returns. Together, over the past decade, they have created billions of dollars in realized investor value, while managing secular disruption and cyclical industry risk. They have successfully operated and completed transformational cross-border transactions on a global basis. Our management team has deep expertise enabling innovation, broad customer engagements and management of supply chains across key geographies, such as China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. They have been at the center of the data infrastructure ecosystem building extensive networks of relationships with the largest technology developers and users around the world. They have decades of experience navigating the regulatory, cultural and competitive constraints necessary to successfully access key growth markets in East Asia, India and worldwide.
We believe our management team has a competitive advantage as a result of their experience leading global technology companies, with strengths in corporate strategy and transactions, public company operations and application of technology as an enabler of growth and business transformation. We believe our combined experience enables us to offer public investors and target company stakeholders a differentiated approach to accelerating growth in key global markets, extending the management team, enhancing operating efficiency and operating successfully as a public company.
Notwithstanding our founders’ and management team’s past experiences, past performance is not a guarantee (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) that we will provide an attractive return to our shareholders from any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our founders’ and management’s performance as indicative of our future performance.
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy leverages a purpose-built model to focus on areas of growth by capitalizing on long-term secular trends and technology disruption driven by the ongoing shift to a data-centric global economy. We have chosen to domicile the Company in the Cayman Islands, so that we can more efficiently access acquisition opportunities outside the U.S. However, we will also be capable of completing an acquisition within the U.S. if that proves to be the best opportunity to create value for our shareholders.
We are seeking to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that complements the experiences and skills of our founders and can benefit from their operational expertise. We are capitalizing on the management team’s extensive relationship networks for access to high quality potential targets. The selection process leverages our founders’ industry skills and experience to add value to a target company. We will apply the capabilities of our management team to enhance growth and profitability of the potential targets, including through access to key global markets and technology development ecosystems, as well as through strategic acquisitions and operational transformations.
We are focusing our search for an initial business combination on companies, or divisions of companies, globally in the TMT, Med Tech and Industrial Tech sectors.
We will position any potential business combination for success as a public company by providing resources and guidance on ESG issues, opportunities and challenges.
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We are using these criteria and guidelines in evaluating initial business combination opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
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| • | Size: We are focusing on companies that alone, or through a strategic combination with another company, have an enterprise valuation between $1.5 billion and $4.0 billion, or larger. We believe at this scale we can most effectively apply the experience and resources of the management team to accelerate growth and enhance profitability. |
| • | Location: We are searching for attractive target acquisition opportunities globally, with particular emphasis on companies in Europe, Asia and North America. |
| • | Focus: We are targeting companies in the TMT, Med Tech and Industrial Tech sectors globally. Within those broader sectors, we are concentrating on companies that are aligned to the secular trends of digitization, data-centricity and broader technology adoption and positioned for strong growth that can be enhanced through partnership with our management team. |
| • | Management Capability: We are targeting companies with strong management teams that are capable of scaling to operate successfully on a global basis. Our management team is committed to providing support, guidance and, where necessary, additional management talent to assist the target company in executing its value creation strategy and achieving its vision. |
| • | Differentiation: We are looking for potential acquisitions that have powerful competitive advantages, strong innovation capabilities and an adaptive management team committed to a positive culture grounded in strong values, including the importance of diversity and inclusion and serving the interests of a broader set of stakeholders. |
Initial Business Combination
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) rules and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount). We refer to this as the 80% net assets test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the partner business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, or an independent valuation or accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.
While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a partner business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the partner company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and our board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the partner business meets the 80% of net assets test, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a partner business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the partner business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the partner business in order to meet certain objectives of the partner management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the partner business or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the partner sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires
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50% or more of the voting securities of the partner business, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the partner business and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a partner business. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the partner business. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to the completion of 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 partner business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-business combination company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one partner business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the partner businesses and we will treat the partner businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable.
Other Considerations
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Officers and members of our board of directors directly or indirectly own founder shares and private placement warrants following and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular partner business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers or directors were to be included by a partner business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
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. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, certain of our founders, officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including without limitation, any future special purpose acquisition companies we expect they may be involved in and investment funds, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities such entities have invested. As a result, if any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations (including, without limitation, any future special purpose acquisition companies we expect they may be involved in and any other investment vehicles), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these funds or investment entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same.
However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our founders, officers and directors, are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. In particular, in the future we expect certain of our officers and directors may be officers and/or directors of other future special purpose acquisition companies.
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Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at 123 E San Carlos Street, Suite 12, San Jose, California 95112. The information contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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 Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, and (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 is equal to or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to partner businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a partner business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the partner business may, for example, exchange their capital stock, shares or other equity interests in the partner business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe partner businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the partner business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the partner business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our founding team’s backgrounds make us an attractive business partner, some potential partner businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
Financial Position
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $69,779,520 million held in the trust account, not taking into account approximately $11.3 million of deferred underwriting fees that were waived by our underwriters. With the funds available, we offer a partner 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 partner business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination General
We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, the sale of the private placements warrants, our equity, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-business combination company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
There is no current basis for investors to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the partner business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our founding team will assess the risks inherent in a particular partner business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a partner business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a partner business.
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We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources of Partner Businesses
Our process of identifying partner business candidates leverages our founding team’s unique industry experiences, proven deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships in numerous industries, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We expect that the collective experience, capability and network of our founders, directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, helps to create prospective business combination opportunities.
In addition, partner business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Partner 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 partner businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and know what types of businesses we are pursuing. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention partner 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.
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. We will engage a finder only to the extent our founding team 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 founding team 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. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination partner in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such partner by us. We have agreed to pay our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including any future special purpose acquisition companies we expect they may be involved in and entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then- current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance-Conflicts of Interest.”
Evaluation of a Partner Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective partner business, we conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular partner, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to identify and evaluate a partner 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 partner business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our founding team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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 Partner’s Management Team
Although we scrutinize the management of a prospective partner business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the partner 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 founding team, if any, in the partner business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our founding 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 you that members of our founding team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular partner business.
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We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the partner business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
Under the rules of the NYSE and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| • | we issue (other than in a public offering for cash) ordinary shares that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of ordinary shares then issued and outstanding or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then issued and outstanding; |
| • | any of our directors, officers or substantial security holders (as defined by the rules of the NYSE) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the partner business or assets to be acquired and if the number of ordinary shares to be issued, or if the number of ordinary shares into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of ordinary shares or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and officers or (b) 5% of the number of ordinary shares or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial security holders; or |
| • | the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The Companies Act and Cayman Islands law do not currently require, and we are not aware of any other applicable law that will require, shareholder approval of our initial business combination.
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
| • | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
| • | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
| • | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
| • | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately
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negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, 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 or warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transactions could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a partner business 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 or (iii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants or any matter submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or 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 tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private 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, executive officers, directors, advisors or 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, officers, directors and/or 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 by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
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
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consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights may include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our sponsor and our founding team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement warrants and any public shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or as extended, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 million (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the partner or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the partner for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their 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) 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 requirements 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 where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange rule or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons.
If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| • | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| • | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
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In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our founding team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares purchased during or after our Initial Public Offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 12,153,157, or 37.5%, of the 32,408,414 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 issued and outstanding shares are voted). Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our sponsor and our founding team entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this Initial Public Offering, or as extended, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| • | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| • | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
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 memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares old in our Initial Public Offering, which we refer to as 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 founding to purchase their shares at a significant
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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 our Initial Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our founding team 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 our 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 partner that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.
Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares. There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us.
Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
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If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different partner until 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as extended, to consummate an initial business combination. If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as extended, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) 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 consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as extended. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our sponsor and each member of our founding team entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as extended (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as extended).
Our sponsor, executive officers and director have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or as extended, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, 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 and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer and director, or any other person.
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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 held outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our 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 $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective partner 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 founding team will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if our founding team believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by our founding team to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where our founding team is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. The underwriters will 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 vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective partner business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts 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 public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective partner business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account 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. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. 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. Our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective partner businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and 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 public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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
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independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective partner 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. We will have access to funds from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors; however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.
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 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 you we will be able to return $10.00 per public 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 laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.”
As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. 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 memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a partner business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies, 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 partner businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a partner business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who properly 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 partner businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 123 E San Carlos Street, Suite 12, San Jose, California 95112. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a partner business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We registered our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective partner business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential partner businesses we may acquire because some partners 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 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as extended. We cannot assure you that any particular partner business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential partner business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed partner business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on internal control over financial reporting. A partner business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
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Prior to the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our 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 during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our founding team in their capacity as such.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Position
We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a recently incorporated company established under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results and had not commenced operations until the Initial Public Offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more partner businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective partner business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by our founding team or their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our founding team or their affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience of and performance by our founding team or their affiliates, is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our founding team or any of their affiliates’ as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward.
Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable Cayman Islands law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the NYSE rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a general meeting but would still require us to obtain shareholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares to a partner business as consideration in any business combination.
Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, we would seek shareholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rule, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see the section entitled “Item 1. Business-Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any partner businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business
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combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
Risks Related to Our Proposed Initial Business Combination
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor and members of our founding team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholder’s vote.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. Our sponsor owned approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares at the time of our extraordinary general meeting in September 2022 to extend the deadline to consummate a business combination. As a result of the September 2022 and March 2023 meetings, 2,154,301 public shares were redeemed in the aggregate and our sponsor now owns approximately 62.96% of the current issued and outstanding ordinary shares. As such, we will not require any of the public shares to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination partners, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a partner.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective partner that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective partners will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
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We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
After consultation with management and our audit committee, we concluded that there was a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.
As a result of such material weakness and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
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In the event that the Proposed Business Combination were to be terminated, you would be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any alternative target business prior to our entry into an alternative business combination agreement.
In the event that the Proposed Business Combination were to be terminated, we would expect to focus our search on an alternative target business involved in the ownership, financing and management of societal infrastructure, but we may seek to complete a business combination with a target business in any industry or sector. Unless and until we have identified and publicly announced a business combination transaction, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business or of the terms of any combination with any such target business, and we cannot assure you that any such transaction would be more or less favorable than the Proposed Business Combination, or would or would not result in a reduction in the value of our public shares.
Our search for a business combination, and any partner business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions or other geopolitical events globally, the COVID-19 pandemic, including new variant strains of the underlying virus, and the status of debt and equity markets.
Our ability to consummate a business combination may be dependent on our ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Economic uncertainty in various global markets caused by political instability may result in weakened demand for products sold by potential target businesses and difficulty in forecasting financial results on which we rely in the evaluation of potential target businesses. Global conflicts, including the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as economic sanctions implemented by the United States and European Union against Russia in response thereto, may negatively impact markets, increase energy and transportation costs and cause weaker macro-economic conditions. Political developments impacting government spending, and international trade, including inflation or raising interest rates, may also negatively impact markets and cause weaker macro-economic conditions. The effect of any or all of these events could adversely impact our ability to find a suitable business combination, as it may affect demand for potential target companies’ products or the cost of manufacturing thereof, harm their operations and weaken their financial results.
Additionally, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result, in a widespread health crisis that has affected, or could adversely affect, the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new variant strains of the underlying disease that may develop, new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
The SEC Statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by SPACs focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination. The terms described in the SEC Statement are common in SPACs and are similar to the terms contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. In response to the SEC Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our public warrants and private placement warrants, and determined to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of
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operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly based on factors which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the Initial Public Offering, or as such period is extended, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable partner business and consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the pandemic on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per public share, or less than $10.00 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share” below and other risk factors herein.
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or 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 to do so. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a partner 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 Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. 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. See “Item 1A. Business-Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future. The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
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If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Item 1. Business-Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.“
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business
combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as extended, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or as extended, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as extended, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We have been approved to list our units on the NYSE and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants on November 2, 2020. We expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE’s listing standards, our securities may not be, or may not continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to the completion of our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders’ equity (generally $1,100,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public holders). Additionally, our units will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, the share price of our securities would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our shareholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5,000,000 and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round-lot holders. We may not be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| • | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; reduced liquidity for our securities; |
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| • | a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| • | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| • | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of our shares, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous partner businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain partner businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain partner businesses.
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Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Partner companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share“ below and other risk factors herein.
If the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 24 months following the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a partner business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or founding team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1.6 million was available to us as of December 31, 2020, outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsor, members of our founding team or any of their affiliates will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended; however, our estimate may not be accurate, and our sponsor, members of our founding team or any of their affiliates are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a partner business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep partner businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such partner businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a partner business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a partner business.
In the event that our expenses exceed our funds not to be held in the trust account, unless funded by the proceeds of loans available from our sponsor, members of our founding team or any of their affiliates, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, members of our founding team or any of their affiliates or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our founding team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, members of our founding team or any of their affiliates as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share“ below and other risk factors herein.
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Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write- downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the share price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a partner business with which we combine, this diligence may not surface all material issues with a particular partner business. In addition, factors outside of the partner business and outside of our control may later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a partner business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities.
Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective partner businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our founders will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if our founding team believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by our founding team to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where our founding team is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement with our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective partner business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective partner business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account 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. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
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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. Our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective partner businesses.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, since our shares are listed on the NYSE, the NYSE may consider us to be a ‘controlled company’ within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Prior to our initial business combination only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the NYSE may consider us to be a ‘controlled company’ within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a ‘controlled company’ and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| • | we have a board that includes a majority of ‘independent directors,’ as defined under the rules of the NYSE; |
| • | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter; |
| • | addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
| • | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per public share.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account were invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. On September 15, 2022, the Company converted all of the assets held in the trust account into cash, which was deposited in a non-interest bearing account. As of February 8, 2023, the Company deposited the assets held in the trust account in an interest-
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bearing demand deposit account at a bank. Interest on such deposit account is currently 3.25% per annum, but such deposit account carries a variable rate and the Company cannot provide assurances that such rate will not decrease or increase significantly. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we do not to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
We may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price which is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may issue shares to investors in private placement transactions (so-called PIPE transactions) at a price of $10.00 per share. A purpose of such issuances may be to enable us to provide sufficient liquidity to the post-business combination entity. The price of the shares we issue may therefore be less, and potentially significantly less, than the market price for our shares at such time.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a 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 laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.1
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| • | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| 1 | NTD: Subject to Goodwin ongoing review. |
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| • | restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. |
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| • | registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
| • | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| • | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-business combination business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This investment is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their
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interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months, or as such period may be extended, before redemption from our trust account.
If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or such period may be extended, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or such period may be extended, before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. Claims may be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of $18,293 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In accordance with the NYSE’s corporate governance requirements and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. As an exempted company, there is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with our founding team. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term.
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Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants and causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We may not able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, unless an exemption is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the warrants included as part of units sold. In such an instance, our sponsor and its transferees (which may include our founding team) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
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Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.
If we call the warrants for redemption for cash, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within twenty business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with our Initial Public Offering, our initial shareholders, and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the partner business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our securities that is expected when the securities owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees are registered for resale.
Although we have identified general criteria that we believe are important in evaluating prospective partner businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a partner that does not meet such criteria such as Cheche, and as a result, the partner business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria.
Although we have identified general criteria for evaluating prospective partner businesses, the partner business with which we have entered into a business combination agreement does not have all of these attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with Cheche, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria. In addition, as a result of our announcement of a prospective business combination with a partner that does not meet our general criteria, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet all of the closing conditions regarding minimum net assets and satisfaction of listing standards. In addition, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the partner business does not meet our general criteria. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Currently there are 142,965,557 and 11,897,897 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount includes shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares to redeem the warrants as described in “Description of Securities-Warrants-Public Shareholders’ Warrants-Redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides, among other things, that prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| • | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| • | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
On closing of the Proposed Business Combination, the trading price per share value of Ordinary Shares may be less than the per share value of the Trust Account.
Although the parties to the Proposed Business Combination have agreed the relative consideration to be provided to the partner business equityholders and our shareholders on the basis that ordinary shares are valued at $10.00 per share, the cash backed value per share of ordinary shares following the Proposed Business Combination is expected to be substantially less than $10.00 per share. The cash held in the trust account as of March 15, 2023 was approximately $10.41 per share. Accordingly, public shareholders who do not exercise redemption rights will receive ordinary shares that will have a value to them ascribed by their trading price as of two business days prior to the extraordinary general meeting, which may be substantially less than the amount they would have received upon exercise of redemption rights. In particular, the shares of most companies that are the result of a recently completed business combinations between a special purpose acquisition company and an operating company have traded at prices substantially below $10.00 per share. As such public shareholders who do not exercise redemptions right may hold securities that never obtain a value equal to or exceeding the per share value of the trust account.
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If we do not complete the Proposed Business Combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
If we are unable to complete the Proposed Business Combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we fail to complete the Proposed Business Combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control, any such event will result in us not having sufficient time to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we do not complete the Proposed Business Combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder (as defined by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”)) of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the partner company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation. In addition, regardless of whether we reincorporate in another jurisdiction, we could be treated as tax resident in the jurisdiction in which the partner company or business is located, which could result in adverse tax consequences to us (e.g., taxation on our worldwide income in such jurisdiction) and to our shareholders or warrant holders (e.g., withholding taxes on dividends and taxation of disposition gains).
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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In particular, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdictions would recognize and enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States or entertain original actions brought in the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdiction’s courts against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States. For a more detailed discussion, see the section “Description of Securities-Certain Differences in Corporate Law.”
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the partner business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the partner business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the partner business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a partner business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a partner business. In addition, pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the Initial Public Offering, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement, which is described under the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Description of Securities-Registration and Shareholder Rights.”
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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective partner business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a partner business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective partner business, our ability to assess the partner business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the partner business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the partner business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination partner’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Risks Related to Our Operations
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.”
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of the Initial Public Offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential partner business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
In addition, our founders and our directors and officers expect in the future to become affiliated with other public blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential partner business may be presented to such other blank check companies, prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
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For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance-Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a partner business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a partner business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable partner business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. See the section titled “Description of Securities-Certain Differences in Corporate Law-Shareholders’ Suits” for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after the Initial Public Offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination partner is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On July 23, 2020 our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover for certain offering costs in consideration for 8,625,000 founder shares. On September 3, 2020, our sponsor transferred 20,000 founder shares to each of Cathleen Benko, Roger Crockett, Dixon Doll, Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. On October 21, 2022, the sponsor repurchased all 20,000 founder shares held by Cathleen Benko. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased 5,400,000 warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant in a private placement concurrently with the Initial Public Offering for an aggregate purchase price of $8,100,000. On October 6, 2020 our sponsor purchased 321,122 private placement warrants concurrently with the partial exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. If we do not consummate an initial business within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended, the private placement warrants (and the underlying securities) will expire worthless. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a partner business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24- month anniversary of the closing of the Initial Public Offering nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt, or to otherwise incur debt following the Initial Public Offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account.
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Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants provided us with $324,084,140 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the approximately $11.3 million of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single partner business or multiple partner businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one partner business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several partner businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| • | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| • | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
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This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our founding team may not be able to maintain control of a partner business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a partner business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a partner business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the partner or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the partner business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-business combination company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the partner, our shareholders prior to the completion of our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the partner and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a partner. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the partner. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our founding team will not be able to maintain control of the partner business.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our founding team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular partner business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a partner business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into our initial business combination with a target.
We may enter into a transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we may not be able to meet such closing condition, and as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets would be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into our initial business combination transaction with us.
The ability of a large number of our stockholders to exercise redemption rights may not allow us to consummate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
In connection with the successful consummation of our business combination, we may redeem up to that number of shares of common stock that would permit us to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001. If our business combination requires us to use substantially all of our cash to pay the purchase price, the redemption threshold may be further limited. Alternatively, we may need to arrange third party financing to help fund our business combination in case a larger percentage of stockholders exercise their redemption rights than we expect. If the acquisition involves the issuance of our shares as consideration, we may be required to issue a higher percentage of our shares to the target or its stockholders to make up for the failure to satisfy a minimum cash requirement. Raising additional funds to cover any shortfall may involve dilutive equity financing or incurring indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. This may limit our ability to effectuate the most attractive business combination available to us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares and the requirement that we maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash could increase the probability that we cannot consummate our business combination and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. The average percentage of shares for which redemption rights have been exercised in recent business combinations by other special purpose acquisition companies increased substantially in the second half of 2021 and remains very high during 2022 year-to-date. If, pursuant to the terms of our proposed business combination, we are required to maintain a minimum net worth or
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retain a certain amount of cash in trust in order to consummate the business combination and regardless of whether we proceed with redemptions under the tender offer or proxy rules, the probability that we cannot consummate our business combination is increased. If we do not consummate our business combination, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount in our trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We may seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate a business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our ordinary shares; provided that the provisions
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of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by holders representing at least two-thirds of our issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders, and their permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our Class A ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity; unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, this agreement and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers, or directors for any breach of this agreement. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 185 days following the Initial Public Offering will require the prior written consent of the underwriters). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a partner business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective partner business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a partner business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. Such financing may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would
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be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative partner business candidate. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the partner business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the partner business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our initial shareholders will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchases any units on the public market or if our initial shareholders purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
Our sponsor contributed $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary share and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per Class A ordinary share after the Initial Public Offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon Initial Public Offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of 94.4% (or $9.44 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.56 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one- to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public shareholders seek redemptions from the trust for their public shares. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then- outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant. We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance including any transfer or reissuance of such shares), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading day period starting on the trading day after the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the Market Value, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the Market Value, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a partner business.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an
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“enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder. This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. In addition, this choice-of-forum provision may result in our warrant holders incurring increased costs to bring an action, proceeding or claim due to, but not limited to, the warrant holder’s physical location or knowledge of the applicable laws, when the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is the exclusive forum. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our founding team and board of directors.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). Please see “Description of Securities-Warrants-Public Shareholders’ Warrants-Redemptions of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” below. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then- current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the Market Value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of shares of our Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. Please see “Description of Securities-Warrants-Public Shareholders’ Warrants-Redemptions of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” below. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 shares of our Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We have issued as part of our Initial Public Offering public warrants to purchase 10,802,804 of our Class A ordinary as part of the units sold and private placements of a total of 5,721,122, at a price of $1.50 per warrant. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant. Our public warrants are also redeemable by us for Class A ordinary shares as described in “Description of Securities-Warrants-Public Shareholders’ Warrants-Redemptions of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00.” To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a partner business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the partner business.
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Because each unit contains one-third of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for partner businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of the Initial Public Offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to the Initial Public Offering there was no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of the Initial Public Offering, our founding team held customary organizational meetings with the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of the offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
| • | the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; prior offerings of those companies; |
| • | our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; a review of debt-to-equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| • | our capital structure; |
| • | an assessment of our founding team and their experience in identifying operating companies; general conditions of the securities markets at the time of the Initial Public Offering; and |
| • | other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price was more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with partner business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective partner businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on our proposed business combination include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential partner businesses we may acquire because some partners 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 24 months from the Initial Public Offering.
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We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “emerging growth companies” or “smaller reporting companies,” this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non- emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with an Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the
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requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a partner business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs and the rights of shareholders will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States. For a more detailed discussion of the principal differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and, for example, the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders, see the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K captioned “Description of Securities-Certain Differences in Corporate Law.”
Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies like the Company have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records or to obtain copies of the register of members of these companies. Our directors have discretion under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by our founding team, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench our founding team.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions will include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our sponsor, are entitled to vote on the appointment of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of our founding team and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we pursue a partner company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a partner a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| • | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| • | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| • | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| • | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| • | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| • | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| • | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
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| • | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| • | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| • | longer payment cycles; |
| • | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to United States tax laws; |
| • | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| • | rates of inflation; |
| • | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| • | cultural and language differences; |
| • | employment regulations; |
| • | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| • | corruption; |
| • | protection of intellectual property; |
| • | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| • | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| • | terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and |
| • | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our founding team following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our founding team may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the partner business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the partner business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive partner business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that partner business to become profitable.
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Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a partner business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. partner, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any partner business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a partner business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination partner.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
We currently maintain our executive offices at 123 E San Carlos Street, Suite 12, San Jose, California 95112. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
To the knowledge of our management, there is no 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 Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(a) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “PIAI.U,” “PIAI” and “PIAI.W,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on September 14, 2020. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on November 2, 2020.
(b) Holders
On December 31, 2021, there was one holder of record of our units, was one holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, two holders of record of our public warrants, and five holders of record of our Class B ordinary shares.
(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, and we will only pay such dividend out of our profits or share premium (subject to solvency requirements) as permitted under Cayman Islands law. 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
Not applicable.
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
None.
Use of Proceeds
Not applicable.
(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
On October 21, 2022, the sponsor repurchased Cathleen Benko’s 20,000 founder shares as a result of Ms. Benko’s resignation from our board of directors.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
As a “smaller reporting company,” we are not required to provide the information called for by this Item.
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
References to “the Company,” “Prime Impact Acquisition I,” “Prime Impact,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Prime Impact Acquisition I. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on July 21, 2020. We were formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). We are an emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
Our sponsor is Prime Impact Cayman, LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the initial public offering was declared effective on September 9, 2020 (the “Initial Public Offering”). On September 14, 2020, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 units (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.1 million, inclusive of approximately $10.5 million in deferred underwriting commissions. The underwriters were granted a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at $10.00 per Unit. On October 2, 2020, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 2,408,414 units (the “Over-Allotment Units”). On October 6, 2020, we completed the sale of the Over-Allotment Units to the underwriters (the “Over-Allotment”), generating gross proceeds of approximately $24.1 million, and incurring additional offering costs of approximately $1.3 million in underwriting fees (inclusive of approximately $0.8 million in deferred underwriting commissions).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 5,400,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to us of $8.1 million. Simultaneously with the closing of the Over-Allotment Units, on October 6, 2020, we consummated the second closing of the Private Placement, resulting in the purchase of an additional 321,122 Private Placement Warrants by the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to us of approximately $0.5 million.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $324.1 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, the Over-Allotment and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and was invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by us, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as
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described below. On September 15, 2022, the Company converted all of the assets held in the trust account into cash, which was deposited in a non-interest bearing account. As of February 8, 2023, the Company deposited the assets held in the trust account in an interest-bearing demand deposit account at a bank. Interest on such deposit account is currently 3.25% per annum, but such deposit account carries a variable rate and the Company cannot provide assurances that such rate will not decrease or increase significantly.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. Our initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount) at the time we sign a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, we will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise 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.
On September 13, 2022, we held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “General Meeting”) to consider and vote upon a proposal to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to: (i) extend from September 14, 2022 to December 14, 2022, the date (the “Termination Date”) by which, if we have not consummated a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination involving one or more businesses or entities, we must: (a) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (b) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares; and (c) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law, provided that the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees) deposits an amount into the Trust Account equal to the lesser of (A) US$1,120,000 or (B) $0.16 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees), and (ii) in the event that the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination by December 14, 2022, without further approval of the Company’s shareholders, to allow the Company, by resolution of the board of directors of the Company if requested by the Sponsor, and upon five days’ advance notice prior to the applicable Termination Date to extend the Termination Date up to three times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to three additional months to complete a Business Combination), provided that the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees) will deposit into the Trust Account: (I) for the first such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$385,000 or (b) $0.055 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting; (II) for the second such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$385,000 or (b) $0.055 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting; and (III) for the third such monthly extension, the lesser of (a) US$385,000 or (b) $0.055 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting, for an aggregate deposit of up to the lesser of: (x) $1,155,000 or (y) US$0.165 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with the General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees). If the Company completes its initial Business Combination, it will, at the option of the Sponsor (or its affiliates or permitted designees), repay the amounts loaned under the promissory note(s) or convert a portion or all of the amounts loaned under such promissory note(s) into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the private placement warrants issued to the Sponsor at the time of the Company’s initial public offering. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination by the deadline to consummate an initial Business Combination, such promissory notes will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account. On September 13, 2022 the shareholders voted to approve the extension proposal. In connection with the extraordinary general meeting and vote to extend the Termination Date, shareholders elected to redeem 25,614,246 Public Shares. Following such redemptions, approximately $69.4 million remains in the Trust Account and 6,794,168 Public Shares remain issued and outstanding.
On December 13, 2022, our Sponsor deposited an aggregate of $373,679 (representing $0.055 per public share) into our Trust Account for Public Shareholders, extending the date by which we have to complete an initial Business Combination from December 14, 2022 to January 13, 2023. In January and February 2023, our Sponsor made two additional deposits of $373,679 each (representing $0.055 per public share) into our Trust Account for Public Shareholders, extending the date by which we have to complete an initial Business Combination to March 13, 2023. In March 2023, our Sponsor made an additional deposit of $162,395 (representing $0.035 per public share) into our Trust Account for Public Shareholders, extending the date even further to April 14, 2023.
We held an extraordinary general meeting of Shareholders (the “General Meeting”) on March 8, 2023 for the purposes of considering and voting upon an extension of the date by which we have to complete our initial Business Combination from March 14, 2023 to April 14, 2023 (the “Termination Date”), and to allow us to further extend the Termination Date without shareholder approval for up to five additional times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to five additional months to complete a Business Combination). To extend to the Termination Date, and for each monthly extension thereafter, our Sponsor has agreed to deposit into the Trust Account the lesser of (A) US$210,000 or (B) $0.035 for each Public Share that is not redeemed in connection with this General Meeting, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by us to our Sponsor. If we complete our initial Business Combination, we will, repay the amounts loaned under the promissory note(s) to our Sponsor. If we do not complete a Business Combination by the deadline to consummate an initial Business Combination, such promissory notes will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account. Shareholders approved the extension proposal.
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If we are unable to complete a Business Combination by the Termination Date, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
Proposed Business Combination
On January 29, 2023, the Company, Cheche Group Holdings Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Holdings”), Cheche Merger Sub Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly owned direct subsidiary of Holdings (“Merger Sub”), and Cheche Technology, Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Cheche”), entered into a business combination agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, (a) on the Closing Date, the Company will merge with and into Holdings (the “Initial Merger”), with Holdings surviving the Initial Merger (Holdings, in its capacity as the surviving corporation of the Initial Merger, is sometimes referred to herein as the “Surviving Corporation”) and (b) on the Closing Date, following the Initial Merger, Merger Sub will merge with and into Cheche (the “Acquisition Merger”, and together with the Initial Merger, the “Mergers”), with Cheche surviving the Acquisition Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Surviving Corporation (Cheche, in its capacity as the surviving corporation of the Acquisition Merger, is sometimes referred to herein as the “Surviving Subsidiary Company”). The Mergers, together with the other transactions related thereto, are referred to herein as the “Transactions.”
The Business Combination Agreement may be terminated under certain customary and limited circumstances prior to the closing of the Merger, including:(i) by mutual written consent of the Company and Cheche;(ii) by either party if the Acquisition Merger Effective Time has not occurred prior to September 13, 2023 (the “Outside Date”) subject to specified exceptions; (iii) by either party (i) upon rejection by China Cybersecurity Review Technology and Certificate Center of the Transactions under the New Measures for Cybersecurity Review, or (ii) if the Administrative Measures for the Filing of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comment) shall have been formally enacted and become effective, and the Transactions are rejected by the China Securities Regulatory Commission; (iv) by either party if any governmental order has become final and nonappealable and has the effect of making consummation of the Transactions, including the Mergers, illegal or otherwise preventing or prohibiting consummation of the Transactions or the Mergers; (v) by Cheche if any of the Company’s Required Proposals shall fail to receive the requisite vote for approval at the Company’s Shareholders’ Meeting (subject to any adjournment, postponement or recess of such meeting); (vi) by Cheche as a result of any breach by the Company, Holdings or Merger Sub of any representation, warranty, covenant or agreement on the part of the Company, Holdings or Merger Sub set forth in the Business Combination Agreement that gives rise to a failure of a condition precedent set forth in Section 8.03(a) or Section 8.03(b) of the Business Combination Agreement, in each case, subject to specified exceptions; (vii)by the Company as a result of any breach by Cheche of any representation, warranty, covenant or agreement on the part of Cheche set forth in the Business Combination Agreement that gives rise to a failure of a condition precedent set forth in Section 8.02(a) or Section 8.02(b) of the Business Combination Agreement, in each case, subject to specified exceptions; (viii) by the Company at any time before Cheche delivers to the Company the requisite approval of the shareholders of Cheche, in the event that Cheche fails to deliver Written Consent constituting the requisite approval of the shareholders of Cheche to the Company within five (5) business days of the Registration Statement becoming effective; and (ix) by the Company at any time before Cheche delivers to the Company the PCAOB financial statements that are required to be included in the initial Registration Statement, in the event Cheche fails to deliver such financial statements within 75 days of the date of the Business Combination Agreement. If the Business Combination Agreement is validly terminated in accordance with its terms, none of the parties will have any liability or any further obligation under the Business Combination Agreement with certain limited exceptions, including liability arising out of any fraud or willful and material breach.
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Concurrent with the execution and delivery of the Business Combination Agreement, the Sponsor, entered into an agreement (the “Sponsor Support Agreement”) with the Company, Cheche and Holdings pursuant to which, among other things, the Sponsor agreed to (a) effective upon the Acquisition Closing, waive the anti-dilution rights set forth in the Company’s organizational documents to have the Company’s Founder Shares convert into Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares in connection with the Transactions at a ratio of greater than one-for-one; (b) vote all of the Company’s outstanding Founder Shares held by them in favor of the adoption and approval of the Business Combination Agreement and the Transactions; (c) forfeit and surrender, for no consideration, effective as of immediately prior to the Initial Merger Effective Time, 2,557,736 of its Founder Shares and 2,860,561 Private Placement Warrants; (d) if the Aggregate Capital Raised is less than $50 million, forfeit and surrender, for no consideration, effective as of immediately prior to the Initial Merger Effective Time, an additional 1,203,315 Founder Shares; and (e) be bound by certain transfer restrictions with respect to the Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares issuable to the Sponsor in the Initial Merger in respect of the Founder Shares held by Sponsor immediately prior to the Initial Merger Effective Time, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Sponsor Support Agreement.
Concurrent with the execution and delivery of the Business Combination Agreement, Cheche delivered to the Company shareholder support agreements (the “Shareholder Support Agreements”) duly executed by certain shareholders of Cheche (the “Key Shareholders”) who own shares of Cheche share capital sufficient to approve the Transactions in accordance with Cheche’s organizational documents and applicable law. Pursuant to the Shareholder Support Agreements, among other things, the Key Shareholders agreed to: (a) within forty eight (48) hours after the Registration Statement is declared effective by the SEC to execute and deliver a Written Consent approving the Business Combination Agreement and the Transactions; and (b) be bound by certain transfer restrictions with respect to the Surviving Company Class A Ordinary Shares and Surviving Company Class B Ordinary Shares issuable to such Key Shareholders in the Acquisition Merger in respect of the Company Ordinary Shares (after giving effect to the Conversion) and Cheche Founder Shares held by such Key Shareholders immediately prior to the Acquisition Merger Effective Time, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Shareholder Support Agreements.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $0.1 million in our operating bank account and a working capital deficit of approximately $3.3 million.
Prior to the completion of the Initial Public Offering, our liquidity needs had been satisfied through the payment of $25,000 from the Sponsor to cover certain expenses in exchange for the issuance of Class B ordinary shares and a loan of approximately $98,000 pursuant to a promissory note issued to the Sponsor. We repaid the promissory note in full on September 16, 2020. Subsequent to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, our liquidity needs have been satisfied with the proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. In addition, in September 2022 (and amended on December 30, 2022), our Sponsor agreed to loan us up to $5.5 million, a portion of which is to be used to fund the extension deposits made to the Trust Account. As of December 31, 2022, the aggregate amount borrowed under the loan agreement was approximately $1.5 million
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements-Going Concern,” our management has determined that the liquidity condition, mandatory liquidation date and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to complete a business combination by September 14, 2023, then we will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. We have the option to extend the deadline by three successive one-month increments by making extension payments into the Trust Account through an additional extension loan from our Sponsor. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should we be required to liquidate after September 14, 2023. Our management plans to continue its efforts to complete a Business Combination by September 14, 2023. We believe that the funds currently available to us outside of the Trust Account will be sufficient to allow us to operate until September 14, 2023; however, there can be no assurances that this estimate is accurate.
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on our financial position, results of our operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
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Results of Operations
Our entire activity since inception through December 31, 2022, related to our formation, the preparation for the Initial Public Offering, and since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial Business Combination. We generated non-operating income in the form of investment income from the investments held in the Trust Account following the closing of the Initial Public Offering.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net income of approximately $19.4 million, which consisted of a non-operating gain of approximately $8.6 million from the changes in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, a non-operating gain on extinguishment of deferred underwriting commissions of approximately $11.3 million and interest income from investments held in the Trust Account of approximately $1.6 million, partially offset by general and administrative expenses of approximately $2.2 million, including administrative expenses with related parties of $120,000.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had net income of approximately $15.8 million, which consisted of a non-operating gain of approximately $16.7 million from the change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities and income from investments held in Trust Account of approximately $41,000, partially offset by general and administrative expenses of approximately $975,000, including administrative expenses with related parties of $120,000.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities.
We entered into an administrative services agreement pursuant to which we have agreed to pay our Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and administrative support. Upon completion of the Initial Business Combination or our liquidation, the agreement will terminate.
The underwriters of the Initial Public Offering were entitled to underwriting discounts and commissions of 5.5%, of which 2.0% (approximately $6.5 million) was paid at the closing of the Initial Public Offering and closing of sale of the Over-Allotment Units and 3.5% (approximately $11.3 million) was deferred. The deferred underwriting discounts and commissions will become payable to the underwriters upon the consummation of the Initial Business Combination and will be paid from the amounts held in the Trust Account. The underwriters are not entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.
In October and November 2022, the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering waived all rights to the deferred underwriting commissions payable upon completion of an initial Business Combination, resulting in a gain from extinguishment of deferred underwriting commissions of approximately $11.3 million.
Critical Accounting Policies
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to fair value of financial instruments and accrued expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. The Company has identified the following as its critical accounting policies:
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Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, an aggregate of 6,794,168 and 32,408,414 Class A ordinary shares, respectively, subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheets.
Effective with the closing of the Initial Public Offering (including exercise of the over-allotment option), we recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount, which resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available) and accumulated deficit.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” We have two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income per ordinary share is calculated by dividing the net income by the weighted average ordinary shares outstanding for the respective period.
The calculation of diluted net income per ordinary share does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (including exercise of the over-allotment option) and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of 16,523,926 ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted income per share, because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income per share is the same as basic net income per share for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. Accretion associated with the redeemable Class A ordinary shares is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” and FASB ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
We issued 10,802,804 warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares to investors in our Initial Public Offering and issued 5,721,122 Private Placement Warrants. All of our outstanding warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statements of operations. The fair value of warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement were initially measured at fair value using a Monte Carlo simulation model and subsequently, the fair value of the Private Placement warrants have been estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model each measurement date. The fair value of Warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering have subsequently been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants.
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Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. We adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Our management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements. The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our Initial Public Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Reference is made to Pages F-1 through F-21 comprising a portion of this Report.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer has concluded that during the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2022.
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are 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 company reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
| (1) | pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company, |
| (2) | provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and |
| (3) | provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. |
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2022 covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Our principal executive officer and principal financial officer performed additional accounting and financial analyses and other post-closing procedures including consulting with subject matter experts related to the accounting for certain equity and equity-linked financial instruments. The Company’s management has expended, and will continue to expend, a substantial amount of effort and resources for the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to properly identify and evaluate the appropriate accounting technical pronouncements and other literature for all significant or unusual transactions, we have expanded and will continue to improve these processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions are effectively evaluated in the context of the increasingly complex accounting standards.
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Item 9B. Other 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
As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our officers and directors are as follows:
| Name |
Age |
Position | ||
| Michael Cordano |
58 | Co-Chief Executive Officer, Director | ||
| Mark Long |
56 | Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director | ||
| Roger Crockett |
57 | Director | ||
| Dixon Doll |
80 | Director | ||
| Keyur Patel |
57 | Chairman | ||
| Joanna Strober | 54 | Director |
Our Founding Team and Executive Officers
Michael Cordano has served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director since inception. Mr. Cordano had served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Western Digital Corporation (“Western Digital”), a leading developer, manufacturer and provider of data storage devices and solutions that is publicly-traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, from October 2015 to March 2020, having previously served as President of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (“HGST”), a manufacturer of hard disk drives, solid-state drives and external storage products and services, from July 2012 to October 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Cordano served as HGST’s Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, and President, Branded Business, from April 2009 to March 2012. From February 2005 to April 2009, he served as Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Fabrik, Inc., a manufacturer of external hard drives and digital content management software and services, which was acquired by HGST in April 2009. From 1994 to February 2005, he served in various roles of increasing responsibility at Maxtor Corporation, a computer hard disk drive manufacturer, including as the executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing.
Mark Long has served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and as a Director since inception. Mr. Long served as Western Digital’s President WD Capital, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer from November 2016 until June 2019, having previously served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer from September 2016 to October 2016, Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Strategy Officer from July 2016 to September 2016, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer from August 2015 to July 2016, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development from February 2013 to August 2015 and in various consulting capacities for Western Digital from March 2012 to February 2013. Prior to that, Mr. Long served as HGST’s Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development from July 2010 to March 2012. From August 2005 to July 2010, he served as managing director of VisionPoint Capital, a provider of investment banking, business valuation and exit planning services, where he provided merger and acquisition and corporate finance services to a range of technology companies, including Fabrik, Inc., which was acquired by HGST in April 2009. Following its acquisition, Mr. Long provided consulting services to HGST on strategic matters. Mr. Long previously served as a senior executive with both public and private venture-backed technology companies and was an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank Securities.
We believe that Mr. Long’s extensive experience in multiple roles at Western Digital and his investment experience make him well qualified to serve as Chief Financial Officer and as a Director.
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Roger Crockett, is a member of the board of directors. Mr. Crockett is the former Vice President and Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Western Digital having served in that role from November 2018 to August 2021. Prior to Western Digital, Mr. Crockett was a Senior Partner at a diversity and inclusion training and consulting firm, InQUEST Consulting, from January 2017 to November 2018. Mr. Crockett also founded and served as President of R.O. Crockett Leadership Advisory, which provides strategic advice to senior leaders of companies seeking to enhance their thought leadership portfolio, from April 2010 until December 2016 and co-founded Global Performance Partners Inc., a research-based company focused on diversity and inclusion for senior executives, in January 2016. Mr. Crockett also serves on the Board of Advisors to Upkey Corp, an education and career development software service for underrepresented students, and he is the former Vice Chairman of Saint Xavier University’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Crockett is a former Chicago Deputy Bureau Chief for BusinessWeek Magazine from 1997 to 2009, where he wrote award-winning articles about business and diversity. Mr. Crockett holds a BA in English Literature from UCLA and a Master’s in Journalism with an emphasis on business from Columbia University.
We believe that Mr. Crockett is qualified to serve as a director based on his extensive industry experience including his experience with diversity and inclusion.
Dixon Doll, is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Doll is the 2021 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Venture Capital Award from the US National Venture Capital Association. Mr. Doll is the Co-Founder and Partner Emeritus of DCM Ventures, formerly Doll Capital Management, an early-stage global venture capital firm, which he co-founded in 1996 and was a Senior Advisor for Impact Venture Capital, a venture capital firm, from 2016 until 2020. In the mid-1980’s, Mr. Doll also co-founded the venture capital industry’s first fund focused exclusively on telecommunication opportunities, Accel Partners. Additionally, he served on the board of directors of DirecTV, which was a publicly-traded company and a leading provider of digital television entertainment services, from 2011 through 2015, prior to its acquisition by AT&T and was elected to the Board of the U.S. National Venture Capital Association in 2005, serving on the Executive Committee and as Chairman in 2008-2009. Mr. Doll currently serves as the Vice Chairman of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Mr. Doll also serves on the boards of the University of San Francisco, chairing its Investment Committee, the San Francisco Opera and the Papal Foundation Board, serving on the Investment Committees for both entities, and on the Investment Advisory Board for Amadeus Capital (UK), a venture capital firm. Mr. Doll received his B.S. degree (cum laude) from Kansas State University plus M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, where he was a National Science Foundation scholar.
We believe that Mr. Doll is qualified to serve as a director based on his more than 30-years business experience, including as an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, company founder and consultant and his service as a director of public and private companies.
Keyur Patel, is a member of the board of directors. Mr. Patel has served on the board of directors of Gaia, Inc., an international alternative media video streaming service, since May 2017. Mr. Patel has served as Managing Partner of Fuse Capital and Fuse+Media Pvt. Ltd., an investment firm, since 2008. Mr. Patel led the investments and turnarounds for such brands as Inktomi Corporation, and has invested and incubated a number of successful companies including Webvibe, NDTV, IndiaTV and Phoenix Software, Inc. Mr. Patel has also served as the Vice Chair, Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of KPMG Consulting, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at KPMG Internet Business, and Managing Director of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
We believe that Mr. Patel is qualified to serve as a director based on his entrepreneurial experience, as well as his significant experience with investment management and investor relations, as well as significant senior financial leadership and expertise in corporate strategy and execution.
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Joanna Strober, is a member of the board of directors. Ms. Strober is a seasoned board director whose experience includes serving as director for Blue Nile, Inc., a leading online jewelry store, from May 1999 to December 2008. Ms. Strober was also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kurbo Health from June 2014 until August 2018, a provider of pediatric obesity treatments. Kurbo Health was acquired by Weight Watchers Reimagined in 2018, at which time Ms. Strober became the head of the child/teen division of Weight Watchers. She currently serves as Senior Vice President for Kurbo, now a subsidiary of Weight Watchers. Prior to creating Kurbo Health, Ms. Strober worked as a Managing Director at Sterling Stamos Capital Management, L.P., an advisory firm, from July 2006 to June 2013. Her previously roles, included positions at Pacific Community Ventures and Symphony Technology Group, as well as at Bessemer Venture Partners, where she was a General Partner. Ms. Strober has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. from UCLA Law School, where she served as an editor of the UCLA Law Review.
We believe that Ms. Strober is qualified to serve as a director based on her extensive business experience, including experience in venture capital investing and service on multiple company boards.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors 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. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober, will expire at our first general annual meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Roger Crockett and Dixon Doll, will expire at our second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Michael Cordano and Mark Long, will expire at our third annual general meeting.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by such registration and shareholder rights agreement.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that our officers may consist of one or more chairperson of the board, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief business officer, president, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship with the company which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, could interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Roger Crockett, Dixon Doll, Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules.
Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating and corporate governance committee and a compensation committee.
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Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee will operate under a charter that has been approved by our board of directors and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website at https://ir.primeimpactcapital.com/ under “Governance Documents”.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Joanna Strober, Keyur Patel, and Roger Crockett serve as members of our audit committee.
Our board of directors has determined that each of Joanna Strober, Keyur Patel, and Roger Crockett are independent. Joanna Strober serves as the Chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee meets the financial literacy requirements of the NYSE and our board of directors has determined that qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
The audit committee operates pursuant to a charter and is responsible for:
| • | meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
| • | monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| • | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
| • | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| • | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
| • | appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| • | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
| • | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
| • | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of the Initial Public Offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of the Initial Public Offering; and |
| • | reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating and governance committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee are Keyur Patel and Dixon Doll. Keyur Patel serves as Chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Keyur Patel and Dixon Doll are independent.
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The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating and corporate governance committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.
Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which are specified in the nominating and corporate governance committee’s charter, provides that persons to be nominated:
| • | should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
| • | should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
| • | should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders. |
The nominating committee considers a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating and corporate governance committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating and corporate governance committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Roger Crockett, Keyur Patel, and Joanna Strober.
Our board of directors has determined that each of Roger Crockett, Keyur Patel, and Joanna Strober are 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 based on such evaluation; |
| • | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive 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; and reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, 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 the NYSE and the SEC.
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Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics is available on our website. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
| • | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
| • | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| • | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| • | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| • | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
| • | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:
| INDIVIDUAL |
ENTITY |
ENTITY’S BUSINESS |
AFFILIATION | |||
| Michael Cordano | Cordano Capital, LLC | Investment Management | Managing Member | |||
| Mark Long | McKinsey & Company LongView Global Equity, LLC | Consulting Investment Management | Senior Advisor Managing Member | |||
| Roger Crockett | Western Digital Corporation | Data Storage Devices and Solutions | Vice President, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion | |||
| Dixon Doll | DCM Ventures Impact Venture Capital | Global Venture Capital Firm Venture Capital Firm | Co-Founder and Partner Emeritus Senior Advisor | |||
| Keyur Patel | Gaia, Inc. | Video and Wellness | Director | |||
| Fuse Capital and Fuse+Media Pvt. Ltd. | Investment Management | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | ||||
| Joanna Strober | Kurbo Health, a subsidiary of Weight Watchers | Health and Lifestyle | Senior Vice President | |||
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| • | Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any fulltime employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
| • | Our sponsor subscribed for founder shares and purchased private placement warrants in a transaction that closed simultaneously the Initial Public Offering and a second transaction that closed simultaneously with the underwriter’s partial exercise of its over-allotment option. On September 3, 2020, our sponsor transferred 20,000 founder shares to each of Cathleen Benko, Roger Crockett, Dixon Doll, Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober. On October 21, 2022, the sponsor repurchased Cathleen Benko’s 20,000 founder shares. Our sponsor and our founding team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the Initial Public Offering, or as such period may be extended or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity. Additionally, our sponsor |
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| has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the required time period. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, the private placement warrants and the underlying securities will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our sponsor and our founding team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our executive officers and directors will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular partner business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
| • | 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 partner business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, we also reimburse our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month.
We cannot assure you that any of the above-mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our founding team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares purchased during or after our Initial Public Offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We entered into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
We purchased a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
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Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
On September 3, 2020, our sponsor transferred 20,000 founder shares to each of Cathleen Benko, Roger Crockett, Dixon Doll, Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober. On October 21, 2022, the sponsor repurchased Cathleen Benko’s 20,000 founder shares as a result of Ms. Benko’s resignation from our board. None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will reimburse our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential partner businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement 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. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our founding 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 founding 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 founding team’s motivation in identifying or selecting a partner business
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but we do not believe that the ability of our founding team 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 Shareholder Matters
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of March 15, 2023 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, by:
| • | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
| • | each of our executive officers and directors; and |
| • | and all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them.
In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 4,639,867 Class A ordinary shares (which includes Class A ordinary shares that are underlying the units) and 8,102,103 Class B ordinary shares outstanding as of the completion of our Initial Public Offering. Voting power represents the combined voting power of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares owned beneficially by such person. On all matters to be voted upon, the holders of the Class A ordinary shares and the Class B ordinary shares vote together as a single class. Currently, all of the Class B ordinary shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis. The table below does not reflect the private placement warrants held by our sponsor as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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| Class A ordinary shares | Class B ordinary shares(2)(3)(4) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Name of Beneficial Owners | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned |
Approximate Percentage of Class |
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned |
Approximate Percentage of Class |
Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Shares |
|||||||||||||||
| Prime Impact Cayman, LLC (our sponsor)(1) |
8,022,103 | 99.0 | % | — | — | 62.96 | % | |||||||||||||
| Glazer Capital, LLC (5) |
674,300 | 14.5 | % | — | — | 5.3 | % | |||||||||||||
| Taconic Capital Advisors L.P. (6) |
700,000 | 15.1 | % | — | — | 5.5 | % | |||||||||||||
| UBS O’Connor LLC (7) |
466,683 | 10.1 | % | — | — | 3.7 | % | |||||||||||||
| Sculptor Capital LP (8) |
1,668,050 | 35.9 | % | — | — | 13.1 | % | |||||||||||||
| Deutsche Bank AG (9) |
450,000 | 9.7 | % | — | — | 3.5 | % | |||||||||||||
| Michael Cordano (10) |
— | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Mark Long (10) |
— | — | — | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| Roger Crockett (1) |
— | — | 20,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| Dixon Doll (1) |
20,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||||
| Keyur Patel (1) |
20,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||||
| Joanna Strober (1) |
20,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||||
| All officers and directors as a group (6 individuals) |
— | — | 80,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | The business address of each of the following entities and individuals is 123 E San Carlos Street, Suite 12, San Jose, California 95112. |
| (2) | The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” |
| (3) | Does not include 5,721,122 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants. |
| (4) | The shares reported herein are held in the name of our sponsor. Our sponsor is governed by two managers, Michael Cordano and Mark Long. As such, Michael Cordano and Mark Long have voting and investment discretion with respect to the Class B ordinary shares held of record by our sponsor and may be deemed to have shared beneficial ownership of the Class B ordinary shares held directly by our sponsor. |
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| (5) | Includes Class A ordinary shares held by certain funds and managed accounts to which Glazer Capital, LLC serves as investment manager (collectively, the “Glazer Funds”). Mr. Paul J. Glazer serves as the Managing Member of Glazer Capital, LLC. Each of Glazer Capital, LLC and Mr. Glazer may be deemed to have shared beneficial ownership of the shares held by the Glazer Funds. The address of the principal business office of each of the reporting persons is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
| (6) | Includes Class A ordinary shares held for the accounts of Taconic Opportunity Master Fund L.P. (Taconic Opportunity Fund) and Taconic Master Fund 1.5 L.P. (Taconic Event Fund, and together with Taconic Opportunity Fund, the Taconic Funds). Taconic Advisors LP serves as the investment manager to each of the Taconic Funds. Taconic Advisors LP has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Taconic Advisors UK pursuant to which Taconic Advisors UK serves as a subadvisor to Taconic Advisors LP in respect of each of the Taconic Funds. Taconic Advisors LP is the manager of Taconic Capital Services UK Ltd, the UK parent entity of Taconic Advisors UK. Accordingly, Taconic Advisors LP and Taconic Advisors UK may be deemed a beneficial owner of the Shares held for the accounts of the Taconic Funds. Taconic Partners serves as the general partner to Taconic Advisors LP. Taconic Associates serves as the general partner to Taconic Opportunity Fund, and accordingly may be deemed a beneficial owner of the Shares held for the account of Taconic Opportunity Fund. Taconic Capital serves as the general partner to Taconic Event Fund, and accordingly may be deemed a beneficial owner of the Shares held for the account of Taconic Event Fund. Frank P. Brosens is a principal of Taconic Advisors LP and a manager of each of Taconic Partners, Taconic Associates and Taconic Capital. In such capacities, Mr. Brosens may be deemed a beneficial owner of the Shares held for the accounts of the Taconic Funds. The address of the principal business office of each of Taconic Advisors LP, Taconic Associates, Taconic Partners, Taconic Capital and Mr. Brosens is c/o Taconic Capital Advisors L.P. 280 Park Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The address of the principal business office of Taconic Advisors UK is 55 Grosvenor Street, 4th Floor, London, W1K 3HY, UK. |
| (7) | The shares reported herein are held by UBS O’Connor LLC. The address of the principal business office of each of the reporting person is One North Wacker Drive, 32nd Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60606. |
| (8) | Includes shares held by Sculptor Capital LP, Sculptor Capital Holding Corporation and Sculptor Capital Management, Inc. with a principal business office of 9 West 57th Street, 39 Floor, New York, NY 10019; and Sculptor Master Fund, Ltd., Sculptor Special Funding, LP with a principal business office of State Street (Cayman) Trust, Limited, PO Box 896, Suites 3307, Gardenia Court, 45 Market Street, Caman Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands KY1-1103. |
| (9) | The shares reported herein are held by Deutsche Bank AG. The address of the principal business office of each of the reporting person is Taunusanlage 12, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany. |
| (10) | Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of his ownership interest in our sponsor. |
Our initial shareholders beneficially own approximately 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares and will have the right to appoint all of our directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Our sponsor and our founding team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial
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Public Offering, or as such period may be extended or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity. Further, our sponsor and each member of our founding team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Our sponsor is deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock- up provisions in the agreement entered into by our sponsor and our founding team. Our sponsor and our founding team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell (i) any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) any of their private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The foregoing restrictions are not applicable to transfers (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members or partners of our sponsor or their affiliates, any affiliates of our sponsor, or any employees of such affiliates; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the founder shares, private placement warrants or Class A ordinary shares, as applicable, were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of our sponsor’s organizational documents upon liquidation or dissolution of our sponsor; (g) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; (h) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; or (i) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement.
Changes in Control
None.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
On July 23, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover for certain offering costs in consideration for 8,625,000 founder shares. On September 3, 2020, our sponsor transferred 20,000 founder shares to each of Cathleen Benko. Roger Crockett, Dixon Doll, Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober. On October 27, 2020, 522,897 founder shares held by our sponsor were forfeited by our sponsor due to the failure of the underwriters’ to fully execute their over-allotment option. On October 21, 2022, the sponsor repurchased Cathleen Benko’s 20,000 founder shares. The founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Our sponsor has purchased 5,400,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $8,100,000 in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering. In addition, our sponsor purchased an additional 321,122 warrants on October 6, 2020 simultaneously with the underwriter’s partial exercise of their over-allotment option for a total of 5,721,122 private placement warrants. As such, our sponsor’s interest in is valued at $8,581,683. The private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon the exercise or conversion thereof may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
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We currently maintain our executive offices at 123 E San Carlos Street, Suite 12, San Jose, California 95112. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential partner businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our sponsor loaned us approximately $98,000 under a $300,000 promissory note for a portion of the expenses of the Initial Public Offering. These loans were non-interest bearing and unsecured. The loan was repaid on September 16, 2020 out of the offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses and not held in the trust account
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. 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 loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, members of our founding team or any of their affiliates as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our founding team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration and shareholder rights agreement pursuant to which our initial shareholders, and their permitted transferees, if any, are entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the private placement warrants, the securities issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares. Further, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement which is described under the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Description of Securities-Registration and Shareholder Rights.”
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Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors has adopted a charter, providing for the review, approval and/or ratification of “related party transactions,” which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee is provided with the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairperson of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship with the company which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, could interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Roger Crockett, Dixon Doll, Keyur Patel and Joanna Strober are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
The following is a summary of fees paid to WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”), for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements, reviews of our quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. The aggregate fees by Withum for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, totaled $91,455 and $87,360, respectively.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Withum any audit-related fees during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay Withum any tax-related fees during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay Withum any other service fees during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report:
(1) Financial Statements (As Restated)
(2) Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
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| * | Filed herewith |
| ** | Furnished herewith |
| (1) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 30, 2023. |
| (2) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the SEC on August 12, 2020. |
| (3) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 31, 2021. |
| (4) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, filed with the SEC on May 21, 2021. |
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
Not applicable.
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F-2 |
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Financial Statements: |
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F-3 |
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F-4 |
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F-5 |
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F-6 |
||||
F-7 to F-22 |
December 31, 2022 |
December 31, 2021 |
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Assets |
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Current assets: |
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Cash |
$ | $ | ||||||
Prepaid expenses |
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Total current assets |
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Cash and investments held in Trust Account |
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Total Assets |
$ |
$ |
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Liabilities, Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Redemption and Shareholders’ Deficit |
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Current liabilities: |
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Accounts payable |
$ | $ | ||||||
Accrued expenses |
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Notes payable—related party |
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Total current liabilities |
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Derivative warrant liabilities |
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Deferred underwriting commissions |
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Total Liabilities |
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Commitments and Contingencies |
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Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, $ |
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Shareholders’ Deficit: |
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Preference shares, $ |
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Class A ordinary shares, $ non-redeemable shares issued or outstanding |
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Class B ordinary shares, $ |
||||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
||||||||
Accumulated deficit |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Total Shareholders’ Deficit |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Total Liabilities, Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Redemption and Shareholders’ Deficit |
$ |
$ |
||||||
For the Year Ended December 31, |
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2022 |
2021 |
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| General and administrative expenses |
$ | $ | ||||||
| Administrative expenses—related party |
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| |
|
|
|
|||||
| Loss from operations |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
| Other income |
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| Gain on forgiveness of deferred underwriting commissions |
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| Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities |
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| Interest income |
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| Income from investments held in Trust Account |
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| |
|
|
|
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| Net income |
$ |
$ |
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|
|
|
|
|
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| Weighted average Class A ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted |
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| |
|
|
|
|||||
| Basic and diluted net income per Class A ordinary share |
$ | $ | ||||||
| |
|
|
|
|||||
| Weighted average Class B ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted |
||||||||
| |
|
|
|
|||||
| Basic and diluted net income per Class B ordinary share |
$ | $ | ||||||
| |
|
|
|
|||||
Ordinary Shares |
Additional |
Retained Earnings |
Total |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A |
Class B |
Paid-in |
(Accumulated |
Shareholders’ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares |
Amount |
Shares |
Amount |
Capital |
Deficit) |
Deficit |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance—December 31, 2020 |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
( |
) |
$ |
( |
) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net income |
— | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance—December 31, 2021 |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
( |
) |
$ |
( |
) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net income |
— | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustment for accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption amount |
— | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance—December 31, 2022 |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
( |
) |
$ |
( |
) | |||||||||||||||||||
For the Year Ended December 31, |
||||||||
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
||||||||
Net income |
$ | $ | ||||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
||||||||
Gain on forgiveness of deferred underwriting commissions |
( |
) | — | |||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
I ncome from investments held in Trust Account |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
||||||||
Prepaid expenses |
||||||||
Accounts payable |
||||||||
Accrued expenses |
||||||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
||||||||
Cash deposited in Trust Account for extension |
( |
) | — | |||||
Cash withdrawn from Trust Account for redemptions |
— | |||||||
Net cash provided by investing activities |
— | |||||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
||||||||
Proceeds received from note payable—related party |
— | |||||||
Repayment of advances from related party |
( |
) | ||||||
Redemption of Class A ordinary shares |
( |
) | — | |||||
Net cash used in financing activities |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Net change in cash |
( |
) | ( |
) | ||||
Cash—beginning of the year |
||||||||
Cash—end of the year |
$ |
$ |
||||||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: |
||||||||
Extinguishment of deferred underwriting commissions allocated to Public Shares |
$ |
$ |
||||||
| • | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
| • | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| • | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
For the Year Ended December 31, |
||||||||||||||||
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||||||||||
Class A |
Class B |
Class A |
Class B |
|||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share: |
||||||||||||||||
Numerator: |
||||||||||||||||
Allocation of net income available to ordinary shareholders |
$ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
Denominator: |
||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding |
||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net income per common share |
$ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $ |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sales price (the “closing price”) of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”). |
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at $ |
| • | if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $ sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
| • | if the Reference Value is less than $ sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, sub-divisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), then the Private Placement Warrants must also concurrently be called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants as described above. |
Gross proceeds |
$ | |||
Less: |
||||
Amount 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, 2021 |
||||
Plus: |
||||
Increase in redemption value of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption due to extension |
||||
Waiver of Class A shares issuance costs |
||||
Less: |
||||
Redemption of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption |
( |
) | ||
Remeasurement of redemption value of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption |
( |
) | ||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2022 |
$ | |||
As of December 31, 2022 |
||||||||||||
Description |
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||
Liabilities: |
||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities—Public warrants |
$ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities—Private placement warrants |
$ | $ | $ | |||||||||
As of December 31, 2021 |
||||||||||||
Description |
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||
Assets: |
||||||||||||
Investments held in Trust Account - U.S. Treasury Securities |
$ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Liabilities: |
||||||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities—Public warrants |
$ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities—Private placement warrants |
$ | $ | $ | |||||||||
December 31, 2022 |
December 31, 2021 |
|||||||
Exercise price |
$ | $ | ||||||
Stock price |
$ | $ | ||||||
Volatility |
% | % | ||||||
Term |
||||||||
Risk-free rate |
% | % | ||||||
Dividend yield |
% | % | ||||||
Level 3 derivative warrant liabilities at December 31, 2020 |
$ | |||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities |
( |
) | ||
Level 3 derivative warrant liabilities at December 31, 2021 |
$ | |||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities |
( |
) | ||
Level 3 derivative warrant liabilities at December 31, 2022 |
$ | |||
Exhibit Index
| * | Filed herewith |
| ** | Furnished herewith |
| (1) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 30, 2023. |
| (2) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the SEC on August 12, 2020. |
| (3) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 31, 2021. |
| (4) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, filed with the SEC on May 21, 2021. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
March 31, 2023
| Prime Impact Acquisition I |
| /s/ Michael Cordano |
| Name: Michael Cordano |
| Title: Co-Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
| /s/ Mark Long |
| Name: Mark Long |
| Title: Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report on Form 10-K 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/ Michael Cordano Michael Cordano |
Co-Chief Executive Officer, Director (Principal Executive Officer and the Registrant’s authorized signatory in the United States) |
March 31, 2023 | ||
| /s/ Mark Long Mark Long |
Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Director (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | March 31, 2023 | ||
| /s/ Keyur Patel Keyur Patel |
Chairman of the Board | March 31, 2023 | ||
| /s/ Roger Crockett Roger Crockett |
Director | March 31, 2023 | ||
| /s/ Dixon Doll Dixon Doll |
Director | March 31, 2023 | ||
| /s/ Joanna Strober Joanna Strober |
Director | March 31, 2023 | ||