SunPower Inc 10-K for FY2022
SunPower Inc. (SPWR)
About this 10-K
SunPower Inc filed this 10-K on April 6, 2023, covering the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (FY2022).
Headline figures
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Net income
- $5.98M
- up 16.6% from net income of $5.13M a year earlier
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
For
the fiscal year ended
OR
For the transition period from to .
Commission
file number
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
1
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of Each Class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered | ||
| Redeemable warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 | FACT WS | The New York Stock Exchange | ||
| Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant | FACT.U | The New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and
(2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant
to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant
was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||
| ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ||||
| Emerging growth company |
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying
with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered
public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes
The
aggregate market value of the Registrant’s voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates, computed by reference to
the closing sales price for the Class A ordinary shares on June 30, 2022, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange, was $
As
of December 31, 2022,
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None
FREEDOM
ACQUISITION I CORP.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”), references to:
“we,” “us,” “our,” “company,” “our company,” or “Freedom” are to Freedom Acquisition I Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company;
“amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association;
“Class A ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
“Class B ordinary shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
“Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;
“directors” are to our current directors;
“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering and our 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;
“Freedom Acquisition LLC” are to a member of our sponsor, Freedom Acquisition LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company that is owned by Tidjane Thiam, our Executive Chairman, Abhishek Bhatia, a board observer, and Adam Gishen, our Chief Executive Officer;
“initial shareholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering;
“management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;
“NextG” are to NextG Tech Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company, which is a member of our sponsor and is affiliated with Edward Zeng, one of our directors;
“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares;
“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering;
“public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);
“public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial shareholders and management team to the extent our initial shareholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial shareholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public shareholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;
“public warrants” are to the warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);
“sponsor” are to Freedom Acquisition I LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company;
“warrants” are to our public warrants and private placement warrants; and
“$,” “US$” and “U.S. dollar” each refer to the United States dollar.
ii
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factor Summary
Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report may constitute “forward-looking statements,” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may include, for example, statements about:
| ● | risks associated with our proposed business combination with Complete Solaria; |
| ● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| ● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
| ● | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| ● | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| ● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| ● | the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting; |
| ● | our public securities’ 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. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report 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 in “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.
iii
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
| ● | We may not be able to complete the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria. If we are unable to do so, we will incur substantial costs associated with withdrawing from the transaction and may not be able to find additional sources of financing to cover those costs. |
| ● | If the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria fails, it may be difficult to complete a business combination with a new prospective target business, negotiate and agree to a new business combination, and/or arrange for new sources of financing by the end of the Extension Period, 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 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. |
| ● | Past performance by our management team, directors, advisors and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company. |
| ● | We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us. |
| ● | Our search for a business combination, and any prospective partner business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets. |
| ● | Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination. |
| ● | Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| ● | Our public 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 public shareholders do not support such a combination. |
| ● | Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
| ● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
| ● | The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target or prevent us from completing the most desirable business combination or optimizing our capital structure. |
iv
| ● | If the funds available to us outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the Extension Period, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
| ● | You are not entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| ● | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders. |
| ● | Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| ● | If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. To mitigate the risk of being deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may instruct the trustee of the trust account to liquidate the securities held in the trust account and instead hold all funds in the trust account in a bank deposit account. |
| ● | We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | 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 submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
| ● | 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. |
| ● | We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless. |
| ● | Certain members of our management team may be involved in and have a greater financial interest in the performance of other entities with which they are affiliated, and such activities may create conflicts of interest in making decisions on our behalf. |
| ● | Our initial shareholders stand to make a substantial profit on the founder shares even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public shareholders, and may have an incentive to recommend such an initial business combination to our shareholders. |
v
PART I
Item 1. Business
General
We are a blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout Annual Report as our initial business combination.
Freedom Acquisition I Corp. was established by Tidjane Thiam, Adam Gishen and Abhishek Bhatia to leverage their extensive experience in acquiring, building, operating and scaling global financial services businesses in constantly evolving environments. Mr. Thiam, with his more than 30 years of experience in financial services businesses, led global institutions like Credit Suisse and Prudential as CEO for 5 years and 6 years, respectively. Mr. Gishen has over 20 years of experience in financial services and has held senior leadership responsibilities in recent years at Credit Suisse running its Global Investor Relations and Corporate Communications functions. Mr. Bhatia has more than 20 years of global experience in life and general insurance and asset management and has created businesses from scratch, including a technology-enabled life insurer in Europe and a full-stack digital insurer in Asia for which he served as CEO.
Company History
On December 31, 2020, the sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “founder shares”). On February 25, 2021, the Company effected a share dividend whereby the Company issued 1,437,500 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding and held by our sponsor. Our Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, on a one-for-one basis, upon the completion of a business combination. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of the initial public offering.
On March 2, 2021, we completed our initial public offering of 34,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “units”), generating gross proceeds of $345,000,000. Each unit consists of one of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments.
Substantially concurrently with the completion of the initial public offering, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 6,266,667 warrants (the “private placement warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per warrant, or $9,400,000 in the aggregate. A total of $345,000,000, comprised of $338,595,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering, including $12,075,000 of the underwriters’ deferred discount, and $6,405,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
On April 16, 2021, we announced that, commencing April 19, 2021, holders of the 34,500,000 units sold in the initial public offering may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units. Those units not separated continued to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “FACT.U” and the Class A ordinary shares and warrants that were separated trade under the symbols “FACT” and “FACT WS,” respectively.
1
Amendment to Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
On February 28, 2023, Freedom held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which holders of 35,373,848 ordinary shares, comprised of 26,773,848 Class A ordinary shares and 8,600,000 Class B ordinary shares, were present in person or by proxy, representing approximately 82.02% of the voting power of the 43,125,000 issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Freedom entitled to vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting at the close of business on January 23, 2023, which was the record date (the “Record Date”) for the Extraordinary General Meeting (such shares, the “Outstanding Shares”). The Outstanding Shares on the Record Date were comprised of 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares and 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the shareholders approved, by special resolution, the proposal (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”) to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which Freedom must (i) consummate a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, which Freedom refers to as its initial business combination, (ii) cease its operations except for the purpose of winding up if it fails to complete such initial business combination, and (iii) redeem all of the Class A ordinary shares, included as part of the units sold in the initial public offering, for an additional three months, from March 2, 2023 to June 2, 2023, and thereafter to up to three (3) times by an additional one month each time (or up to September 2, 2023) (the “Extension Amendment,” and such period, as may be extended, the “Extension Period”). The voting results for such proposal were as follows:
| For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||
| 35,047,305 | 326,543 | 0 | ||||||||
In connection with the Extension Amendment, public shareholders elected to redeem an aggregate of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares at a redemption price of $10.21 per share, representing approximately 67.41% of the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $237,372,952. Following such redemptions, approximately $114,759,374 remained in the trust account and 11,243,496 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the public shareholders also approved the proposal to amend the Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of February 25, 2021 (the “Trust Agreement”), by and between Freedom and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (“Continental”), to reflect the Extension Amendment. The amendment to the Trust Agreement provides that Continental shall commence liquidation of the trust account only and promptly (x) after its receipt of the applicable instruction letter delivered by Freedom in connection with either the consummation of an initial business combination or Freedom’s inability to effect an initial business combination within the time frame specified in Freedom’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or (y) upon the date that is the later of the end of the Extension Period and such later date as may be approved by Freedom’s shareholders in accordance with the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if the aforementioned termination letter has not been received by Continental prior to such date. The voting results for such proposal were as follows:
| For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||
| 35,047,305 | 326,543 | 0 | ||||||||
The Proposed Business Combination
Business Combination Agreement
On October 3, 2022, Freedom entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as amended by the First Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement dated December 26, 2022 and the Second Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement dated January 17, 2023, and as may be further amended and supplemented from time to time, the “Business Combination Agreement”), with Jupiter Merger Sub I Corp., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Freedom (“First Merger Sub”), Jupiter Merger Sub II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Freedom (“Second Merger Sub”), Complete Solaria, Inc. (formerly known as Complete Solar Holding Corporation), a Delaware corporation (“Complete Solaria”) and The Solaria Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Solaria”).
2
The Mergers
The Business Combination Agreement provides that, among other things and upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereof, the following transactions will occur (together with the other agreements and transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, the “Business Combination”):
| ● | at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “Closing”), upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereof, and in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended (the “DGCL”), (i) First Merger Sub will merge with and into Complete Solaria, with Complete Solaria surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Freedom, (ii) immediately thereafter and as part of the same overall transaction, Complete Solaria will merge with and into Second Merger Sub, with Second Merger Sub surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Freedom, and (iii) immediately after the consummation of the Second Merger and as part of the same overall transaction, Solaria will merge with and into a newly formed Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Freedom (“Third Merger Sub”), with Third Merger Sub surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Freedom (the “Additional Merger,” and together with the First Merger and the Second Merger, the “Mergers”); |
| ● | at the Closing, all outstanding shares of capital stock of Complete Solaria (subject to certain restrictions) and all options and warrants to acquire shares of capital stock of Complete Solaria will convert into the right to receive shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Freedom (after the Domestication (as defined below)) (“Freedom Common Stock”) or comparable equity awards that are settled or are exercisable for shares of Freedom Common Stock; and |
| ● | at the Closing, Freedom will be renamed “Complete Solaria, Inc.” |
A special committee (the “Freedom Special Committee”) of the Board of Directors of Freedom (the “Freedom Board”) and the Freedom Board have (i) approved the Business Combination Agreement and the Business Combination and (ii) resolved to recommend that the shareholders of Freedom approve the Business Combination Agreement and the Business Combination.
The Domestication
Prior to the Closing, subject to the approval of Freedom’s shareholders, and in accordance with the DGCL, the Cayman Islands Companies Act (As Revised) (the “CICA”) and Freedom’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, Freedom will effect a deregistration under the CICA and a domestication under Section 388 of the DGCL (by means of filing a certificate of domestication with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware), pursuant to which Freedom’s jurisdiction of incorporation will be changed from the Cayman Islands to the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”).
In connection with the Domestication, (i) each of the then issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of Freedom, will convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into a share of Freedom Common Stock, which is entitled to one vote per share, (ii) each of the then issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of Freedom, will convert automatically, on a one-for-one basis, into a share of Freedom Common Stock.
Conditions to the Closing
The obligation of the parties to consummate the Business Combination is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions, including (i) approval of the Business Combination and related matters by the respective shareholders of Freedom and Complete Solaria, (ii) expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, as amended, (iii) the absence of any law or injunctions prohibiting the consummation of the Mergers, (iv) Freedom having at least $5,000,001 of net tangible assets upon the Closing, (v) the size and composition of the Board conforming to the requirements set forth in the Business Combination Agreement, (vi) receipt of approval for listing by The New York Stock Exchange of the shares of Freedom common stock to be issued in the Business Combination, (vii) effectiveness of the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by Freedom in connection with the Business Combination and (viii) the receipt by the Freedom Board or Freedom Special Committee of a fairness opinion from a reputable financial advisory or valuation firm with respect to the Business Combination (which was received on October 31, 2022).
Other conditions to Freedom’s obligation to consummate the Business Combination include (i) the consummation of the Required Transaction (as defined below) (which was consummated on November 4, 2022) and (ii) the receipt by Complete Solaria of certain consents.
3
Each party’s obligation to consummate the Business Combination is also conditioned upon the accuracy of the other party’s representations and warranties, subject to customary materiality and material adverse effect qualifiers, and the performance in all material respects by the other party of its covenants in the Business Combination Agreement to be performed as of or prior to the Closing.
Covenants
The Business Combination Agreement contains additional covenants, including, among others, providing for (i) the parties to conduct their respective businesses in the ordinary course through the Closing, (ii) the parties to not initiate any negotiations or enter into any agreements for certain alternative transactions, (iii) Complete Solaria to prepare and deliver to Freedom certain audited and unaudited consolidated financial statements of Complete Solaria and its subsidiaries (including Solaria), (iv) Freedom to prepare and file a registration statement on Form S-4, including a proxy statement/prospectus, and to take certain other actions to obtain the requisite approval of Freedom shareholders of certain proposals regarding the Business Combination (including the Domestication), (v) the parties to use reasonable best efforts to obtain necessary approvals from governmental authorities, (vi) if determined in good faith by Freedom and Complete Solaria that it is probable that the Business Combination will be consummated after March 1, 2023, and subject to the conditions set forth in the Business Combination Agreement, Freedom to seek the approval of its shareholders to amend its organizational documents to extend the time period for Freedom to consummate its initial business combination for six months from March 1, 2023 to September 1, 2023 (which was obtained on February 28, 2023).
Governance
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the board of directors of Complete Solaria following the Closing will consist of no more than seven directors, to initially consist of (i) the individuals designated by Complete Solaria prior to Closing, consisting of a majority of “independent” directors for the purposes of NYSE rules and (ii) Tidjane Thiam and Adam Gishen (or any other substitute director designated by the Sponsor, subject to the prior approval of Complete Solaria). Complete Solaria has agreed to cause Mr. Thiam to be nominated for election to its board of directors at each of its first three annual meetings of stockholders following the Closing.
Representations and Warranties
The Business Combination Agreement contains customary representations and warranties by Freedom, First Merger Sub, Second Merger Sub and Complete Solaria. The representations and warranties of the parties to the Business Combination Agreement will not survive the Closing.
Termination
The Business Combination Agreement contains the following termination rights:
| ● | the right of the parties to terminate the Business Combination Agreement by mutual consent; |
| ● | the right of either Freedom or Complete Solaria to terminate the Business Combination Agreement if: |
| - | shareholders of the other party fail to approve the Business Combination; |
| - | any governmental authority issues or otherwise enters a final, nonappealable order making consummation of the Mergers illegal or otherwise prevents or prohibits consummation of the Mergers; |
| - | the other party breaches its representations, warranties, covenants or other agreements contained in the Business Combination Agreement in a way that would entitle the party seeking to terminate the Business Combination Agreement to not consummate the Business Combination, subject to the right of the breaching party to cure the breach; |
| - | the Required Transaction has not been consummated within 30 days following the date of the Business Combination Agreement (this termination right is no longer applicable as the Required Transaction was consummated on November 4, 2022); |
4
| - | the Freedom Board or Freedom Special Committee has not received a fairness opinion from a reputable financial advisory or valuation firm with respect to the Business Combination within 30 days of the date of the Business Combination Agreement and such party exercises the right to termination within such 30 day period (this termination right is no longer applicable as such fairness opinion was received on October 31, 2022); or |
| - | the Closing has not occurred on or before the end of the Extension Period; |
| ● | the right of Complete Solaria to terminate the Business Combination Agreement if the Freedom Board or Freedom Special Committee changes its recommendation with respect to the Business Combination. |
Certain Related Agreements and Transactions
The Required Transaction
On October 3, 2022, Complete Solar Holding Corporation (the predecessor of Complete Solaria) entered into that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger with Complete Solaria Midco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Solaria (“Midco”), Complete Solaria Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Midco, Solaria and Fortis Advisors, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, solely in its capacity as the representative of Complete Solaria’s stockholders (the “Required Transaction”). On November 4, 2022, the Required Transaction was consummated.
Complete Solaria Convertible Note Financing
On October 3, 2022, Complete Solaria entered into note subscription agreements (the “Pre-Signing Complete Solaria Subscription Agreements”) with certain investors, consisting of (i) Rodgers Massey Revocable Living Trust (“RMRLT”), which is affiliated with T.J. Rodgers, a former investor in Solaria, (ii) Tidjane Thiam, Executive Chairman of Freedom, (iii) Adam Gishen, Chief Executive Officer of Freedom, and (iv) NextG, an affiliate of Edward Zeng, a director of Freedom, pursuant to which such investors agreed to purchase convertible notes from Complete Solaria for an aggregate purchase price of $7 million. In addition, RMRLT purchased convertible notes from Complete Solaria following the consummation of the Required Transaction in an amount equal to approximately $6.7 million in consideration for RMRLT’s former investment in Solaria, which was assumed and cancelled by Complete Solaria.
The Business Combination Agreement also contemplates that, following the date of the Business Combination Agreement, Complete Solaria will enter into additional subscription agreements on terms substantially similar to, or no less favorable in all material respects to Complete Solaria than, the Pre-Signing Complete Solaria Subscription Agreements (the “Post-Signing Complete Solaria Subscription Agreements” and, together with the Pre-Signing Complete Solaria Subscription Agreements, the “Complete Solaria Subscription Agreements”) with additional investors pursuant to which such investors agree, subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, to purchase convertible notes from Complete Solaria for an aggregate purchase price of up to $23 million. In November 2022, December 2022, and February 2023, Complete Solaria entered into note subscription agreements with additional investors, pursuant to which such investors purchased convertible notes from Complete Solaria for an aggregate purchase price of $16 million.
Sponsor Support Agreement
On October 3, 2022, Freedom entered into a Sponsor Support Agreement (the “Sponsor Support Agreement”) with Freedom Acquisition I LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), certain directors and officers of Freedom, and Complete Solaria, pursuant to which the Sponsor and each such director and officer of Freedom has agreed to, among other things, (i) vote in favor of the Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, (ii) not redeem their Freedom ordinary shares, (iii) from the Closing, at each of the first three annual meetings of the stockholders of Complete Solaria vote all of their shares of common stock of Complete Solaria in favor of Mr. Thiam for election to the board of directors of Complete Solaria, and (iv) be bound by certain other agreements and covenants related to the Business Combination, including vesting and forfeiture restrictions with respect to certain shares held by the Sponsor.
5
Complete Solaria Stockholder Support Agreement
On October 3, 2022, Freedom entered into a Company Stockholders Support Agreement (the “Complete Solaria Stockholder Support Agreement”) with Complete Solaria and certain stockholders of Complete Solaria (the “Complete Solaria Stockholders”). Under the Complete Solaria Stockholder Support Agreement, each Complete Solaria Stockholder has agreed to, among other things (i) vote its shares, (ii) execute and deliver a written consent adopting the Business Combination Agreement and related transactions and approving the Business Combination, (iii) from the Closing, at each of the first three annual meetings of the stockholders of Complete Solaria vote all of its shares of Complete Solaria common stock in favor of Mr. Thiam for election to the board of directors of Complete Solaria, and (iv) be bound by certain other agreements and covenants related to the Business Combination.
Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement
The Business Combination Agreement contemplates that, at the Closing, Complete Solaria, the Sponsor, certain equityholders of Complete Solaria and certain of their respective affiliates, as applicable, and the other parties thereto, will enter into an Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement (the “A&R Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which Complete Solaria will grant customary registration rights to the other parties thereto, including to register for resale, pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), certain securities of Complete Solaria held by the other parties thereto.
Lock-Up Agreement
The Business Combination Agreement contemplates that, at the Closing, Complete Solaria, the Sponsor, the Sponsor Key Holders (as defined in the Lock-Up Agreement) and Complete Solaria Key Holders (as defined in the Lock-Up Agreement), will enter into a Lock-Up Agreement (the “Lock-Up Agreement”).
The Lock-Up Agreement contains certain restrictions on transfer with respect to securities of Complete Solaria to be held by the Sponsor, Sponsor Key Holders and Complete Solaria Key Holders immediately following the Closing (including shares of Complete Solaria common stock and any such shares issuable upon the exercise, conversion or settlement of derivative securities and promissory notes). Such restrictions begin at the Closing and end on the earlier of (x) the 12 month anniversary of the Closing and (y) the date on which the volume weighted average price of Complete Solaria common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30 consecutive trading day period beginning after the date that is 180 calendar days after the Closing and ending 365 calendar days following the Closing.
Except as specifically discussed, this Annual Report does not assume the closing of the Business Combination and related transactions.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE require and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we must consummate an initial business combination 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 (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commission held in trust) as determined at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. This is the case with respect to the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria. If we do not complete the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria, and instead pursue an alternative business combination and our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior written consent of NextG. NextG has consented to our proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria.
6
Our proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria is structured so that the post-transaction company will own all of the equity interests of Complete Solaria. If we do not complete the proposed Business Combination and pursue an alternative initial business combination, we may structure it similarly or we may structure it such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business 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-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target, or issue a substantial number of new shares to third parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at 14 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, 10005, and our telephone number is (212) 618-1798. Our corporate website address is freedomac1.com. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this Annual Report.
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 received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act 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, or 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.
7
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 securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
On October 3, 2022, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement to consummate a proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria, as described under “— The Proposed Business Combination.” If the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria is not consummated, we may seek to effectuate a business combination with another target business, as described below.
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following our initial public offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the track record and business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. 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).
8
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, a committee of independent and disinterested directors would consider, review and approve the transaction. Additionally, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior written consent of NextG. NextG has consented to our proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria.
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. |
9
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any ordinary shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
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 initial business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company 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. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE’s shareholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above is contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on the NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of two-thirds of our ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon, so long as we offer redemption in connection with such amendment.
If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a general meeting, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| ● | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and |
| ● | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above.
10
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of a majority of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our initial shareholders, officers and directors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will:
| ● | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and |
| ● | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
11
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 provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering (the “Excess Shares”) without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us, our sponsor or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in 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 management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Delivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights
As described above, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $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 submit or tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
12
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
If we have not completed our initial business combination during the Extension 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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further 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 each case, 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. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period.
Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period. However, if our sponsor or management team acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period.
Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of 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. 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.
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, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest income to pay those costs and expenses.
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 approximately $10.00. The funds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors, which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
13
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our initial public offering 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 third party (other than Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the funds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors, in exercising their business judgment, may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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.
14
If we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the funds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency 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 complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period, (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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. 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.
Conflicts of Interest
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently utilize office space at 14 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, 10005. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have one officer, Adam Gishen. Mr. Gishen and any additional officers that may be appointed 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 target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We have engaged certain employees and advisors to assist us with the completion of our initial business combination.
15
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, 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 Associated with the Business Combination Agreement
We may not be able to complete the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria. If we are unable to do so, we will incur substantial costs associated with withdrawing from the transaction and may not be able to find additional sources of financing to cover those costs.
In connection with the Business Combination Agreement, we have incurred substantial costs researching, planning and negotiating the transaction. These costs include, but are not limited to, costs associated with securing sources of debt financing, costs associated with employing and retaining third-party advisors who performed the financial, auditing and legal services required to complete the transaction, and the expenses generated by our officers, executives, managers and employees in connection with the transaction. If, for whatever reason, the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement fail to close, we will be responsible for these costs, but will have no source of revenue with which to pay them. We may need to obtain additional sources of financing in order to meet our obligations, which we may not be able to secure on the same terms as our existing financing or at all. If we are unable to secure new sources of financing and do not have sufficient funds to meet our obligations, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account.
If the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria fails, it may be difficult to complete a business combination with a new prospective target business, negotiate and agree to a new business combination, and/or arrange for new sources of financing by the end of the Extension Period, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
Finding, researching, analyzing and negotiating with Complete Solaria took a substantial amount of time and effort, and if the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria fails for any reason, we may not be able to find, research, negotiate and agree to terms with, and/or arrange for new sources of financing for a business combination with, a new prospective target business during the Extension Period, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
Risks Associated with Our Business Strategy and Business Combination
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.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and all of our activities to date have been related to our formation, our initial public offering and our search for a business combination target. 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. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
16
Past performance by our management team, directors, advisors and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team, directors, advisors and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Not all of the businesses in which our management team directors, advisors or their respective affiliates have invested have achieved the same level of value creation. Any past experience and performance by our management team, directors, advisors and their respective affiliates and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully complete our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team directors, advisors and their respective affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team directors, advisors or their respective affiliates. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Annual Report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion regarding fairness, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. While we have obtained a fairness opinion with respect to the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria, if the transaction is not consummated and we seek to effectuate a business combination with another target and no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
17
We have engaged or intend to engage one or more of the underwriters of our initial public offering or their affiliates to provide additional services to us, including to act as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. The underwriters of our initial public offering are entitled to receive deferred commissions that will be released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause the underwriters to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us, including, for example, in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination.
We have engaged or intend to engage one or more of the underwriters of our initial public offering or their affiliates to provide additional services to us, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We will pay the underwriters or their affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The fact that the underwriters or their affiliates’ financial interests are tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
We may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account.
Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| ● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
18
| ● | 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 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. |
Our search for a business combination, and any prospective partner business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other events and the status of debt and equity markets.
We may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the prospective partner business’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19, the emergence of new COVID-19 variants 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 or other events (such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) occur, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a prospective partner business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases), including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Item 1A.-Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our 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.
After giving effect to the redemption of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares in connection with the Extension Amendment, we have approximately $111,740,624 in our trust account that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $3,018,750 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).
19
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory 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. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, they could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire less than 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target, or issue a substantial number of new shares to third-parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
20
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate. In addition, reputational harm to our officers and directors could have adverse consequences on our ability to operate or consummate a business combination.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
In addition, certain of our officers and directors are currently, and may in the future be, a party to litigation, regulatory and other government investigations and enforcement actions. This includes enforcement proceedings initiated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) against Credit Suisse in September 2020, which covers the period during which certain of our officers and directors were executives of Credit Suisse. Whether or not such proceedings are determined adversely to our officers and directors, the negative publicity and reputational harm associated with such proceedings may divert resources and the attention of management from our business and adversely impact our ability to consummate a business combination.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the post-combination company following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with 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 target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
21
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders or warrant 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 target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the post-combination business following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 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 preferred shares, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2022, there were 165,500,000 and 11,375,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amounts do not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. As of December 31, 2022, there were no preferred shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or in connection with the redemption of our public warrants. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any 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 preferred shares may:
| ● | significantly dilute the equity interest of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, which dilution would increase in the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
22
| ● | subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preferred shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| ● | not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
The investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
23
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, 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. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval and have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. While we will hold a shareholder vote to approve our proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria, if the Business Combination is not consummated and we seek to effectuate a business combination with another target business, our board of directors may complete such business combination without seeking shareholder approval, and then public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding our initial 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.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders own approximately 43.4% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (after giving effect to the redemption of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares in connection with the Extension Amendment). Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 1,309,249, or 11.6%, of the 11,243,496 Class A ordinary shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
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 provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. 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.
24
We have amended our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the time to consummate an initial business combination, and we cannot assure you that we will not seek to further 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, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, we have amended our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the time to consummate an initial business combination, and other special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (other than amendments relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors, which may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting), and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 65% 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, at least 65% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through our initial public offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to further amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our 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 under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (other than amendments relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors, which may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting), and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. Our initial shareholders, who collectively beneficially own 43.4% of our ordinary shares (after giving effect to the redemption of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares in connection with the Extension Amendment), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and 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 that govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition 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.
25
Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the right to approve any waiver to these agreements and will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target or prevent us from completing the most desirable business combination or optimizing our capital structure.
In connection with the Extension Amendment, our public shareholders elected to redeem 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares. After giving effect to those redemptions, we have approximately $111,740,624 in our trust account (after taking into account the $3,018,750 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account). The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination, we would not proceed with such redemption of our public shares and the related business combination, and we may instead search for an alternate business combination. If we do not consummate the proposed Business Combination with Complete Solaria and we seek to effectuate a business combination with another target, then we may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a minimum cash requirement. 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, then the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, then we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Alternatively, we may seek to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. You may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
26
Because we must furnish our shareholders with the target business’s financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and 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 (“GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”) depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
If the funds available to us outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the Extension Period, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $72,923 available to us outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. On each of April 1, 2022 and June 6, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $500,000 to our sponsor; on December 14, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $325,000 to Tidjane Thiam, the Company’s Executive Chairman, Adam Gishen, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Edward Zeng, a director of the Company, and Abhishek Bhatia, a board observer of the Company (collectively, the “Convertible Notes”). The Convertible Notes may be drawn down from time to time until we complete our initial business combination for general working capital purposes, as further described in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” In addition, on February 28, 2023, we issued to our sponsor an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $2,100,000, $1,600,000 of which was drawn down immediately, $400,000 of which may be drawn down, with the mutual consent of us and our sponsor, if we wish to extend the date by which we will consummate a business combination beyond June 2, 2023, and $100,000 of which may be drawn down on an as-needed basis at the discretion of our sponsor, to be used for general working capital purposes, as further described in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Recent Developments—Promissory Note.” We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the Extension Period; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
27
We have in the past and may in the future need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us in such circumstances. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. After giving effect to the $1,325,000 principal amount of Convertible Notes, up to $675,000 of additional loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such 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 or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
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 and complete 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 and/or accept less favorable terms. Furthermore, 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, after completion of any initial business combination, our directors and officers could be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to such initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire solely with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders and pay deferred underwriting commissions, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
28
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period, 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 target business and complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, 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 completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further 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 each case, 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.
You are not entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 as of the completion of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and we filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units were immediately tradable and we have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would have prohibited the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
29
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter 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 similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours 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. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for business combination targets has increased compared to recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing business combinations. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, 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. Target 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be $10.00 per share or possibly less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies increases, there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial business combination. This could increase the costs associated with completing our initial business combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target for our initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many companies have entered into business combinations with special purpose acquisition companies, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort and resources to identify a suitable target for an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, 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 a suitable target for and/or complete our initial business combination.
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 price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
30
If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and certain underwriters of our initial public offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, 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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to substantially less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
31
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 will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event 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 earned thereon (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses). 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.
If, after we distribute the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up 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 funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency 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 funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the funds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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 funds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, 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, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
32
The SEC has recently issued proposed rules relating to certain activities of special purpose acquisition companies. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target or others may determine to undertake in connection with such proposals may increase our costs and the time needed to complete our initial business combination and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust Account or liquidate the Company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”) relating, among other things, to disclosures in SEC filings in connection with business combination transactions between special purpose acquisition companies such as us and private operating companies; the financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving shell companies; the use of projections by special purpose acquisition companies in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and the extent to which special purpose acquisition companies could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including a proposed rule that would provide special purpose acquisition companies a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a special purpose acquisition company’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. The SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted, and may be adopted in the proposed form or in a different form that could impose additional regulatory requirements on special purpose acquisition companies. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target or others may determine to undertake in connection with the SPAC Rule Proposals, or pursuant to the SEC’s views expressed in the SPAC Rule Proposals, may increase the costs and time of negotiating and completing an initial business combination, and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the trust account or liquidate the Company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose. Were we to liquidate, our warrants would expire worthless, and our securityholders would lose the investment opportunity associated with an investment in the combined company, including potential price appreciation of our securities.
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. To mitigate the risk of being deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may instruct trustee of the trust account to liquidate the securities held in the trust account and instead hold all funds in the trust account in a bank deposit account.
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 |
| ● | 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 is to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resell or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
33
As described further above, the SPAC Rule Proposals relate, among other matters, to the circumstances in which special purpose acquisition companies such as us could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a special purpose acquisition company satisfies certain criteria, including a limited time period to announce and complete a de-SPAC transaction. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a company to file a report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for a business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of its registration statement for its initial public offering. The company would then be required to complete its initial business combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of the registration statement for its initial public offering.
There is currently some uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a special purpose acquisition company. We completed our initial public offering in March 2021 and have operated as a blank check company searching for a target business with which to consummate a business combination since such time. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company.
The amounts held in the trust account have, since our initial public offering and until the 24-month anniversary of our initial public offering, been invested only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The longer that the funds in the trust account are held in U.S. government securities or in money market funds invested exclusively in such securities, the greater risk that we may be considered an unregistered investment company, in which case we may be required to liquidate. To mitigate the risk of us being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company, prior to the 24-month anniversary of the consummation of our initial public offering, we instructed Continental, the trustee with respect to the trust account, to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the trust account and to hold all funds in the trust account in cash in a bank deposit account. Interest on the bank deposit account is variable and yields materially less than the trust account’s prior investments in U.S. government treasury obligations and money market funds.
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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination during the Extension Period, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued a statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (the “SEC Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants.
34
As a result, included on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022 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 statements of 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.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, we determined that a material weakness exists in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for complex financial instruments, accrued expenses and accounts payable, and foreign exchange transactions. As a result of this material weakness, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022. This material weakness resulted in a material misstatement of our warrant liabilities, change in fair value of warrant liabilities, additional paid-in capital, accumulated deficit and related financial disclosures.
To respond to this material weakness, we have devoted, and plan to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we are enhancing these processes to better evaluate our research and understanding of the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements, including providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our ordinary shares are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. Failure to timely file will cause us to be ineligible to utilize short form registration statements on Form S-3 or Form S-4, which may impair our ability to obtain capital in a timely fashion to execute our business strategies or issue shares to effect an acquisition. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our securities.
We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
35
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Update 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” we have determined that if we are unable to complete a business combination during the Extension Period, then we will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution, as well as our liquidity condition, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to continue as a going concern.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of the material weakness described in “Item 9A. Controls and Procedures,” 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 Annual Report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. 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 our initial business combination.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
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, our business combination may be contingent on our ability to comply with certain laws and regulations and any post-business combination company may be subject to additional laws and regulations. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time, including as a result of changes in economic, political, social and government policies, and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, 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.
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.
36
Risks Associated with Our Securities and Redemption
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.
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the NYSE. We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, following our initial public offering, we must maintain a minimum amount in Shareholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, 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, in order for our Class A ordinary shares to be listed upon the consummation of our initial business combination, at such time, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our global market capitalization would be required to be at least $200 million, the aggregate market value of publicly-held shares would be required to be at least $100 million and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot holders. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect 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; | |
| ● | 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 our Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants 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.
37
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.
Our initial shareholders own approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares and only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint or remove directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Accordingly, our initial shareholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchase any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities. 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 appointed 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 appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint or remove 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 prior to our initial business combination, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will control the outcome. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior written consent of NextG. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. 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 management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our letter agreement with our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors, subscription agreements, and registration rights agreement may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors contains 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, subscription agreements, and the registration rights agreement may be amended, and provisions therein may be waived, without shareholder approval. On June 6, 2022, we amended our letter agreement to permit us to pay China Bridge Capital, which is an affiliate of NextG, for certain advisory services and investment banking services to us in connection with a potential business combination.
38
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) 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 and on the conditions described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination during the Extension Period, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the funds 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.
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 submitting or 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 materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this Annual Report entitled “Item 1. Business— Delivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights.”
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, 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.
39
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the allotted time period, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond the Extension Period before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the allotted time period, the funds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income 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 the allotted time period before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the funds 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 properly sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required time period and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior thereto.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine of $18,293 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants 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.
We have not registered, and will not register the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain 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 cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis, in which case the number of Class A ordinary shares that the holders of warrants will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum number of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
40
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
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, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities 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 (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) 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.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants 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 that was entered into concurrently with the consummation of our initial public offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered for resale.
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 65% 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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants are issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% 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 of public warrants if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
41
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital-raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) of our Class A ordinary shares is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
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 last reported sales price of our 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 we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”). 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). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of our Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. 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 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 warrants to purchase 8,625,000 Class A ordinary shares and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 6,266,667 private placement warrants, at $1.50 per warrant. In addition, as described in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources,” our sponsor and its affiliates made working capital loans to us in the aggregate amount of $1,325,000, which are convertible into 883,333 private placement warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant. If our sponsor makes any additional working capital loans, it may convert those loans into up to an additional 450,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant. 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 target 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 target business.
42
Because each unit contains one-fourth of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-fourth of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole warrants will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number 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 whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-fourth of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
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 internal controls 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 equals or 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 as a result of our reliance 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 that 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 any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $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.
43
Our warrant agreement designates 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 provides 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 our warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs are 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 are also subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by 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.
44
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
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.
Risks Associated with Conflicts of Interest
Certain members of our management team may be involved in and have a greater financial interest in the performance of other entities with which they are affiliated, and such activities may create conflicts of interest in making decisions on our behalf.
Certain members of our management team may be subject to a variety of conflicts of interest relating to their responsibilities to our sponsor and other entities with which they are affiliated. Such individuals may serve as members of management or a board of directors (or in similar such capacity) to various other affiliated entities. Such positions may create a conflict between the advice and investment opportunities provided to such entities and the responsibilities owed to us. The other entities in which such individuals may become involved may have investment objectives that overlap with ours. Furthermore, certain of our principals and employees may have a greater financial interest in the performance of such other affiliated entities than our performance. Such involvement may create conflicts of interest in sourcing investment opportunities on our behalf and on behalf of such other entities.
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses, thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. Our officers may engage in other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to, or otherwise expect to receive, substantial compensation or other economic benefit, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs, which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Directors and Executive Officers.”
45
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. 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 NextG and other entities affiliated with NextG, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor, form, invest in or otherwise become involved with 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.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Directors and Executive Officers,” “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
46
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our initial shareholders, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our initial shareholders, officers, directors or existing holders, including businesses affiliated with NextG. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. We may enter into a business combination with an entity affiliated with our initial shareholders, officers, directors or existing holders if we determine that such affiliated entity meets our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in “Item 1. Business—Effecting our Initial Business Combination—Sources of Target Businesses” and such transaction is approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our initial shareholders, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Moreover, we may, at our option, pursue an affiliated joint acquisition opportunity with one or more affiliates of NextG or with other entities to which an officer or director has a fiduciary, contractual or other obligation or duty. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing equity to any such parties, which may give rise to certain conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, 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), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On December 30, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in exchange for 8,625,000 founder shares (retroactively adjusting for the issuance of 1,437,500 founder shares resulting from a share dividend effected by the Company on February 25, 2021). The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. Our initial shareholders collectively own approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding shares. Our sponsor currently owns 8,502,500 founder shares and the independent directors each received 25,000 founder shares. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor has purchased an aggregate of 6,266,667 private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $9,400,000, or $1.50 per warrant. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the deadline nears for our completion of an initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders stand to make a substantial profit on the founder shares even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public shareholders, and may have an incentive to recommend such an initial business combination to our shareholders.
Our initial shareholders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share. As a result of the low acquisition cost of our founder shares, our initial shareholders could make a substantial profit even if we select and consummate an initial business combination with an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public shareholders. Thus, they may have more of an economic incentive for us to enter into an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or financially unstable business, or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, than would be the case if such parties had paid the full offering price for their founder shares.
Risks Associated with Tax Matters
We believe that we were a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
Because we are a blank check company, with no current active business, we believe that we were a PFIC for our 2020, 2021 and 2022 taxable years. If we were a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. investor that is a holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. investor may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. We will endeavor to provide to a U.S. investor such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. investor 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 own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules. For a more detailed explanation, see the description under the caption “Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules” in our final prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2021 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) under the Securities Act (File No. 333-252940).
47
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target 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 (or may otherwise result in adverse tax consequences). 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.
There may be tax consequences to our business combinations that may adversely affect us or our shareholders.
While we expect to undertake any merger or acquisition so as to minimize taxes both to the acquired business and/or asset and us, such business combination might not meet the statutory requirements of a tax-free reorganization, or the parties might not obtain the intended tax-free treatment upon a transfer of shares or assets. A merger or acquisition that does not qualify as a tax-free reorganization for U.S. tax purposes could result in the imposition of substantial taxes.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target 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.
In addition, 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; |
48
| ● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; | |
| ● | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; | |
| ● | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; | |
| ● | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; | |
| ● | longer payment cycles; | |
| ● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; | |
| ● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; | |
| ● | rates of inflation; | |
| ● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; | |
| ● | cultural and language differences; | |
| ● | employment regulations; | |
| ● | 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 and wars, including the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine; 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 initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in foreign countries and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such countries. 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 countries in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the countries 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 countries’ economies experience a downturn or grow at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and, if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
49
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’s ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency or several foreign currencies, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of such foreign currencies. 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 currencies against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We 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 laws 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 Securities and Exchange Commission, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
We employ a mail forwarding service, which may delay or disrupt our ability to receive mail in a timely manner.
Mail addressed to the Company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by the Company to be dealt with. None of the Company, its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the Cayman Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused in mail reaching the forwarding address, which may impair your ability to communicate with us.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Property
We currently maintain our executive offices at 14 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10005. The cost for the space is included in the up to $10,000 monthly fee that we pay 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 material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
50
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(a) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on the NYSE under the symbols “FACT.U,” “FACT” and “FACT WS,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on February 26, 2021. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on April 19, 2021.
(b) Holders
On April 3, 2023, there was 1 holder of record of our units, 2 holders of record of our Class A ordinary shares, 6 holders of record of our Class B ordinary shares and 2 holders of record of our warrants.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness, 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
Unregistered Sales
On December 30, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in exchange for 8,625,000 founder shares (retroactively adjusting for the issuance of 1,437,500 founder shares resulting from a share dividend effected by the Company on February 25, 2021). Our sponsor transferred 25,000 founder shares each to Noreen Doyle, William Janetschek and David Poritz and an aggregate of 47,500 founder shares to certain employees and consultants. On April 8, 2022, David Poritz resigned from our board of directors and returned his 25,000 founder shares to our sponsor. On May 10, 2022, Nell Cady-Kruse was appointed to our board of directors, and our sponsor transferred 25,000 founder shares to her. As a result, our sponsor now owns 8,502,500 founder shares.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to certain adjustments. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt.
51
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom are subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, 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 following the completion of our initial business combination 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 Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Our sponsor purchased 6,266,667 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant in a private placement that occurred concurrently with the closing of our initial public offering and generated gross proceeds of $9,400,000. Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants were added to the net proceeds from the initial public offering held in the trust account. If we do not complete a business combination during the Extension Period, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. The sale of the private placement warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Use of Proceeds
On March 2, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 34,500,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of approximately $345.0 million.
In connection with our initial public offering, we incurred offering costs of approximately $19.18 million, inclusive of approximately $12.08 million in deferred underwriting commissions. Other incurred offering costs consisted principally of preparation fees related to our initial public offering. After deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion, which amount will be payable upon consummation of the initial business combination, if consummated) and our initial public offering expenses, $345.0 million of the net proceeds from our initial public offering and certain of the proceeds from the private placement of the private placement warrants (or $10.00 per unit sold in our initial public offering) was placed in the trust account. The net proceeds of our initial public offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants are held in the trust account and invested as described elsewhere in this Annual Report.
There has been no material change in the planned use of the proceeds from our initial public offering and private placement as is described in the Company’s final prospectus (File No. 333-252940) dated February 26, 2021, which was declared effective by the SEC on February 25, 2021.
(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Item 6. [Reserved]
52
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factor Summary,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on December 23, 2020 for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Our sponsor is Freedom Acquisition I LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company.
The registration statement for our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) became effective on February 25, 2021. On March 2, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 34,500,000 units, which included the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 4,500,000 units at the Initial Public Offering price to cover over-allotments (the “Units”, and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units, the “Public Shares” and, with respect to the one-fourth of one redeemable warrant included in the Units, the “Public Warrants”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $345.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $19.18 million, inclusive of approximately $12.08 million in deferred underwriting commissions.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 6,266,667 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants” and, together with the Public Warrants, the “Warrants”), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $9.4 million.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, approximately $345.0 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and, until the 24-month anniversary of the consummation of our initial public offering, invested only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. To mitigate the risk of us being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company, prior to the 24-month anniversary of the consummation of our initial public offering, we instructed Continental to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the trust account and to hold all the funds in the trust account in cash in a bank deposit account, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
If we have not completed a business combination during the Extension 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 the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our outstanding Warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate a business combination within the Combination Period.
53
Recent Developments
Second Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement
On January 17, 2023, the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub entered into that certain Second Amendment to Business Combination Agreement (the “Second Amendment”) amending the Business Combination Agreement.
The Second Amendment provides that, if the Company and Complete Solaria determine in good faith by January 1, 2023 that it is probable that the Business Combination will be consummated after March 1, 2023, the Company will be required to prepare (with the reasonable cooperation of Complete Solaria) and file with the SEC a proxy statement pursuant to which it will seek the approval of its shareholders for proposals to amend the Company’s organizational documents to extend the time period for the Company to consummate its initial business combination for (x) up to an additional six (6) months, from March 2, 2023 to September 2, 2023 (the original Business Combination Agreement provided for an extension from March 1, 2023 to September 2, 2023) or (y) such other period of time as the Company and Complete Solaria may mutually agree (the original Business Combination Agreement contemplated no such prong (y)). In addition, the Second Amendment amends the Business Combination Agreement by changing the latest permitted Agreement End Date (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) from September 1, 2023 to September 2, 2023.
Amendment to Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles
On February 28, 2023, Freedom held the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders, at which holders of 35,373,848 ordinary shares, comprised of 26,773,848 Class A ordinary shares and 8,600,000 Class B ordinary shares, were present in person or by proxy, representing approximately 82.02% of the voting power of the 43,125,000 Outstanding Shares of Freedom entitled to vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting at the close of business on January 23, 2023, which was the Record Date for the Extraordinary General Meeting. The Outstanding Shares on the Record Date were comprised of 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares and 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the shareholders approved, by special resolution, the Extension Amendment Proposal, which extended the date by which Freedom must (i) consummate a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, which Freedom refers to as its initial business combination, (ii) cease its operations except for the purpose of winding up if it fails to complete such initial business combination, and (iii) redeem all of the Class A ordinary shares, included as part of the units sold in the initial public offering, for an additional three months, from March 2, 2023 to June 2, 2023, and thereafter to up to three (3) times by an additional one month each time (or up to September 2, 2023). The voting results for such proposal were as follows:
For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||
| 35,047,305 | 326,543 | 0 | ||||||||
In connection with the Extension Amendment, public shareholders elected to redeem an aggregate of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares at a redemption price of $10.21 per share, representing approximately 67.41% of the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $237,372,952. Following such redemptions, approximately $114,759,374 remained in the trust account and 11,243,496 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the public shareholders also approved the proposal to amend the Trust Agreement, by and between Freedom and Continental, as trustee, to reflect the Extension Amendment. The amendment to the Trust Agreement provides that Continental shall commence liquidation of the trust account only and promptly (x) after its receipt of the applicable instruction letter delivered by Freedom in connection with either the consummation of an initial business combination or Freedom’s inability to effect an initial business combination within the time frame specified in Freedom’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or (y) upon the date that is the later of the end of the Extension Period and such later date as may be approved by Freedom’s shareholders in accordance with the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if the aforementioned termination letter has not been received by Continental prior to such date. The voting results for such proposal were as follows:
For | Against | Abstain | ||
| 35,047,305 | 326,543 | 0 |
54
Promissory Note
On February 28, 2023, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $2,100,000 to our sponsor. The proceeds of such promissory note, $1,600,000 of which was drawn down immediately, $400,000 of which may be drawn down, with the mutual consent of us and our sponsor, if we wish to extend the date by which we will consummate a business combination beyond June 2, 2023, and $100,000 of which may be drawn down on an as-needed basis at the discretion of our sponsor, will be used for general working capital purposes. Such promissory note bears no interest and is payable in full upon the consummation of our business combination. A failure to pay the principal within five business days of the date specified above or the commencement of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy action shall be deemed an event of default, in which case the promissory note may be accelerated. The promissory note shall be forgiven by our sponsor if we are unable to consummate a business combination within the time frame specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (as amended from time to time), except to the extent of any funds held outside of the trust account established in connection with our initial public offering. The issuance of the promissory note was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for our Initial Public Offering and identifying a target company for our initial business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents held in the Trust Account and through changes in the fair value of our warrant liabilities. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net income of $5,982,340, which consisted of an unrealized gain on change in fair value of our warrant liabilities of $5,509,917, interest income of $4,821,632 on our amounts held in the Trust Account, reduction of transaction costs incurred in connection with IPO of $271,687, offset by $4,407,058 of operating costs consisting mostly of general and administrative expenses, foreign currency exchange loss of $17,638 and change in the fair value of convertible notes of $196,200.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had net income of $5,128,650, which consisted of an unrealized gain on change in fair value of our warrant liabilities of $9,381,750, interest income of $105,681 on our amounts held in the Trust Account, offset by $3,782,028 of operating costs consisting mostly of general and administrative expenses, foreign currency exchange loss of $1,475 and offering expenses related to warrant issuance of $575,278.
We classify the Warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the warrant instruments to fair value at each reporting period. These liabilities are subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our consolidated statements of operations. As part of the reclassification to warrant liability, we recorded a portion of the offering costs associated with the Initial Public Offering as expense in the consolidated statements of operations in the amount of $575,278 based on a relative fair value basis. For the period from the Initial Public Offering to December 31, 2022, the change in fair value of the Warrants was a decrease in the liability of $14,147,084.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2022, we had cash outside the Trust Account of $72,923 in its operating bank accounts, $349,927,313 in marketable securities held in the Trust Account to be used for a business combination, or to repurchase or redeem its stock in connection therewith, and a working capital deficit of $5,493,215. As of December 31, 2022, none of the amount in the Trust Account was available to be withdrawn as described above.
On each of April 1, 2022 and June 6, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $500,000 to our sponsor (the “Sponsor Notes”). On December 14, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $325,000 to Tidjane Thiam, Adam Gishen, Edward Zeng, and Abhishek Bhatia (collectively, the “Payees”) (such note, together with the Sponsor Notes, the “Convertible Notes”). The proceeds of the Convertible Notes, which may be drawn down from time to time until we consummate our initial business combination, will be used for general working capital purposes. The Convertible Notes bear no interest and are payable in full upon the earlier to occur of (i) twenty-four (24) months from the closing of our initial public offering (or such later date as may be extended in accordance with the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) or (ii) the consummation of our business combination. A failure to pay the principal within five business days of the date specified above or the commencement of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy action shall be deemed an event of default, in which case the Convertible Notes may be accelerated. Prior to our first payment of all or any portion of the principal balance of the Convertible Notes in cash, our sponsor and the Payees, as applicable, have the option to convert all, but not less than all, of the principal balance of the Convertible Notes into private placement warrants (the “Conversion Warrants”), each warrant exercisable for one of our ordinary shares at an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The terms of the Conversion Warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Our sponsor and the Payees shall be entitled to certain registration rights relating to the Conversion Warrants. The issuances of the Convertible Notes were made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had drawn a total of $1,225,000 on the Convertible Notes.
55
In addition, on February 28, 2023, we issued an additional unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $2,100,000 to our sponsor, as further described under “—Recent Developments—Promissory Note.”
We may raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor or certain of its directors and officers. The sponsor may, but is not obligated to, lend us funds, from time to time in whatever amounts it deems reasonable in its sole discretion, to meet our working capital needs. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing, however. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of its public shares upon consummation of its business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of its business combination.
If we are unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction and reducing overhead expenses. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.
Going Concern
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern,” pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, we have until the end of the Extension Period to consummate a business combination. If a business combination is not consummated during the Extension Period, we will have a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. Although we intend to consummate a business combination during the Extension Period, it is uncertain that we will be able to do so. This, as well as our liquidity condition, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should we be required to liquidate at the end of the Extension Period.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities other than described below.
We have an agreement to pay the sponsor a total of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support services. We began incurring these fees on February 25, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the business combination and our liquidation.
We have an agreement to pay the underwriters of our Initial Public Offering a deferred fee of $12,075,000 in the aggregate, which will become payable to them from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a business combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement. As of October 25, 2022, and November 2, 2022, respectively, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. have waived their portions of the deferred underwriting fee which is reflected in the consolidated statement of operations and the consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ deficit as a reduction of transaction costs incurred in connection with IPO. Therefore, the deferred underwriting fee was reduced by $9,056,250, of which $271,687 is shown in the consolidated statement of operations as a reduction of transaction costs incurred in connection with the IPO and $8,784,563 is charged to additional paid-in capital in the consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ deficit. As a result of the reductions, the outstanding deferred underwriting fee payable was reduced to $3,018,750.
56
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 U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these 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. There have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies as discussed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by us with the SEC on April 13, 2022.
Our critical accounting policies are presented below:
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including 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 our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ deficit. 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, 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of our consolidated balance sheets.
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 share purchase Warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is reassessed at the end of each reporting period.
We account for our 14,891,667 Warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering (8,625,000) and Private Placement (6,266,667) as derivative warrant liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. 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 the Private Placement Warrants has been estimated using binomial lattice simulations at each measurement date. The fair value of the Public Warrants was initially estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. After the Public Warrants were separately traded, the measurement of the Public Warrants used an observable market quote in an active market.
Net Income per Ordinary Share
We have two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. The 14,891,667 potential ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Warrants were excluded from diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 because the Warrants are contingently exercisable, and the contingencies have not yet been met. As a result, diluted net income per ordinary share is the same as basic net income per ordinary share for the periods presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2024 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The guidance was adopted starting January 1, 2022. Adoption of the ASU did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
57
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.
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 CEO’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
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures 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 our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
58
We determined that a material weakness exists in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for complex financial instruments, accrued expenses and accounts payable, and foreign exchange transactions. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of control deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Notwithstanding the determination that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective and that there was a material weakness as identified in this Annual Report, we believe that our consolidated financial statements contained in this Annual Report fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the years covered hereby in all material respects.
As required by Rules 13a-15f and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based upon their evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 (e) and 15d-15 (e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of December 31, 2022.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing 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 did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022 due to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting described above.
To respond to this material weakness, management has devoted, and plans to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we are enhancing our system of evaluating and implementing the accounting standards that apply to our financial statements, including through enhanced analyses by our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of 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
Other than as discussed herein, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
None.
59
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
| Name | Age | Position | ||
| Tidjane Thiam | 60 | Executive Chairman | ||
| Adam Gishen | 48 | Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Nell Cady-Kruse | 61 | Director | ||
| Noreen Doyle | 73 | Director | ||
| William Janetschek | 61 | Director | ||
| Edward Zeng | 60 | Director |
Our directors and executive officers are as follows:
Tidjane Thiam, Executive Chairman
Tidjane Thiam has served as our Executive Chairman since our inception in December 2020. Since June 2020, Mr. Thiam has been a Director and the Chair of the Audit Committee of Kering S.A., the French luxury group. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Thiam was Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse Group AG. From 2014 to 2019, Mr. Thiam was a Director of 21st Century Fox and served on its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Thiam previously served at Prudential plc, a global insurance company based on London, as the Group Chief Executive from 2009 to 2015, a Director from 2008 to 2015 and Group Chief Financial Officer from 2008 to 2009. Mr. Thiam holds an MBA from INSEAD and graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris in 1986 and from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris in 1984. We believe Mr. Thiam’s extensive leadership experience, broad network and deep understanding of the financial services sector make him a valuable addition to our board of directors.
Adam Gishen, Chief Executive Officer and Board Observer
Adam Gishen has served as our Chief Executive Officer since February 2021 and serves as one of our initial board observers. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Gishen served in several senior roles at Credit Suisse Group AG, including Global Head of Investor Relations, Corporate Communications and Marketing and Branding. Prior to 2015, Mr. Gishen was a partner at Ondra Partners, a financial advisory firm and previous to this worked as a Managing Director at Nomura and at Lehman Brothers in the area of Equity Capital Markets. Mr. Gishen graduated from the University of Leeds.
Nell Cady-Kruse, Director
Nell Cady-Kruse has served on our board of directors since May 2022. Ms. Cady-Kruse is non-executive director of Barclays US LLC and Barclays Bank Delaware (appointed in December 2017 and September 2016, respectively) and serves as Chair of both Board Risk Committees. In 2022, Ms. Cady-Kruse joined as an Independent Director of Varagon Capital Corporation, a business development company. She also serves as an Advisory Board member of FutureBank, a fintech startup. Ms. Cady-Kruse’s executive career includes most recently the Global Chief Risk Officer, Wholesale Banking for Standard Chartered Bank, based in Singapore. She retired from Standard Chartered in 2014. Prior to Standard Chartered, she spent nine years at Credit Suisse, where her most recent role was Chief Risk Officer of the Asia Pacific region. Ms. Cady-Kruse received her MBA from Cornell SC Johnson Graduate School of Management in 1985. She received her B.S. with Honors in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. We believe Ms. Cady-Kruse’s extensive leadership experience, global network, and deep expertise across the financial services sector make her a valuable addition to our board of directors.
Noreen Doyle, Director
Noreen Doyle has served on our board of directors since our initial public offering. Ms. Doyle retired in April 2021 as Chair of the Board of Directors of Newmont Corporation, the world’s largest gold producer. She joined the Newmont Board in 2005 and since 2016 served as Chair of the Board and of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Previously she served as Chair of the Audit Committee. From 2004 to 2017, she served on the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group AG, including as Vice Chair and Senior Independent Director from 2014 to 2017. Ms. Doyle has also served on the boards of Rexam PLC and QinetiQ plc. In her executive career, Ms. Doyle was First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from 2001 to 2005, having previously served as head of Risk Management and of Syndications. Prior to EBRD, Ms. Doyle was a senior officer at Bankers Trust Company (now Deutsche Bank) specializing in leveraged finance and natural resources. Ms. Doyle holds an MBA from Tuck School at Dartmouth, where she served on its Board of Overseers, and a B.A. from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, where she served on and chaired its Board of Trustees. We believe Ms. Doyle is well qualified to serve on our board of directors based on her experience and network in the financial services industry.
60
William Janetschek, Director
William Janetschek has served on our board of directors since our initial public offering. Mr. Janetschek joined KKR in 1997 and retired in 2020 as a Partner and its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Janetschek was also a member of KKR’s Balance Sheet Committee, Global Valuation Committee and Risk and Operations Committee. Prior to joining KKR, he was a Tax Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Mr. Janetschek serves on the board of directors of Bilander Acquisition Corp. He also serves as a sponsor and member of a variety of non-profit organizations including Student Sponsor Partners and St. Brigid Catholic Church. Mr. Janetschek holds a M.S. from Pace University and a B.S. from St. John’s University, where he is now the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. We believe Mr. Janetschek’s finance and operations experience makes him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Edward Zeng, Director
Edward Zeng has served on our board of directors since June 2022. Mr. Zeng is the Managing Director of China Bridge Capital, an independent investment bank, focusing on China-based, integrated financial bridge and emerging technologies, and with locations in China and the United States. Mr. Zeng has been a technological entrepreneur in China and has founded several internet-related Chinese companies, including Sparkice Inc. and Qianlong.com. Mr. Zeng holds a B.A. in Applied Mathematics and a M.A. in Economic Management from Tsinghua University and a M.A. in Financial Economics from University of Toronto.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of five members and is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first general meeting) serving a three-year term.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Nell Cady-Kruse, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Noreen Doyle and William Janetschek, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Tidjane Thiam and Edward Zeng, will expire at the third annual general meeting.
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint or remove directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Our board of directors has determined that Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle, and William Janetschek are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
61
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee, and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each of our audit committee, compensation committee, and nominating and corporate governance committee is composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, 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, and the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that has been approved by our board of directors and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website at https://freedomac1.com/investor-resources/#resources/.
Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle, and William Janetschek serve as the members and William Janetschek serves as chair of the audit committee. Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle, and William Janetschek are independent of and unaffiliated with our sponsor. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent.
Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle, and William Janetschek are financially literate and our board of directors has determined that William Janetschek qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| ● | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; | |
| ● | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the registered public accounting firm has with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; | |
| ● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; | |
| ● | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the independent registered public accounting firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; | |
| ● | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
62
| ● | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle, and William Janetschek serve as the members of the compensation committee, and Nell Cady-Kruse serves as chair of the compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, all the directors on the compensation committee must be independent.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the compensation committee, including:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer’s based on such evaluation; | |
| ● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; | |
| ● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; | |
| ● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; | |
| ● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; | |
| ● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our 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. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of up to $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support, other expenses and obligations of our sponsor and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other advisor and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such advisor. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other advisor, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such advisor, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
63
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle, and William Janetschek. Noreen Doyle serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, all the directors on the nominating and corporate governance committee must be independent.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
| ● | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; | |
| ● | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; | |
| ● | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and | |
| ● | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than ten percent of our ordinary shares to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. These reporting persons are also required to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely upon a review of such forms, we believe that during the year ended December 31, 2022 there were no delinquent filers.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. You can review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of the committees of our board of directors are provided on our website at https://freedomac1.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Freedom-Acquisition-I-Corp.-Code-of-Ethics.pdf. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or NYSE rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website.
64
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
| (i) | 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; |
| (ii) | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| (iii) | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| (iv) | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| (v) | 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 |
| (vi) | 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 memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Below is a table summarizing the other entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
| Individual | Entity/Organization | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
| Tidjane Thiam | Kering S.A. | Luxury goods | Director and Chair of Audit Committee | |||
| Publicis Group | Marketing and communications | Director and Member of Audit Committee | ||||
| Adam Gishen | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Nell Cady-Kruse | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| Noreen Doyle | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| William Janetschek | Bilander Acquisition Corp. | SPAC | Director | |||
| Edward Zeng | China Bridge Capital | Investment Bank | Managing Director |
There are also other potential conflicts of interest:
| ● | Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specified amount of time to our affairs. |
65
| ● | Our initial shareholders purchased founder shares and private placement warrants. Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of any founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof) until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last reported sales 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, the founder shares will be released from the lockup. | |
| ● | The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our officers and directors will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. | |
| ● | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, a committee of independent and disinterested directors would consider, review and approve the transaction. Additionally, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, we have agreed to pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team and other expenses and obligations of our sponsor.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them, and they have agreed to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them 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, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We have 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. We have also entered into indemnity agreements with them.
66
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
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.
None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. We pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team and other expenses and obligations of our sponsor. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed initial 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 initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
67
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares available to us at April 3, 2023, with respect to our ordinary shares held 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 officers and directors; and | |
| ● | all our 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. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of April 3, 2023.
On December 30, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in exchange for founder shares such that our sponsor owned 8,625,000 founder shares (retroactively adjusting for the issuance of 1,437,500 founder shares resulting from a share dividend effected by the Company on February 25, 2021). Our sponsor transferred 25,000 founder shares each to Noreen Doyle, William Janetschek and David Poritz and an aggregate of 47,500 founder shares to certain employees and consultants. On April 8, 2022, David Poritz resigned from our board of directors and returned his 25,000 founder shares to our sponsor. On May 10, 2022, Nell Cady-Kruse was appointed to our board of directors, and our sponsor transferred 25,000 founder shares to her. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible.
In connection with the Extension Amendment, 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares were redeemed and 11,243,496 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding after giving effect to such redemptions, as further described in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Recent Developments—Amendment to Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles.”
| Class A ordinary shares | Class B ordinary shares(2) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Approximate Percentage of Ordinary Shares | ||||||||||||||||
| Freedom Acquisition I LLC(3) | — | — | 8,502,500 | 98.6 | % | 42.8 | % | |||||||||||||
| Entities affiliated with Glazer Capital, LLC(4) | 1,244,800 | 11.1 | % | — | — | 6.3 | % | |||||||||||||
| Entities affiliated with Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.(5) | 1,961,121 | 17.4 | % | — | — | 9.9 | % | |||||||||||||
| Tidjane Thiam | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Adam Gishen | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Nell Cady-Kruse | — | — | 25,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| Noreen Doyle | — | — | 25,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| William Janetschek | — | — | 25,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| Edward Zeng | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| All directors and executive officers of FACT as a group (six individuals) | — | — | 75,000 | * | * | |||||||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is 14 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, 10005. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. |
68
| (3) | Freedom Acquisition I LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of such shares. Mr. Thiam, Mr. Gishen and Mr. Bhatia are the three managers of our sponsor’s board of managers. Each manager of Freedom Acquisition I LLC has one vote, and the approval of a majority of the members of the board of managers is required to approve an action of Freedom Acquisition I LLC. Under the so-called “rule of three,” if voting and dispositive decisions regarding an entity’s securities are made by three or more individuals, and a voting and dispositive decision requires the approval of a majority of those individuals, then none of the individuals is deemed a beneficial owner of the entity’s securities. This is the situation with regard to Freedom Acquisition I LLC. Based upon the foregoing analysis, no individual manager of Freedom Acquisition I LLC exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the securities held by Freedom Acquisition I LLC even those in which he directly holds a pecuniary interest. Accordingly, none of them will be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of such shares and, for the avoidance of doubt, expressly disclaims any such beneficial interest to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly. |
| (4) | The information in the table above is based solely on information contained in this shareholder’s Schedule 13G/A under the Exchange Act filed by such shareholder with the SEC on March 10, 2023. Glazer Capital, LLC (“Glazer Capital”) and Paul J. Glazer, who serves as the managing member of Glazer Capital, have shared voting and dispositive power with respect to the Class A ordinary shares held by certain funds and managed accounts to which Glazer Capital serves as investment manager (collectively, the “Glazer Funds”). The address for the Glazer Funds and Paul J. Glazer is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
| (5) | The information in the table above is based solely on information contained in this shareholder’s Schedule 13G under the Exchange Act filed by such shareholder with the SEC on February 9, 2023, which was prior to the redemption of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares in connection with the Extension Amendment, as further described in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Recent Developments—Amendment to Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles.” Polar Asset Management Partners Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of Ontario, Canada, serves as the investment advisor to Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund, a Cayman Islands exempted company, which holds 1,961,121 Class A ordinary shares, and has sole voting and dispositive power with respect to such shares. The address for Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. is 16 York Street, Suite 2900, Toronto, ON, Canada M5J 0E6. |
Our sponsor and our directors beneficially own approximately 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint and remove directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint or remove any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our sponsor and our directors 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.
In connection with our initial public offering, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 6,266,667 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, $9,400,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our initial offering. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our offering except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us (except as described in the registration statement for our initial public offering), (ii) will be subject to the transfer restrictions described below, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. If we do not complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period, the private placement warrants will expire worthless.
Freedom Acquisition I LLC, our sponsor, and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence” for additional information regarding our relationships with our promoters.
69
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 management team. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last reported sales price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion or exercise thereof, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliate or family member of any of our officers or directors, any affiliate of our sponsor or to any member of the sponsor or any affiliates of such members and funds and accounts advised by such members, (b) in the case of an individual, as a gift to such person’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such person’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 such person; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangement or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares or warrants were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor, (g) in the event of our liquidation prior to our consummation of our initial business combination; or (h) in the event that, subsequent to our consummation of an initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; 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 agreements.
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of our initial public offering, (ii) private placement warrants, which were issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants and (iii) private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans are entitled to registration rights to require us to register the resale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Equity Compensation Plans
As of December 31, 2022, we had no compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities were authorized for issuance.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
On December 30, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in exchange for founder shares such that our sponsor owned 8,625,000 founder shares (retroactively adjusting for the issuance of 1,437,500 founder shares resulting from a share dividend effected by the Company on February 25, 2021). Our sponsor transferred 25,000 founder shares each to Noreen Doyle, William Janetschek and David Poritz and an aggregate of 47,500 founder shares to certain employees and consultants. On April 8, 2022, David Poritz resigned from our board of directors and returned his 25,000 founder shares to our sponsor. On May 10, 2022, Nell Cady-Kruse was appointed to our board of directors, and our sponsor transferred 25,000 founder shares to her. As such, our sponsor now owns 8,502,500 founder shares. Our sponsor and our directors collectively own approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding shares as of our initial public offering.
70
In connection with our initial public offering, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 6,266,667 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, or $9,400,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our initial public offering except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us (except as described in the registration statement for our initial public offering), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights.
We currently utilize office space at 14 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, 10005 as our executive offices. We pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team and other expenses and obligations of our sponsor. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Accordingly, in the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes until 24 months after the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor will be paid an aggregate of up to approximately $240,000 ($10,000 per month) for office space, administrative and support services, and other expenses and obligations of our sponsor and will be entitled to be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, 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 target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
Our sponsor agreed to loan us up to $300,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering. These loans were non-interest bearing and unsecured, and were repaid upon completion of the initial public offering out of the offering proceeds that had been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this loan transaction corresponded to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.
On each of April 1, 2022 and June 6, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $500,000 to our sponsor (the “Sponsor Notes”). On December 14, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $325,000 to Tidjane Thiam, Adam Gishen, Edward Zeng, and Abhishek Bhatia (collectively, the “Payees”) (such note, together with the Sponsor Notes, the “Convertible Notes”). The proceeds of the Convertible Notes, which may be drawn down from time to time until we consummate our initial business combination, will be used for general working capital purposes. The Convertible Notes bear no interest and are payable in full upon the earlier to occur of (i) twenty-four (24) months from the closing of our initial public offering (or such later date as may be extended in accordance with the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of Association) or (ii) the consummation of our business combination. A failure to pay the principal within five business days of the date specified above or the commencement of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy action shall be deemed an event of default, in which case the Convertible Notes may be accelerated. Prior to the Company’s first payment of all or any portion of the principal balance of the Convertible Notes in cash, our sponsor and the Payees, as applicable, have the option to convert all, but not less than all, of the principal balance of the Convertible Notes into private placement warrants (the “Conversion Warrants”), each warrant exercisable for one ordinary share of the Company at an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The terms of the Conversion Warrants would be identical to the warrants issued by the Company to the sponsor in a private placement that was consummated in connection with our initial public offering. Our sponsor and the Payees shall be entitled to certain registration rights relating to the Conversion Warrants. The Convertible Notes were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
71
In addition, on February 28, 2023, we issued an additional unsecured promissory note in the amount of up to $2,100,000 to our sponsor, as described under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Recent Developments—Promissory Note.” The proceeds of such promissory note, $1,600,000 of which was drawn down immediately, $400,000 of which may be drawn down, with the mutual consent of us and our sponsor, if we wish to extend the date by which we will consummate a business combination beyond June 2, 2023, and $100,000 of which may be drawn down on an as-needed basis at the discretion of our sponsor, will be used for general working capital purposes. Such promissory note bears no interest and is payable in full upon the consummation of our business combination. A failure to pay the principal within five business days of the date specified above or the commencement of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy action shall be deemed an event of default, in which case the promissory note may be accelerated. The promissory note shall be forgiven by our sponsor if we are unable to consummate a business combination within the time frame specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (as amended from time to time), except to the extent of any funds held outside of the trust account established in connection with our initial public offering. The issuance of the promissory note was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us additional funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. 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 $675,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants described above. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares and private placement warrants, which is described under the heading “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters—Registration Rights.”
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors has adopted a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.
72
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Our board of directors has determined that Nell Cady-Kruse, Noreen Doyle and William Janetschek are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The firm of Marcum LLP, or Marcum, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum for services rendered.
Audit Fees. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $144,458 and $125,918, respectively, for the services Marcum performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering and the audit of our December 31, 2022 financial statements included in this Annual Report.
Audit-Related Fees. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render assurance and related services related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements.
Tax Fees. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All Other Fees. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
73
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report:
(1) Financial Statements:
(2) Financial Statement Schedules:
None.
(3) Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be accessed on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
74
| * | Filed herewith. |
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
Not applicable.
75
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on April 6, 2023.
| Freedom Acquisition I Corp. | |||
| By: | /s/ Adam Gishen | ||
| Name: | Adam Gishen | ||
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | ||
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed by the following persons in the capacity and on the dates indicated.
| Name | Position | Date | ||
| /s/ Tidjane Thiam | Executive Chairman | April 6, 2023 | ||
| Tidjane Thiam | ||||
| /s/ Adam Gishen | Chief Executive Officer and Board | April 6, 2023 | ||
| Adam Gishen | Observer | |||
| /s/ Nell Cady-Kruse | Director | April 6, 2023 | ||
| Nell Cady-Kruse | ||||
| /s/ Noreen Doyle | Director | April 6, 2023 | ||
| Noreen Doyle | ||||
| /s/ William Janetschek | Director | April 6, 2023 | ||
| William Janetschek | ||||
| /s/ Edward Zeng | Director | April 6, 2023 | ||
| Edward Zeng |
76
FREEDOM ACQUISITION I CORP.
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Freedom Acquisition I Corp.
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ (deficit) equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2022 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/
Marcum llp
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
April 6, 2023
F-2
FREEDOM ACQUISITION I CORP.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, | ||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | $ | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses - short term | ||||||||
| Total current assets | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses - long term | ||||||||
| Cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||||||
| Total Assets | $ | $ | ||||||
| Liabilities, Redeemable Ordinary Shares and Shareholders’ Deficit | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
| Convertible promissory note – related party | ||||||||
| Total current liabilities | ||||||||
| Warrant liabilities | ||||||||
| Deferred underwriters’ discount payable | ||||||||
| Total Liabilities | ||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies (See Note 7) | ||||||||
| Class A Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | ||||||||
| Shareholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
| Preference shares, $ | ||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $ | ||||||||
| Class B ordinary shares, $ | ||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total Shareholders’ Deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total Liabilities, Redeemable Ordinary Shares and Shareholders’ Deficit | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-3
FREEDOM ACQUISITION I
CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Operating costs | $ | $ | ||||||
| Loss from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other income (expense): | ||||||||
| Foreign currency exchange loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Interest income on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||||||
| Reduction of transaction costs incurred in connection with IPO | — | |||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of convertible note | ( | ) | ||||||
| Offering expenses related to warrant issuance | ( | ) | ||||||
| Total other income, net | ||||||||
| Net income | $ | $ | ||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | ||||||||
| $ | $ | |||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding, Class B ordinary shares | ||||||||
| $ | $ | |||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-4
FREEDOM ACQUISITION I CORP.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 AND 2021
| Class A Ordinary Shares | Class B Ordinary Shares | Additional Paid-in | Accumulated | Total Shareholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | (Deficit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance – December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sale of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess of the fair value of private placement warrants over cash received | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | — | — | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance – December 31, 2021 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proceeds received on convertible note less than fair value | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accretion portion net against additional paid-in-capital | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Reduction of deferred underwriting fee payable | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance – December 31, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-5
FREEDOM ACQUISITION I
CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| For the Years Ended December 31. | ||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
| Net income | $ | $ | ||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
| Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Change in fair value of convertible note | ||||||||
| Change in deferred underwriting fee | ( | ) | ||||||
| Offering costs allocated to warrants | ||||||||
| Changes in current assets and current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ||||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||||
| Investment of cash into Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | ( | ) | ||||||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
| Proceeds from Initial Public Offering, net of underwriters’ discount | ||||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Private Placement Warrants | ||||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Convertible Promissory Note | ||||||||
| Repayment of promissory note to related party | ( | ) | ||||||
| Payments of offering costs | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||||||
| Net Change in Cash | ( | ) | ||||||
| Cash – Beginning | ||||||||
| Cash – Ending | $ | $ | ||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of noncash financing activities: | ||||||||
| Initial value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | $ | ||||||
| Initial value of warrant liabilities | $ | $ | ||||||
| Deferred underwriters’ discount payable charged to additional paid-in capital | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | $ | ||||||
| Deferred offering costs paid under promissory note | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-6
FREEDOM ACQUISITION I CORP.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 — Organization and Business Operations
Organization and General
Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (the “Company” or “Freedom”) was incorporated in Cayman Islands on December 23, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
On October 3, 2022, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement with Jupiter Merger Sub I Corp., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, Jupiter Merger Sub II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, Complete Solar Holding Corporation, a Delaware corporation, and The Solaria Corporation, a Delaware corporation.
The Company’s sponsor is Freedom Acquisition I LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2022, relates to the Company’s formation and the Initial Public Offering (“IPO” or “Initial Public Offering”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the IPO and changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities.
Financing
The registration statement for the Company’s
IPO was declared effective on February 25, 2021 (the “Effective Date”). On March 2, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO
of
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated
the sale of
Transaction costs amounted to $
Trust Account
Following the closing of the IPO on March 2, 2021,
an amount of $
F-7
Initial Business Combination
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination.
The Company’s Business Combination must
be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least
The Company will provide its public shareholders
with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination either
(i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the initial Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The
decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial Business Combination or conduct a tender offer
will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The shareholders will be entitled to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion
of the amount then on deposit in the Trust Account (initially $
The Class A ordinary shares subject to
redemption are recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the IPO, in accordance with
Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case,
the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $
On February 28, 2023, the Company’s shareholders
approved an amendment to its amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which the Company must
complete a Business Combination from March 2, 2023 to June 2, 2023, and to thereafter further extend such period up to three times by
an additional one month each time (up to September 2, 2023) (such period, as may be extended, the “Combination Period”). However,
if the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will redeem
The Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private placement shares and public shares in connection with the completion of the initial Business Combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to their founder shares and private placement shares if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The Company’s Sponsor has agreed that it
will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third-party for services rendered or products sold to the Company,
or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement
or Business Combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $
F-8
Liquidity
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had cash outside the Trust Account
of $
The Company may raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of its directors and officers. The Sponsor may, but is not obligated to, lend the Company funds, from time to time in whatever amounts it deems reasonable in its sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain additional financing, however. Moreover, the Company may need to obtain additional financing either to complete its Business Combination or because the Company becomes obligated to redeem a significant number of its public shares upon consummation of its Business Combination, in which case the Company may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, the Company would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of its Business Combination.
If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.
Going Concern
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern,” pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Company has until the end of the Combination Period to consummate a Business Combination. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. Although the Company intends to consummate a Business Combination during the Combination Period, it is uncertain that the Company will be able to do so. This, as well as its liquidity condition, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate at the end of the Combination Period.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus and war could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Consideration of IR Act Excise Tax
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act
of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal
Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022, in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise, may be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent the Company would be subject to the excise tax in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the Business Combination, extension or otherwise, (ii) the structure of a Business Combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a Business Combination but issued within the same taxable year of a Business Combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by the Company and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a Business Combination and in the Company’s ability to complete a Business Combination.
F-9
Note 2 — Revision of Previously-Issued Financial Statements
In connection with the preparation of the Company’s financial statements
as of December 31, 2022, the Company identified an error in amounts reported in certain of the Company’s previously-issued financial
statements related to accounts payable. The Company incorrectly recorded intercompany operating bank transfers as payables whereas Legal
and Professional Services was the accompanying debit in each transaction recorded. As a result, management determined that accounts payable
and operational costs as of June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 were overstated by $
The following tables contain the revised financial information for the affected periods previously reported. The revisions do not have an impact on the Company’s cash position and investments held in the Trust Account established in connection with the Initial Public Offering. The Company has not amended its previously filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the two quarterly periods in 2022. The financial information that has been previously filed or otherwise reported for these affected periods are superseded by the information below in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The impact of the revision on the Company’s financial statements is reflected in the following tables:
| As Previously Reported | Adjustment | As Revised | ||||||||||
| Balance Sheet as of June 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Total Liabilities | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Total Shareholders’ Equity (Deficit) | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | |||||
| Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Total Liabilities | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Total Shareholders’ Equity (Deficit) | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | |||||
| As Previously Reported | Adjusted | As Revised | ||||||||||
| Condensed Statement of Operations for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Operational Costs | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||
| Condensed Statement of Operations for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Operational Costs | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||
| Condensed Statement of Operations for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Operational Costs | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||
| As Previously Reported | Adjusted | As Revised | ||||||||||
| Condensed Statement of Cash Flows for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Condensed Statement of Cash Flows for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022 (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ |
F-10
Note 3 — Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s consolidated financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Estimates made in preparing these consolidated financial statements include, among other things, the fair value measurement of the Private Warrant liabilities.
F-11
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Investments Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2022, the assets held in the Trust Account were held in a money market fund with a maturity of 180 days or less. At December 31, 2021, the assets held in the Trust Account were held in cash and U.S. Treasury securities. The Company classifies its United States Treasury securities as held-to-maturity in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC Topic 320, “Investments—Debt and Equity Securities.” Held-to-maturity securities are those securities which the Company has the ability and intent to hold until maturity. Held-to-maturity treasury securities are recorded at amortized cost and adjusted for the amortization or remeasurement of premiums or discounts.
As of December 31, 2022, investment in the
Company’s Trust Account consisted of $
| Fair Value as of December 31, 2022 | ||||
| Cash | $ | |||
| Money Market Funds | ||||
| $ | ||||
| Amortized Cost and Carrying Value | Gross Unrealized Gains | Gross Unrealized Losses | Fair Value as of December 31, 2021 | |||||||||||||
| Cash | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Treasury Securities | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||
A decline in the market value of held-to-maturity securities below cost that is deemed to be other than temporary results in an impairment that reduces the carrying costs to such securities’ fair value. The impairment is charged to earnings and a new cost basis for the security is established. To determine whether an impairment is other than temporary, the Company considers whether it has the ability and intent to hold the investment until a market price recovery and considers whether evidence indicating the cost of the investment is recoverable outweighs evidence to the contrary. Evidence considered in this assessment includes the reasons for the impairment, the severity and the duration of the impairment, changes in value subsequent to year-end, forecasted performance of the investee, and the general market condition in the geographic area or industry the investee operates in.
Premiums and discounts are amortized or accreted over the life of the related held-to-maturity security as an adjustment to yield using the effective-interest method. Such amortization and remeasurement are included in the “interest income” line item in the statements of operations. Interest income is recognized when earned.
F-12
Convertible Promissory Notes—Related Party
The Company accounts for its convertible promissory notes under ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). Under ASC 815-15-25, the election can be at the inception of a financial instrument to account for the instrument under the fair value option under ASC 825. The Company has made such election for its convertible promissory notes. Using the fair value option, the convertible promissory notes are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, each drawdown date, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Differences between the face value of the note and fair value at each drawdown date are recognized as either an expense in the consolidated statements of operations (if issued at a premium) or as a capital contribution (if issued at a discount). Changes in the estimated fair value of the notes are recognized as non-cash gains or losses in the consolidated statements of operations. Changes in the estimated fair value of the note are recognized as non-cash change in the fair value of the convertible promissory notes in the consolidated statements of operations.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject
the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal
Depository Insurance Coverage of $
Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible
redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A ordinary shares
subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable
ordinary shares (including 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, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ deficit. The Company’s ordinary shares feature certain
redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events.
Accordingly, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021,
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class
A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. The
| For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Class A | Class B | |||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share: | ||||||||||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||||||||
| Allocation of net income | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
F-13
Offering Costs
The Company complies with the requirements
of the ASC 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A - “Expenses of Offering”.
Offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to
the Public Offering and that were charged to temporary equity upon the completion of the IPO. Accordingly, on December 31, 2022,
offering costs totaling $
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the consolidated balance sheets.
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued share purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. 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.
The Company accounts for its
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
F-14
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with federal income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company, but rather on the individual owners. United States (“U.S.”) taxation would occur on the individual owners if certain tax elections are made by U.S. owners and the Company were treated as a passive foreign investment company. The Company believes that it was a passive foreign investment company for the 2021 and 2022 taxable years. Additionally, U.S. taxation could occur to the Company itself if the Company is engaged in a U.S. trade or business. The Company is not expected to be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business at this time.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, “Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”)” to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2024 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The guidance was adopted starting January 1, 2022. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
Note 4 — Initial Public Offering
Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company
sold
All of the
The Class A ordinary share is subject to SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, the Company has the option to either accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or to recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur. Immediately upon the closing of the IPO, the Company recognized the remeasurement from initial book value to redemption amount value. The change in the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital and accumulated deficit.
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the ordinary share reflected on the consolidated balance sheets are reconciled in the following table:
| Gross proceeds from IPO | $ | |||
| Less: | ||||
| Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants | ( | ) | ||
| Ordinary share issuance costs | ( | ) | ||
| Plus: | ||||
| Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | ||||
| Contingently redeemable ordinary share as of December 31, 2021 | ||||
| Plus: | ||||
| Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | ||||
| Contingently redeemable ordinary share as of December 31, 2022 | $ |
F-15
Note 5 — Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the
Sponsor purchased an aggregate of
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants sold in the IPO except that the Private Placement Warrants, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by the Company, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights.
Note 6 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On December 31, 2020, the Sponsor paid $
The Company’s initial shareholders have
agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until
the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (ii) the date on which the Company
completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after the initial Business Combination that results in all
of its shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain
permitted transferees and under certain circumstances (the “Lock-up”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same
restrictions and other agreements of the initial shareholders with respect to any Founder Shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1)
the closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $
On May 16, 2022, the Sponsor transferred
The transfer of Founders Shares to the Company’s
director, as described above, is within the scope of ASC 718, as such, the fair value of the
F-16
Promissory Note — Related Party
On December 30, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan
the Company up to $
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there was no outstanding amount under the Promissory Note.
Working Capital Loans
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs
in connection with an intended Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers
and directors, may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the
Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans. In the event that a Business Combination
does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans
but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. After giving effect to the Notes described
below, up to $
On April 1, 2022 and June 6, 2022, the Company
issued unsecured promissory notes in the amounts of up to $
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had an aggregate of $
On February 28, 2023, the Company issued an unsecured
promissory note in the amount of up to $
Administrative Support Service
Commencing on the date of the IPO, the Company
agreed to pay the Sponsor up to $
F-17
Note 7 — Commitments & Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) Founder Shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of the IPO, (ii) Private Placement Warrants, which will be issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the IPO and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such Private Placement Warrants and (iii) Private Placement Warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans will have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of its securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the Company’s completion of its initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriters Agreement
On March 2, 2021, the Company paid a fixed
underwriting discount of $
Business Combination Agreement
On October 3, 2022, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Business Combination Agreement”), with Jupiter Merger Sub I Corp., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“First Merger Sub”), Jupiter Merger Sub II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Second Merger Sub”), Complete Solaria, Inc. (formerly known as Complete Solar Holding Corporation), a Delaware corporation (“Complete Solaria”) and The Solaria Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Solaria”).
The Mergers
The Business Combination Agreement provides that, among other things and upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereof, the following transactions will occur (together with the other agreements and transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, the “Business Combination”):
| ● | at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “Closing”), upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereof, and in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended (the “DGCL”), (i) First Merger Sub will merge with and into Complete Solaria, with Complete Solaria surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, (ii) immediately thereafter and as part of the same overall transaction, Complete Solaria will merge with and into Second Merger Sub, with Second Merger Sub surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and (iii) immediately after the consummation of the Second Merger and as part of the same overall transaction, Solaria will merge with and into a newly formed Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Third Merger Sub”), with Third Merger Sub surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Additional Merger,” and together with the First Merger and the Second Merger, the “Mergers”); |
| ● | at the Closing, all outstanding shares of capital stock of Complete Solaria (subject to certain restrictions) and all options and
warrants to acquire shares of capital stock of Complete Solaria will convert into the right to receive shares of common stock, par value
$ |
| ● | at the Closing, the Company will be renamed “Complete Solaria, Inc.” |
F-18
On October 2, 2022 and October 3, 2022, respectively, a special committee (the “Freedom Special Committee”) of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Freedom Board”) and the Freedom Board have (i) approved the Business Combination Agreement and the Business Combination and (ii) resolved to recommend that the shareholders of the Company approve the Business Combination Agreement and the Business Combination.
First Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement
On December 26, 2022, the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub entered into a letter agreement (the “First Amendment”) amending the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of October 3, 2022, by and among the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub.
The Amendment deletes the following provisions in the Business Combination Agreement:
| ● | The condition to the obligation of Complete Solaria to consummate the Business Combination that there be, as of the closing of the
Business Combination (the “Closing”), at least $ |
| ● | The obligation of each of the Company and Complete Solaria to use reasonable best efforts to cause the Available Acquiror Cash to
equal or exceed $ |
| ● | The right of Complete Solaria to terminate the Business Combination Agreement if: |
| o | Complete Solaria has not consummated the issuances of convertible note investments in Complete Solaria for an aggregate purchase price
of at least $ |
| o | at a meeting of shareholders of the Company to extend the deadline by which the Company is required to consummate the Business Combination
under its organizational documents, a number of shareholders of the Company elect to redeem their ordinary shares such that the amount
remaining in the Company’s trust account after processing such redemptions, when taken together with the amounts included in prongs
(ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) of the definition of Available Acquiror Cash (as described above) is less than $ |
| ● | The obligation of the Company and Complete Solaria to make termination payments in certain circumstances. |
Second Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement
On January 17, 2023, the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub entered into that certain Second Amendment to Business Combination Agreement (the “Second Amendment”) amending the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of October 3, 2022, by and among the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub, as amended by the First Amendment.
The Second Amendment provides that, if the Company and Complete Solaria determine in good faith by January 1, 2023 that it is probable that the Business Combination will be consummated after March 1, 2023, the Company will be required to prepare (with the reasonable cooperation of Complete Solaria) and file with the SEC a proxy statement pursuant to which it will seek the approval of its shareholders for proposals to amend the Company’s organizational documents to extend the time period for the Company to consummate its initial business combination for (x) up to an additional six (6) months, from March 2, 2023 to September 2, 2023 (the original Business Combination Agreement provided for an extension from March 1, 2023 to September 2, 2023) or (y) such other period of time as the Company and Complete Solaria may mutually agree (the original Business Combination Agreement contemplated no such prong (y)). In addition, the Second Amendment amends the Business Combination Agreement by changing the latest permitted Agreement End Date (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) from September 1, 2023 to September 2, 2023.
F-19
Note 8 — Shareholders’ Deficit
Preference shares — The
Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class A Ordinary shares —
The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class B Ordinary shares —
The Company is authorized to issue a total of
On December 31, 2020,
Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders, except as required by law; provided that only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint and remove directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial Business Combination. Unless specified in the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the Company’s ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by its shareholders.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically
convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of the initial Business Combination
on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the
like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities
are issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion
of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate,
Note 9 — Warrants
The Public Warrants will become exercisable at
$
F-20
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, it will use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering each such warrant for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
The exercise price and number of shares issuable
upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend or recapitalization,
reorganization, merger or consolidation.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| ● | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and |
| ● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before the Company sends to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). |
F-21
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of the Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
| ● | if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
Note 10 — Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| ● | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
| ● | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| ● | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2022 and 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
| December 31, | Quoted Prices In Active Markets | Significant Other Observable Inputs | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | ||||||||||||
| Description | |||||||||||||||
| Investments held in trust account- U.S. Treasury Securities | |||||||||||||||
| Total Investments held in Trust Account | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities – Public warrants | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities – Private warrants | |||||||||||||||
| Convertible Note – April 1, 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Convertible Note – June 6, 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Convertible Note – December 14, 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Total Warrant liabilities | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
F-22
For the year ended December 31, 2022, as a result of the recent decline in trading volume within the period, the public warrants were transferred to and are currently classified as Level 2 securities.
| December 31, | Quoted Prices In Active Markets | Significant Other Observable Inputs | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs | |||||||||||||
| 2021 | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | |||||||||||||
| Description | ||||||||||||||||
| Investments held in trust account- U.S. Money Market Fund | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Investments held in trust account- U.S. Treasury Securities | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Investments held in Trust Account | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities – Public warrants | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities – Private warrants | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Warrant liabilities | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
The Company utilized a Monte Carlo simulation model for the initial valuation of the Public Warrants. The subsequent measurement of the Public Warrants as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, is classified as Level 1 due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market.
The Company utilizes a binomial lattice simulation model to value the private placement warrants and the convertible promissory notes at each reporting period, with changes in fair value recognized in the consolidated statements of operations. The estimated fair value of the warrant liability is determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in a binomial options pricing model are assumptions related to expected share-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary shares based on historical volatility that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates to remain at zero.
The aforementioned warrant liabilities are not subject to qualified hedge accounting.
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are
recognized at the end of the reporting period in which a change in valuation technique or methodology occurs. The value of the
securities transferred from a Level 2 measurement to a Level 1 measurement during the year ended December 31, 2022 was
$
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements:
| At December 31, | At December 31, | |||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Share price | $ | $ | ||||||
| Strike price | $ | $ | ||||||
| Term (in years) | ||||||||
| Volatility | ||||||||
| Risk-free rate | % | % | ||||||
| Dividend yield | % | % | ||||||
F-23
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities:
| Public | Private Placement | Warrant Liabilities | ||||||||||
| Fair value as of January 1, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Change in valuation inputs or other assumptions | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||
| Fair value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Public | Private Placement | Warrant Liabilities | ||||||||||
| Fair value as of January 1, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Initial measurement on March 2, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Change in valuation inputs or other assumptions | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||
| Fair value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
The Company recognized gains in connection with
changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities of $
The following table presents a summary of the changes in the fair value of Level 3 warrant liabilities:
| Private Placement | Public | Total Warrant Liabilities | ||||||||||
| Fair value as of January 1, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Change in fair value | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
| Fair value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Private Placement | Public | Total Warrant Liabilities | ||||||||||
| Fair value as of January 1, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Initial measurement on March 2, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Transfer to Level 1 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
| Change in fair value | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
| Fair value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Note 11 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, other than below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.
Second Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement
On January 17, 2023, the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub entered into the Second Amendment amending the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of October 3, 2022, by and among the Company, Complete Solaria, First Merger Sub and Second Merger Sub, as amended by the First Amendment.
The Second Amendment provides that, if the Company and Complete Solaria determine in good faith by January 1, 2023 that it is probable that the Business Combination will be consummated after March 1, 2023, the Company will be required to prepare (with the reasonable cooperation of Complete Solaria) and file with the SEC a proxy statement pursuant to which it will seek the approval of its shareholders for proposals to amend the Company’s organizational documents to extend the time period for the Company to consummate its initial business combination for (x) up to an additional six (6) months, from March 2, 2023 to September 2, 2023 (the original Business Combination Agreement provided for an extension from March 1, 2023 to September 2, 2023) or (y) such other period of time as the Company and Complete Solaria may mutually agree (the original Business Combination Agreement contemplated no such prong (y)). In addition, the Second Amendment amends the Business Combination Agreement by changing the latest permitted Agreement End Date (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) from September 1, 2023 to September 2, 2023.
F-24
Amendment to Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
On February 28, 2023, Freedom held an extraordinary
general meeting of shareholders (the “Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which holders of
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the shareholders approved, by special resolution, the proposal (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”) to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which Freedom must (i) consummate a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, which Freedom refers to as its initial business combination, (ii) cease its operations except for the purpose of winding up if it fails to complete such initial business combination, and (iii) redeem all of the Class A ordinary shares, included as part of the units sold in the initial public offering, for an additional three months, from March 2, 2023 to June 2, 2023, and thereafter to up to three (3) times by an additional one month each time (or up to September 2, 2023) (the “Extension Amendment,” and such period, as may be extended, the “Combination Period”). The voting results for such proposal were as follows:
| For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||
In connection with the Extension Amendment, public
shareholders elected to redeem an aggregate of
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the public shareholders also approved the proposal to amend the Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of February 25, 2021 (the “Trust Agreement”), by and between Freedom and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (“Continental”), to reflect the Extension Amendment. The amendment to the Trust Agreement provides that Continental shall commence liquidation of the trust account only and promptly (x) after its receipt of the applicable instruction letter delivered by Freedom in connection with either the consummation of an initial business combination or Freedom’s inability to effect an initial business combination within the time frame specified in Freedom’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or (y) upon the date that is the later of the end of the Combination Period and such later date as may be approved by Freedom’s shareholders in accordance with the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if the aforementioned termination letter has not been received by Continental prior to such date. The voting results for such proposal were as follows:
| For | Against | Abstain | ||||||||
Promissory Note
On February 28, 2023, the Company issued an unsecured
promissory note in the amount of up to $
F-24
Exhibit 4.1
Description of Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, As Amended
The following description sets forth certain material terms and provisions of the securities of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (“Freedom,” “we,” “us” or “our”) that are registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The following description of our securities is not complete and may not contain all the information you should consider before investing in our securities. This description is summarized from, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and our warrant agreement, which are incorporated herein by reference. The summary below is also qualified by reference to the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands.
As of December 31, 2022, we had three classes of securities registered under the Exchange Act: our Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value per share (“public shares”); warrants to purchase shares of our Class A ordinary shares; and units consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share. In addition, this Description of Securities also contains a description of our Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (“founder shares”), which are not registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act but are convertible into shares of the Class A ordinary shares. The description of the founder shares is necessary to understand the material terms of the Class A ordinary shares.
Units
Public Units
Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of the company’s Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder.
The Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on April 19, 2021 and holders have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities.
Ordinary Shares
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders except as required by law; provided that only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint and remove directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, meaning that holders of Class A ordinary shares will not have the right to appoint and remove any directors until after the completion of our initial business combination. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the Class B ordinary shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors prior to our initial business combination. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of Class A ordinary shares which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination. 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.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. We may not hold an annual general meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions 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. Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Unlike some special purpose acquisition companies that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a shareholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many special purpose acquisition companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions, if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that at least five days’ notice will be given of any general meeting.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the ordinary shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our shareholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 1,309,249, or 11.6%, of the 11,243,496 public shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
2
On February 28, 2023, Freedom held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which holders of 35,373,848 ordinary shares, comprised of 26,773,848 Class A ordinary shares and 8,600,000 Class B ordinary shares, were present in person or by proxy, representing approximately 82.02% of the voting power of the 43,125,000 issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Freedom entitled to vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting at the close of business on January 23, 2023, which was the record date (the “Record Date”) for the Extraordinary General Meeting (such shares, the “Outstanding Shares”). The Outstanding Shares on the Record Date were comprised of 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares and 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the shareholders approved, by special resolution, the proposal (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”) to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which Freedom must (i) consummate a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, which Freedom refers to as its initial business combination, (ii) cease its operations except for the purpose of winding up if it fails to complete such initial business combination, and (iii) redeem all of the Class A ordinary shares, included as part of the units sold in the initial public offering, for an additional three months, from March 2, 2023 to June 2, 2023, and thereafter to up to three (3) times by an additional one month each time (or up to September 2, 2023) (the “Extension Amendment,” and such period, as may be extended, the “Extension Period”).
In connection with the Extension Amendment, shareholders elected to redeem an aggregate of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares. Following such redemptions, 11,243,496 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding.
If we have not completed our initial business combination during the Extension 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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further 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 each case, 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. Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period. However, if our sponsor or management team acquire public shares after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period. In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per-share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein.
3
Founder Shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and, except as described below, are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units sold in our initial public offering, and holders of founder shares have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights; (iii) our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (A) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (x) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (y) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, (C) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination during the Extension Period, 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 such time period and (D) vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination, (iv) the founder shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and (v) only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint or remove directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity- linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last reported sales price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
4
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there will be entered therein:
| ● | the names and addresses of the members, a statement of the shares held by each member, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid, on the shares of each member and the voting rights of shares of each member; |
| ● | the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and |
| ● | the date on which any person ceased to be a member. |
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e., the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. The shareholders recorded in the register of members will be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preferred Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize 1,000,000 preferred shares and provide that preferred shares may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without shareholder approval, issue preferred shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred shares outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preferred shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.
Warrants
Public Shareholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of one year from the closing of our initial public offering and 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described below. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least four units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement). No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.
5
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. 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, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering each such warrant for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (as defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). The “fair market value” as used above shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| ● | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and |
| ● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and as described under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” 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. However, we will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period.
We have established the last of the redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. Any such exercise would not be done on a “cashless” basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised. However, the price of the Class A ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and as described under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
6
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below); |
| ● | if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00”) equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and as described under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below); and |
| ● | if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and as described under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below) the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
The numbers in the table below represent the number of Class A ordinary shares that a warrant holder will receive upon such cashless exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined for these purposes based on volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends.
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, references above to Class A ordinary shares shall include a security other than Class A ordinary shares into which the Class A ordinary shares have been converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination.
The numbers in the table below will not be adjusted when determining the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon exercise of the warrants if we are not the surviving entity following our initial business combination.
7
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant or the exercise price of the warrant is adjusted as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below. If the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the exercise price of the warrant after such adjustment and the denominator of which is the price of the warrant immediately prior to such adjustment. In such an event, the number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted by multiplying such share amounts by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. If the exercise price of the warrant is adjusted as a result of the fifth paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will be multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” and the denominator of which is $10.00.
| Fair Market Value of Class A Ordinary Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Redemption Date (period to expiration of warrants) | ≤$10.00 | $11.00 | $12.00 | $13.00 | $14.00 | $15.00 | $16.00 | $17.00 | ≥$18.00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 60 months | 0.261 | 0.281 | 0.297 | 0.311 | 0.324 | 0.337 | 0.348 | 0.358 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 57 months | 0.257 | 0.277 | 0.294 | 0.310 | 0.324 | 0.337 | 0.348 | 0.358 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 54 months | 0.252 | 0.272 | 0.291 | 0.307 | 0.322 | 0.335 | 0.347 | 0.357 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 51 months | 0.246 | 0.268 | 0.287 | 0.304 | 0.320 | 0.333 | 0.346 | 0.357 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 48 months | 0.241 | 0.263 | 0.283 | 0.301 | 0.317 | 0.332 | 0.344 | 0.356 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 45 months | 0.235 | 0.258 | 0.279 | 0.298 | 0.315 | 0.330 | 0.343 | 0.356 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 42 months | 0.228 | 0.252 | 0.274 | 0.294 | 0.312 | 0.328 | 0.342 | 0.355 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 39 months | 0.221 | 0.246 | 0.269 | 0.290 | 0.309 | 0.325 | 0.340 | 0.354 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 36 months | 0.213 | 0.239 | 0.263 | 0.285 | 0.305 | 0.323 | 0.339 | 0.353 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 months | 0.205 | 0.232 | 0.257 | 0.280 | 0.301 | 0.320 | 0.337 | 0.352 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 months | 0.196 | 0.224 | 0.250 | 0.274 | 0.297 | 0.316 | 0.335 | 0.351 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27 months | 0.185 | 0.214 | 0.242 | 0.268 | 0.291 | 0.313 | 0.332 | 0.350 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 months | 0.173 | 0.204 | 0.233 | 0.260 | 0.285 | 0.308 | 0.329 | 0.348 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 months | 0.161 | 0.193 | 0.223 | 0.252 | 0.279 | 0.304 | 0.326 | 0.347 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 months | 0.146 | 0.179 | 0.211 | 0.242 | 0.271 | 0.298 | 0.322 | 0.345 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 months | 0.130 | 0.164 | 0.197 | 0.230 | 0.262 | 0.291 | 0.317 | 0.342 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 months | 0.111 | 0.146 | 0.181 | 0.216 | 0.250 | 0.282 | 0.312 | 0.339 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 months | 0.090 | 0.125 | 0.162 | 0.199 | 0.237 | 0.272 | 0.305 | 0.336 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 months | 0.065 | 0.099 | 0.137 | 0.178 | 0.219 | 0.259 | 0.296 | 0.331 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 months | 0.034 | 0.065 | 0.104 | 0.150 | 0.197 | 0.243 | 0.286 | 0.326 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 months | — | — | 0.042 | 0.115 | 0.179 | 0.233 | 0.281 | 0.323 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant.
8
For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.298 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the date of our initial public offering. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders. As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer Class A ordinary shares than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for Class A ordinary shares if and when such Class A ordinary shares were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the warrant agreement (for instance, if we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination), the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, the Company (or surviving company) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption Procedures. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) of the Class A ordinary shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
9
Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a share capitalization payable in Class A ordinary shares, or by a split-up of ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such share capitalization, split-up or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding ordinary shares. A rights offering to holders of ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a share capitalization of a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per Class A ordinary share paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares, in determining the price payable for Class A ordinary shares, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) “historical fair market value” means the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A ordinary shares trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A ordinary shares on account of such Class A ordinary shares (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Class A ordinary shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, consolidations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or (d) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
10
In addition, 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) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” and “— Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Class A ordinary shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the Class A ordinary shares immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of Class A ordinary shares or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such merger or consolidation, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such merger or consolidation that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by shareholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or as a result of the redemption of Class A ordinary shares by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the shareholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a shareholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Class A ordinary shares held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustment (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A ordinary shares in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A ordinary shares in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant.
11
The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants.
The warrants are 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 for the purpose of curing any ambiguity, or curing, correcting or supplementing any defective provision contained in the warrant agreement or adding or changing any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under such agreement as the warrant agent and us may deem necessary or desirable and that the warrant agent and us deem shall not adversely affect the interest of the holders, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder.
Exclusive Forum Provision. Our warrant agreement provides 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 will 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. This provision does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, as described under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” including to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees (except as described above under “— Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00”). The sponsor or its permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in our initial public offering.
12
Except as described under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00,” if holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “historical fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, the “historical fair market value” will mean the average reported last reported sales price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public shareholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the Class A ordinary shares received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
Except as described above, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in our initial public offering.
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. If we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually a majority of 662/3% in value of the voting shares voted at a general meeting) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that owns at least 90% of the issued shares of each class in a subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted.
13
Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidated is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived; (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company; and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid a payment of the fair value of his shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows (a) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (b) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree a price within such 30 day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30 day period expires, the company (and any dissenting shareholder) must file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
14
Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement” which may be tantamount to a merger. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting, or meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:
| ● | we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
| ● | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
| ● | the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
| ● | the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a “fraud on the minority.” |
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer relates is made within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements, of an operating business.
Shareholders’ Suits. Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
| ● | a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority; |
| ● | the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or |
| ● | those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.” |
15
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
| ● | an exempted company does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies; |
| ● | an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection; |
| ● | an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting; |
| ● | an exempted company may issue shares with no par value; |
| ● | an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance); |
| ● | an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
| ● | an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and |
| ● | an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
16
Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
The Business Combination Article of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contains provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections relating to our initial public offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination.
These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (i) at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s shareholders at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds of our shareholders (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law) (other than amendments relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors, which may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our initial shareholders, who collectively beneficially own approximately 20% of our ordinary shares, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that:
| ● | If we have not completed our initial business combination during the Extension 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 income earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further 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 each case, 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; |
| ● | Prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on our initial business combination; |
| ● | In the event that we enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view; |
| ● | If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act; |
| ● | We must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account); |
17
| ● | If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination during the Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein; and |
| ● | We will not effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide we will not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following our initial public offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets requirement.
The Companies Act permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of a special resolution. A company’s articles of association may specify that the approval of a higher majority is required but, provided the approval of the required majority is obtained, any Cayman Islands exempted company may amend its memorandum and articles of association regardless of whether its memorandum and articles of association provides otherwise. Accordingly, although we could amend any of the provisions relating to our proposed offering, structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our officers or directors, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and preferred shares are available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved Class A ordinary shares and preferred shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
As of December 31, 2022, we had 43,125,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding. After giving effect to the redemption of 23,256,504 Class A ordinary shares in connection with the Extension Amendment described above, 19,868,496 ordinary shares remain issued and outstanding. Of these shares, the 11,243,496 Class A ordinary shares are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 8,625,000 founder shares and all 6,266,667 private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth in the prospectus for our initial public offering.
Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
18
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
| ● | 1% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares then outstanding, which is currently equal to 112,434 Class A ordinary shares; or |
| ● | the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A ordinary shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
| ● | the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and |
| ● | at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
As a result, our initial shareholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and any warrants that may be issued on conversion of working capital loans are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement requiring us to register such securities for resale. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (1) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, 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 following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (2) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on NYSE under the symbols “FACT U,” “FACT” and “FACT WS,” respectively.
19
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a)
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Adam Gishen, certify that:
| 1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (the “Company”); |
| 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
| 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
| 4. | The Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Company and have: |
| a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
| b. | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
| c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
| d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s most recent fiscal quarter (the Company’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
| 5. | The Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company’s auditors and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
| a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
| b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: April 6, 2023
| /s/ Adam Gishen | |
| Adam Gishen | |
| Chief Executive Officer | |
| (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a)
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Adam Gishen, certify that:
| 1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (the “Company”); |
| 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
| 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
| 4. | The Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Company and have: |
| a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
| b. | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
| c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
| d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s most recent fiscal quarter (the Company’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
| 5. | The Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company’s auditors and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
| a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
| b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: April 6, 2023
| /s/ Adam Gishen | |
| Adam Gishen | |
|
Chief Executive Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATION OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. § 1350
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Adam Gishen, Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (the “Company”), certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that, to my knowledge:
| 1. | The Annual Report of the Company on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (the “Annual Report”) fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and |
| 2. | The information contained in the Annual Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company. |
Date: April 6, 2023
| /s/ Adam Gishen | |
| Adam Gishen | |
| Chief Executive Officer | |
| (Principal Executive Officer) |
This certification accompanies the Report pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and shall not, except to the extent required by such Act, be deemed filed by the Company for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference.
A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been provided to the Company and will be retained by the Company and furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.
Exhibit 32.2
CERTIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. § 1350
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Adam Gishen, Chief Executive Officer (Principal Financial Officer) of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. (the “Company”), certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that, to my knowledge:
| 1. | The Annual Report of the Company on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (the “Annual Report”) fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and |
| 2. | The information contained in the Annual Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company. |
Date: April 6, 2023
| /s/ Adam Gishen | |
| Adam Gishen | |
|
Chief Executive Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
This certification accompanies the Report pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and shall not, except to the extent required by such Act, be deemed filed by the Company for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference.
A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been provided to the Company and will be retained by the Company and furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.