System1, Inc S-1/A, filed Jun 11, 2020
System1, Inc. (SST)
As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 11, 2020
Registration No. 333-238824
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Amendment No. 1
to
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Cayman Islands (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
6770 (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
98-1531250 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020,
New York, NY 10010
(646) 450-9187
(Address, Including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)
Tanmay Kumar
Chief Financial Officer
41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020,
New York, NY 10010
(646) 450-9187
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
| Copies: | ||
Alexander D. Lynch, Esq. Heather L. Emmel, Esq. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP 767 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10153 Tel: (212) 310-8000 Fax: (212) 310-8007 |
Derek J. Dostal, Esq. Deanna L. Kirkpatrick, Esq. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 450 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10017 Tel: (212) 450-4000 Fax: (212) 701-5800 |
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Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:
As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box: o
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, 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 o | Accelerated filer o | Non-accelerated filer ý |
Smaller reporting company ý Emerging growth company ý |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. o
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JUNE 11, 2020
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
$375,000,000
37,500,000 Units
Trebia Acquisition Corp. is a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Although we are not limited to, and may pursue targets in, any industry or geography, we intend to focus on industries that complement our sponsors' and management team's background in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, terms and limitations as described herein. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 5,625,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares for cash, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as described herein.
Our sponsors, Trasimene Trebia, LP, an affiliate of Trasimene Capital Management, LLC, and BGPT Trebia LP, an affiliate of Bridgeport Partners LLC, have agreed to collectively purchase 6,333,334 warrants (or 7,083,334 warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the private placement warrants. Our sponsors collectively own 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares (up to 1,406,250 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised and excluding any adjustment to the outstanding Class B ordinary shares related to the forward purchase agreement described below) which will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination as described herein. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors.
Cannae Holdings, Inc. ("Cannae Holdings"), a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital Management, LLC but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has entered into a forward purchase agreement with us which provides for the purchase by Cannae Holdings of Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. The obligations under the forward purchase agreement do not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders. See "Description of Securities—Forward Purchase Agreement." We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants. We have applied to list our units on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), under the symbol "TREB.U" on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE. We expect the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the NYSE under the symbols "TREB" and "TREB WS," respectively, on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC ("Credit Suisse") and BofA Securities, Inc. ("BofA Securities") inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin.
We are an "emerging growth company" under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See "Risk Factors" beginning on page 41 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
No offer or invitation to subscribe for securities may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands.
Neither the SEC nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
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Per Unit |
Total |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
Public offering price |
$10.00 | $375,000,000 | ||
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) |
$0.55 | $20,625,000 | ||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
$9.45 | $354,375,000 | ||
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- (1)
- Includes $0.35 per unit, or $13,125,000 in the aggregate (or $15,093,750 in the aggregate if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriters only upon the completion of an initial business combination. See also "Underwriting" for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $375,000,000, or $431,250,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $2,000,000 will be available to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination; (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about , 2020.
| Credit Suisse | BofA Securities |
Co-Manager
Moelis & Company
, 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
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This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under "Risk Factors" and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
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- "amended and restated memorandum and articles of association" are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the
Company, adopted and filed on , 2020;
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- "Bridgeport Partners" are to Bridgeport Partners, LLC, an investment advisory firm, led by Frank R. Martire, Jr.;
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- "Companies Law" are to the Companies Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;
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- "founders" or "co-founders" are to William P. Foley, II and Frank R. Martire, Jr.;
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- "equity-linked securities" are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A
ordinary shares issued in connection with our initial business combination including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt;
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- "forward purchase agreement" are to the agreement providing for the sale of forward purchase shares and forward purchase warrants to Cannae
Holdings in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination;
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- "forward purchase securities" are to the forward purchase shares and forward purchase warrants;
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- "forward purchase shares" are to Class A ordinary shares to be issued to Cannae Holdings pursuant to the forward purchase agreement;
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- "forward purchase warrants" are to warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares to be issued pursuant to the forward purchase agreement;
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- "founder shares" are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our sponsors in private placements prior to this offering and
the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business
combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be "public shares");
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- "initial shareholders" are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering;
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- "management" or "management team" are to our executive officers and directors;
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- "ordinary shares" are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares;
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- "private placement warrants" are to the warrants to be issued to our sponsors in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this
offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any;
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- "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 of our initial shareholder's and
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- "public shares" are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this
offering or thereafter in the open market);
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- "sponsors" are to Trasimene Trebia, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and BGPT Trebia LP, a Cayman Islands exempted limited
partnership, collectively, and references to the experience of our sponsors include the experience of our founders and investment professionals of our
sponsors;
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- "Trasimene Capital" are to Trasimene Capital Management, LLC, an investment advisory firm, led by William P. Foley, II; and
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- "we," "us," "company" or "our company" are to Trebia Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company.
each member of our management team's status as a "public shareholder" will only exist with respect to such public shares;
Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant for each unit purchased. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
Any forfeiture of shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a surrender of shares for no consideration of such shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any conversion of the Class B ordinary shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividends described in this prospectus will take effect as share capitalizations as a matter of Cayman Islands law.
Registered trademarks referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.
Our Company
We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.
We will seek to capitalize on the more than 60 years of combined executive experience of our co-founders William P. Foley, II, and Frank R. Martire, Jr. Our sponsors, Trasimene Trebia, LP and BGPT Trebia LP, are controlled by our co-founders. We believe our co-founders' distinctive and complementary backgrounds can have a transformative impact on a target business. Although we may pursue targets in any industry, we intend to focus on industries that complement our sponsors' experience in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. Our sponsors will undertake a proactive sourcing strategy and focus our efforts on companies where we believe the combination of our sponsors' operating experience, deal making track record, professional relationships and capital markets expertise can be catalysts to enhance the growth potential and value of a target business and provide opportunities for an attractive risk-adjusted return to our shareholders.
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William P. Foley, II has over 32 years of experience in industry consolidation and delivering shareholder value. As a pre-eminent operator, Mr. Foley has led four separate multi-billion dollar public market platforms with over 100 acquisitions across diverse platforms including Fidelity National Financial, Inc. ("FNF"), Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. ("FIS"), Black Knight, Inc. ("Black Knight"), Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. ("Ceridian") and FGL Holdings Inc. ("FGL Holdings"). Throughout his career, Mr. Foley has demonstrated operational expertise, working to create public companies whose combined market capitalization exceeds $85.0 billion. As Founder, former CEO and now Chairman of FNF, Mr. Foley has built the largest title insurance company, growing equity value from $3.0 million to $5.9 billion. During Mr. Foley's tenure, FIS grew from an approximately $1.0 billion initial acquisition into the world's largest financial technology processing company with a market capitalization of approximately $21.0 billion as of April 2016. Since 2000, FNF and FIS have completed eight control acquisitions of companies with revenues in excess of $150.0 million in their respective core operations that on average achieved 69% uplift of EBITDA from the realization of cost and revenue synergies. His proven track record is driven by his value creation playbook, which is highlighted by identifying cost savings, undertaking strategy shifts, eliminating siloed organizational structures and accelerating product expansion. Coupled with Mr. Foley's exceptional track record of optimizing go-to-market organizations, executing strategic acquisitions and investing in growth, the value creation playbook has been substantiated by Mr. Foley's history of superior shareholder returns through consistently exceeding initial synergy estimates as demonstrated by an average synergy realization of 1.4x the initial forecast. He also has an exceptional track record of recruiting and developing leaders to implement his transformation initiatives.
Frank R. Martire, Jr. has over 30 years of experience in industry consolidation and delivering shareholder value. As a leading executive and manager, Mr. Martire has led growth and value creation at three public company platforms including FIS, Fiserv Inc. ("Fiserv") and NCR Corporation ("NCR") as well as at Metavante Technologies, Inc. ("Metavante"), a leading technology and processing subsidiary of a leading publicly listed bank holding company. At NCR, Mr. Martire has achieved $100.0 million of cost synergies. Under Mr. Martire's leadership, Metavante grew revenues from approximately $650.0 million to $1.7 billion in six years—growing earnings from approximately $180.0 million to more than $450.0 million over that period. Mr. Martire led the initial public offering of Metavante and the subsequent merger with FIS, taking on the role of CEO post-merger. Post-merger, FIS achieved $300.0 million of synergies—delivering over 115% of target synergies at the time of the merger announcement. Mr. Martire led the $5.1 billion acquisition of SunGard at FIS and achieved more than $325.0 million of annualized cost savings following the transaction, outperforming target amount and timing for cost savings. Alongside a focus on growth and cost optimization, under Mr. Martire's leadership, FIS undertook a $2.5 billion share repurchase program in 2010 to optimize the company's capital structure and achieved an investment grade rating in 2013. During Mr. Martire's tenure at FIS, the company's stock outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.7x. Mr. Martire led the largest division at Fiserv as President and Chief Operating Officer, Financial Institution Systems and Services Group at Fiserv. During Mr. Martire's tenure at Fiserv, the company's stock outperformed the S&P 500 by 3.8x.
We are sponsored jointly by affiliates of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners. Trasimene Capital, led by Mr. Foley, and Bridgeport Partners, led by Mr. Martire, bring together a unique team of professionals with extensive operating, investing, diligence and capital raising experience to effect a business combination with an attractive target and position it for long-term success in the public markets.
We are advised by the following team of professionals at Trasimene Capital including among others:
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- Richard N. Massey. Mr. Massey serves as a Senior Managing Director of Trasimene Capital and as Chief Executive Officer of Cannae Holdings. Mr. Massey has more than three decades of
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- Frank Martire, III. Mr. Martire serves as Managing Director at
Trasimene Capital and is a Partner of Bridgeport Partners. He has more than 15 years of experience in public and private M&A with more than 20 completed deals valued at over
$20.0 billion. Mr. Martire is experienced with board governance and shareholder related matters, activist defense campaigns and financial advisory matters. Prior to Trasimene Capital,
Mr. Martire was an Executive Committee member, Investment Committee member and General Counsel of Motive Partners ("Motive") from 2016 to 2019. Prior to Motive, Mr. Martire was a Partner
at Greenberg Traurig, LLP ("Greenberg") from 2014 to 2015. Prior to Greenberg, Mr. Martire was an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP ("Weil") from 2007 to 2014. Prior
to Weil, Mr. Martire was a research analyst at J.S. Herold from 2003 to 2004 and an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan from 2000 to 2002.
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- Richard L. Cox. Mr. Cox has served as a Managing Director of
Trasimene Capital since November 2019 and as an Executive Vice President and a Chief Financial Officer of Cannae Holdings since April 2017. Mr. Cox served as an Executive Vice President of FNF
from June 2012 until November 2019. He joined FNF in March 2000 and has served in various roles since that time, including as a Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Officer. Prior to joining FNF,
Mr. Cox served as a Senior Manager for Deloitte & Touche ("Deloitte") in Los Angeles. Mr. Cox is also a founder of Wine Decadence, LLC, a private direct sale wine business
based in Jacksonville, Florida. He also serves as Treasurer of The Folded Flag Foundation and is the Chairman and President of Angel Mission.
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- David W. Ducommun. Mr. Ducommun has served as a Managing Director of Trasimene Capital since November 2019 and as a Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance of Cannae Holdings since November 2017. Mr. Ducommun served as a Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions of FNF from 2011 to November 2019. He also served as Secretary of FGL Holdings from April 2016 until December 2017. Prior to joining FNF, Mr. Ducommun served as a Director of Investment Banking at Bank of America Corporation, since 2008. Before Bank of America Corporation, Mr. Ducommun was an investment banker at Bear Stearns.
significant related experience, most recently as the Chairman and principal shareholder of Bear State Financial, Inc., a publicly traded financial institution, from 2011 until April 2018, and as a Partner in Westrock Capital, LLC, a private investment partnership, since January 2009. Mr. Massey was Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel of Alltel Corporation from January 2006 to January 2009, the fifth largest wireless carrier in the United States, before being sold for approximately $29.0 billion in 2009. Previously, from 2000 until 2006, Mr. Massey served as a Managing Director of Stephens Inc., a private investment bank, during which time his financial advisory practice focused on software and information technology companies, and he formerly served as a director of FIS. Mr. Massey also serves as a director of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation ("Dun & Bradstreet"), which is a Cannae Holdings portfolio company, as well as a director of FNF, Black Knight and FGL Holdings. He is also a director of the Oxford American Literary Project and Chairman of the board of directors of the Arkansas Razorback Foundation.
We are advised by the following team of professionals at Bridgeport Partners including among others:
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- Paul Danola. Mr. Danola has been a Partner of Bridgeport Partners since February 2020 and serves as President of Trebia Acquisition Corp. Mr. Danola served as President and CEO of Threshold Consulting LLC from February 2017 until February 2020 and served as an independent contractor for Catalyst Consulting Group and Advent International Corporation from 2013 until February 2020. Mr. Danola has over 40 years of experience in strategy, sales and operations with vast M&A experience spanning three decades at FIS, Metavante, Fiserv and Citicorp Information Resources ("Citicorp"). Mr. Danola brings more than 30 years of banking
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- Tanmay Kumar. Mr. Kumar has been a Partner of Bridgeport Partners
since November 2019 and serves as Chief Financial Officer of Trebia Acquisition Corp. Mr. Kumar was a Principal at Motive from July 2019 to November 2019 and prior to that was a Vice President
at Wafra, Inc. in the Alternative Investments Division from August 2014 to April 2019. Mr. Kumar has over 10 years of transaction experience across private and public markets with
a particular focus on financial services and technology companies. Mr. Kumar has also served as a director of Newest York Arts Press, Inc. since June 2017.
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- Frank D'Angelo. Mr. D'Angelo is a Partner of Bridgeport Partners and serves as Executive Vice President and President, Banking, at NCR. His career spans 35 years in the financial services, digital banking and payments industries. He currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of Evertec, Inc. ("Evertec"), a transaction and payments processing company in Latin America and the Caribbean, is a past Chairman of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association and served on the Payments Advisor Counsel of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Previously, he was President of Monitise Americas, Inc. ("Monitise"), a provider of mobile banking, payments and commerce networks. Prior to that post, Mr. D'Angelo was Executive Vice President of the Payments Solutions Group at FIS and head of Payments and Digital Banking at Metavante. He also held several executive positions at Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated ("Diebold"), including Chief Executive Officer of Diebold Mexico, living in Mexico City.
experience, serving with top core solutions providers FIS and Fiserv in executive roles integral to the strategic growth of each firm and its client banks. Mr. Danola led the expansion of Fiserv into Asia Pacific and Central Europe. In his prior roles, he has been a leader of business segments including wealth management, core banking, business analytics, delivery channel optimization, enterprise risk management and consulting. Mr. Danola has also served as a director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin since May 2006 and as a director of Friendship Circle of Wisconsin since March 2019.
In addition, we are advised by the following investment professionals:
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- Michael L. Gravelle. Mr. Gravelle has served as an Executive Vice
President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Cannae Holdings since April 2017. Mr. Gravelle has served as the Chief Compliance Officer for Trasimene Capital since January 2020.
Mr. Gravelle has over 25 years of business and legal experience in the financial industry. Mr. Gravelle has served as an Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary of FNF since January 2010, and also served in the capacity of an Executive Vice President, Legal since May 2006 and Corporate Secretary since April 2008. Mr. Gravelle joined FNF in
2003, serving as a Senior Vice President. Mr. Gravelle joined a subsidiary of FNF in 1993, where he served as a Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary beginning in 1996 and as a Senior
Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary beginning in 2000. Mr. Gravelle has also served as an Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Black Knight and its predecessors
since January 2014 and as Corporate Secretary of Black Knight from January 2014 until May 2018.
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- Lance Levy. Mr. Levy will serve as director of Trebia Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as Chief Executive Officer of Capco, a specialized global management consultancy, focused exclusively on the financial services industry, since 2015. In 2017, Mr. Levy oversaw the sale of FIS's majority stake in Capco to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a leading private equity firm. Prior to joining Capco, Mr. Levy served on the Executive Team of FIS as Head of Consulting Services and spent more than 15 years at Accenture, where he was a member of the Financial Services Leadership Team and the Accenture Leadership Council. At Accenture Lance held the position of Accenture's Senior Managing Director of Financial Services in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Prior to this role, he served for many years as Accenture's Global Head of Sales in Financial Services.
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- Mark D. Linehan. Mr. Linehan will serve as a director of Trebia
Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since September 2019. Mr. Linehan has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of
Wynmark Company ("Wynmark"), a private real estate investment and development company, since he founded the company in 1993. Prior to founding Wynmark, he served as a Senior Vice President with the
Trammell Crow Company ("Trammell") in Los Angeles, California. Prior to working for Trammell, Mr. Linehan worked for Kenneth Leventhal & Co. ("Kenneth Leventhal"), a Los
Angeles-based public accounting firm specializing in the real estate industry which is now part of Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Linehan serves on the board of directors of Hudson
Pacific Properties, Inc. ("Hudson Pacific"), and previously served on the board of directors of Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc. ("Condor Hospitality"). In addition, Mr. Linehan
serves as a Director of Direct Relief. Mr. Linehan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara ("UCSB") and is a Certified Public
Accountant.
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- James B. Stallings. Mr. Stallings will serve as a director of Trebia Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since January 2018. He also has served as a Director of UGI Corporation ("UGI") since 2015 and as a Director of FIS since 2013. Since 2013, Mr. Stallings has been a Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of PS27 Ventures, LLC ("PS27 Ventures"), a private investment fund focused on technology companies. From 2009 until his retirement in January 2013, Mr. Stallings served as General Manager of Global Markets in IBM's Systems and Technology Group. From 2002 to 2009, Mr. Stallings served in a variety of roles at IBM Corporation ("IBM"), including General Manager, Enterprise Systems, IBM Systems and Technology Group. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Stallings founded and ran E House, a consumer technology company, and prior to that, Mr. Stallings worked for Physician Sales & Services, Inc. ("Physician Sales & Services"), a medical supplier. From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Stallings worked in various capacities for IBM.
We intend to capitalize on the ability of our sponsors' platform in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. Given our sponsors' global reach and experience, we believe they are well positioned to identify attractive business combination opportunities with a compelling industry backdrop and an opportunity for growth. Our sponsors' objectives are to generate attractive returns for shareholders and enhance value through improving operational performance of the acquired company. We expect to favor opportunities with certain industry and business characteristics. Key industry characteristics include compelling long-term growth, attractive competitive dynamics, consolidation opportunities and low risk of technological obsolescence. Key business characteristics include significant streams of recurring revenue, opportunity for operational improvement, attractive steady-state margins, high incremental margins and attractive free cash flow characteristics.
With respect to the foregoing examples, past performance is not a guarantee (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may complete. You should not rely on the historical record of our sponsors', founders' or our management's performance as indicative of our future performance.
Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners share a similar and complementary investment philosophy focused on identifying undervalued assets through evaluation of the business fundamentals and opportunities for operational or capital structure improvements. We believe that the demonstrated ability of our sponsors to source and close investments in a variety of businesses, particularly in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas, coupled with our sponsors' broad relationships in this industry and their deep operational experience, will help us to identify a target and complete a business combination. We also believe that potential sellers of target businesses will view the fact that our sponsors have assisted numerous companies in improving their financial and operating performance as a positive factor in considering whether or not to enter into a business combination with us.
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Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has entered into a forward purchase agreement with us which provides for the purchase by Cannae Holdings of Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. We believe our ability to complete an initial business combination will be enhanced by our having entered into the forward purchase agreement with Cannae Holdings. The proceeds from the sale of forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. This purchase will be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP. We believe our ability to complete an initial business combination will be enhanced by our relationship with Cannae Holdings. Cannae Holdings is led by William P. Foley, II, and managed by Trasimene Capital. Cannae Holdings is a diversified holding company with investments in restaurants, technology-enabled healthcare services, financial services and more. Our business strategy is well aligned with Cannae Holdings' primary objective of maximizing shareholder value.
Business Strategy
Our goal is to collaborate with a company that already is a fundamentally sound company. Trebia Acquisition Corp. will seek to work with a potential acquisition candidate to access the capital markets, attract top-tier management talent and execute a proprietary value-creation business plan helping the company continue to grow into the next phase of its life cycle. Trebia Acquisition Corp. intends to employ a fundamental, value-oriented acquisition framework that seeks a target with the potential for significant equity value creation coupled with strong downside protection from dependable cash flows and a durable business franchise.
Although we may pursue targets in any industry, we intend to focus on industries that complement our sponsors' background in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. Our acquisition strategy will leverage Trasimene Capital's and Bridgeport Partners' network of proprietary deal sourcing where we believe a combination of industry research and lending relationships will provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. Additionally, we expect that relationships cultivated from years of transaction experience with management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, restructuring advisers, attorneys and accountants will provide potential opportunities for Trebia Acquisition Corp. Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination, with a company that complements the experience of our sponsors and can benefit from their operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our sponsors' broad and deep relationship network, unique industry experiences and proven deal sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities. This network has been developed through our sponsors' extensive experience and demonstrated success in both investing in and operating businesses across a variety of industries, developing a distinctive combination of capabilities including:
- •
- a track record of building industry-leading companies and proven ability to deliver shareholder value over an extended time period with above-market-average investment returns that are multiples greater than comparable benchmarks;
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- •
- a prolific acquisition history, having completed in excess of 100 transactions that have in sum contributed to such companies' financial
results and strategic position. This acquisition history has been executed using an established proprietary deal sourcing and differentiated transaction execution/structuring capabilities;
- •
- experience deploying a unique and broad value creation toolkit including identifying value enhancements, recruiting world-class talent and
delivering elite operating efficiency by consistently exceeding synergy targets; and
- •
- an extensive history of accessing the capital markets across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with transition to public ownership.
Upon completion of this offering, Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines which we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that we believe:
- •
- utilize our global network of contacts, which provides access to differentiated deal flow and significant deal-sourcing capabilities;
- •
- are at an inflection point, such as requiring additional management expertise, are able to innovate through new operational techniques or where
we believe we can drive improved financial performance;
- •
- are fundamentally sound companies that are underperforming our estimation of their potential;
- •
- exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital and a need for capital to achieve the company's growth
strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review;
- •
- will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders, potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital
structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks; and
- •
- have been materially impacted by possible market dislocations and would benefit from capital markets access.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Founders, Our Board of Directors and Management
Our co-founders, William P. Foley, II and Frank R. Martire, Jr., will serve as directors of the Company.
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Past performance of our founders, management team, Trasimene Capital, Bridgeport Partners and their respective affiliates, is not a guarantee either of (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be completed or (ii) the ability to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of our founders', management's, Trasimene Capital's, Bridgeport Partners' or their respective affiliates as indicative of our future performance. See "Risk Factors—Past performance by Trasimene Capital, Bridgeport Partners or their respective affiliates, including our management team, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us." For a list of our executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such officers and the company, please refer to "Management—Conflicts of Interest."
Certain of our founders, officers and directors may have fiduciary and contractual obligations to Trasimene Capital or Bridgeport Partners and to certain companies in which those companies have invested or will invest in the future. As a result, certain of our officers and directors may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to companies that they are officers or directors of and certain Trasimene Capital or Bridgeport Partners investment vehicles and/or portfolio companies, as applicable, before Trebia Acquisition Corp. can pursue such opportunities. In particular, William P. Foley, II and Trasimene Capital FT, LP, an affiliate of Trasimene Capital, have recently incorporated Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. ("Foley Trasimene"), a blank check company incorporated in the state of Delaware for the purpose of effecting its own initial business combination. Mr. Foley has served as the Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Foley Trasimene since March 2020 and Frank R. Martire Jr. has served as a member of Foley Trasimene's board of directors since May 2020. As directors, Messrs. Foley and Martire will owe fiduciary duties under Delaware law to Foley Trasimene. While Foley Trasimene may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, it intends to focus on identifying a prospective target business in financial technology or business process outsourcing, which acts as an essential utility to industries that are core to the economy.
However, we do not expect these duties to present a significant conflict of interest with our search for an initial business combination. We believe this conflict of interest will be naturally mitigated, to some extent, by the differing nature of the acquisition targets that Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners typically consider most attractive for their investment vehicles and the types of acquisitions we expect Trebia Acquisition Corp. to find most attractive. As a result of due diligence from the broader platform, we may become aware of a potential transaction that is not a fit for the traditional investing activities of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners but that is an attractive opportunity for Trebia Acquisition Corp. In addition to the above, our founders, officers and directors are not required to commit any specific amount of time to our affairs, but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process. Accordingly, our founders, officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
We believe our sponsors' and their affiliates' operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Our sponsors have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our sponsors' relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our sponsors in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Management" for a more complete description of our management team's experience.
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Initial Business Combination
In accordance with the rules of the NYSE, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the prior owners of the target business, the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
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The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsors, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsors, founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view from either an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm.
Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary 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 founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business, nor have they had any discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriters or other advisors. Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners are continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with our company and we will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners as a suitable acquisition candidate for it, unless Trasimene
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Capital and Bridgeport Partners, in their sole discretion, declines such potential business combination or makes available to our company a co-investment opportunity. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
Trasimene Capital externally manages Cannae Holdings pursuant to a management services agreement and Bridgeport Partners manages proprietary capital, and may raise additional funds and/or accounts in the future, which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These investment vehicles may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity.
Corporate Information and Organizational Chart
Our executive offices are located at 41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020, New York, NY 10010 and our telephone number is (646) 450-9187.
The following is an organizational chart setting forth our corporate structure as of the date of this prospectus immediately after giving effect to this offering.
- (1)
- BGPT
Trebia, LP owns 42.5% of the founder shares representing 8.5% of the outstanding ordinary shares after this offering.
- (2)
- Trasimene
Trebia, LP owns 57.5% of the founder shares representing 11.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock after this offering.
- (3)
- Cannae
Holdings, LLC has an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP and an indirect economic interest in 15% of the
founder shares, which equates to an indirect economic interest in 3% of the outstanding ordinary shares after this offering.
- (4)
- Trasimene Trebia, LLC has a 1% general partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP and an indirect economic interest in approximately .6% of the founder shares, which equates to an indirect economic interest in approximately .2% of the outstanding ordinary shares after this offering.
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- (5)
- Trasimene Capital Management, LLC has an approximately 73% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP and an indirect economic interest in approximately 42% of the founder shares, which equates to an indirect economic interest in approximately 8.5% of the outstanding ordinary shares after this offering.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Law. As an exempted company, we have obtained a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the "JOBS Act"). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not "emerging growth companies" including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act"), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an "emerging growth company" can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an "emerging growth company" can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this 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 (as defined below) of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. 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 does not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100.0 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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In deciding whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled "Risk Factors" of this prospectus.
Securities offered |
37,500,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of: | |
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• one Class A ordinary share; and |
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• one-third of one redeemable warrant. |
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Proposed NYSE symbols |
Class A ordinary shares: "TREB" |
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Warrants: "TREB WS" |
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Units: "TREB.U" |
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Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants |
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Credit Suisse and BofA Securities inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. |
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Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
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Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K |
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option. |
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Units: |
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Number outstanding before this offering |
0 |
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Number outstanding after this offering |
37,500,000(1) |
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Ordinary shares: |
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Number outstanding before this offering |
10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares(2)(3) |
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Number outstanding after this offering |
46,875,000 Class A and Class B ordinary shares(1)(2)(4) |
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Warrants: |
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Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
6,333,334(1) |
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Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants |
18,833,334(1) |
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Exercisability |
Each whole warrant sold in this offering is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share. Only whole warrants are exercisable. |
- (1)
- Assumes
no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsors of 1,406,250 founder shares. As discussed under
"Description of Securities—Founder Shares" below, for our sponsors to maintain ownership of 20% of the issued and outstanding shares following completion of this offering, if the
over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter, our sponsors would be required to forfeit 1,406,250 shares.
- (2)
- Founder
shares are currently classified as Class B ordinary shares, which shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares
on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination as described below adjacent to the caption "Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights" and in our
amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
- (3)
- Consists
solely of founder shares outstanding as of the date of this prospectus and includes up to 1,406,250 shares that are subject to forfeiture
depending on the extent to which the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised.
- (4)
- Includes 37,500,000 public shares and 9,375,000 founder shares, assuming 1,406,250 founder shares have been forfeited following expiration of the underwriters' over-allotment option.
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We structured each unit to contain one-third of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, as compared to units issued by some other similar blank check companies which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination as compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. | |
Exercise price |
$11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustments as described herein. 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 ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by us and, (i) in the case of any such issuance to our sponsors or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance, and (ii) to the extent that such issuance is made to Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners or their respective affiliates, without taking into account the transfer of founder shares or private placement warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to us and subsequent reissuance by us) by our sponsors in connection with such issuance) (the "Newly Issued Price"), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial business combination (such price, the "Market Value") is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described adjacent to "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00" and "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00" 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. |
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Exercise period |
The warrants will become exercisable on the later of: |
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• 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; and |
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• twelve months from the closing of this offering; |
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provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or holders are permitted to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement as a result of (i) our failure to have an effective registration statement by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial business combination as described in the immediately following paragraph or (ii) a notice of redemption described below under "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00"). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
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We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in 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 business 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 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. |
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The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
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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): |
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• in whole and not in part; |
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• at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
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• upon a minimum of 30 days' prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the "30-day redemption period"; and |
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• if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the "Reference Value") equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). |
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However, in this case, we will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. Any such exercise would not be on a "cashless" basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised. |
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The forward purchase warrants will be redeemable on the same terms as the warrants offered as part of the units. Except as set forth below, none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees. |
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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 (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
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• in whole and not in part; |
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• 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 set forth under "Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders' Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants" based on the redemption date and the "fair market value" of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below); |
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• 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 splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
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• if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the private placement warrants must also concurrently be called for redemption on the same terms (except as described herein with respect to a holder's ability to cashless exercise its warrants) as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
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The "fair market value" of our Class A ordinary shares shall mean the volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-day trading period described above ends. 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). |
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No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, 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. Please see the section entitled "Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders' Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants" for additional information. |
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Forward purchase agreement |
We have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has agreed to purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. |
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In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, we expect that our initial shareholders will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of our Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the initial business combination. |
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The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. This purchase will be required to be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination. |
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Cannae Holdings will have no right to the funds held in the trust account except with respect to any public shares owned by them. |
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Founder shares |
On February 18, 2020, our sponsors paid in the aggregate $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsors, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering (assuming the sponsors do not purchase any units in this offering). On June 11, 2020, our sponsors transferred 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 1,406,250 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsors depending on the extent to which the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised so that our initial shareholders will maintain ownership of 20% of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering. |
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The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
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• only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; |
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• the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
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• each of our sponsors, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive (i) their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, the holders of our founder shares have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders' founder shares, we would need 14,062,501, or approximately 37.5%, of the 37,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised); |
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• the founder shares will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination as described below adjacent to the caption "Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights" and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; and |
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• the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. |
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Transfer restrictions on founder shares |
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any 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 or (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our 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 as described herein under "Principal Shareholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants". Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (2) if we complete a transaction after our initial business combination which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, the converted Class A ordinary shares will be released from the lock-up. |
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Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights |
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of our ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the sum of (a) the total number of ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities (as defined herein) or rights issued or deemed issued by the Company in connection with or in relation to the completion of the initial business combination (including the forward purchase shares, but not the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsors or any of their affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans, minus (b) the number of public shares redeemed by public shareholders in connection with our initial business combination. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares described herein will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one to one. |
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Appointment of directors; Voting rights |
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our Class B ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. |
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Private placement warrants |
Our sponsors have committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,333,334 private placement warrants (or 7,083,334 private placement warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per whole warrant ($9,500,000 in the aggregate or $10,625,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. |
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A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing $375,000,000 (or $431,250,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. |
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The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable (except as set forth under "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00") and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees (see "Description of Securities—Warrants—Private Placement Warrants"). If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsors or their 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 this offering. Our sponsors, as well as their permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. |
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Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants |
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled "Principal Shareholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.") |
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Proceeds to be held in trust account |
Of the proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $375,000,000, or $431,250,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and $2,000,000 will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed into the trust account include $13,125,000 (or $15,093,750 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. |
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Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination; (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) 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 completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (b) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders. |
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Anticipated expenses and funding sources |
Except as described above with respect to the payment of taxes, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. The proceeds held in the trust account, if invested, 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. Assuming an interest rate of 1.0% per year, we estimate the interest earned on the trust account to generate approximately $3,750,000 per year; however we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Except as described above, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from: |
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• the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $1,000,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $1,000,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and |
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• any loans or additional investments from our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. |
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Conditions to completing our initial business combination |
There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. NYSE rules require that our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. |
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If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. |
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Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates |
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination where otherwise permissible under applicable laws, rule and regulations. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See "Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities" for a description of how our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. |
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The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public "float" of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. |
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Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsors and each member of our management team 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 held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or otherwise. |
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Limitation on redemptions |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will 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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules). However, a greater net tangible asset or cash requirement may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. Furthermore, although we will not redeem shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, we do not have a maximum redemption threshold based on the percentage of shares sold in this offering, as many blank check companies do. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. |
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Manner of conducting redemptions |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval, while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other legal reasons. |
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If we hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will: |
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• 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 |
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• file proxy materials with the SEC |
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If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote therein and who vote at a general meeting. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote their founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders' founder shares, we would need 14,062,501, or approximately 37.5%, of the 37,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised). The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsors with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require that at least five days' notice will be given of any such general meeting. |
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If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association: |
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• conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and |
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• 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. |
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Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsors 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. |
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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 such initial business combination. |
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Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will 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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. |
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Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold shareholder vote |
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a "group" (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder's shares are not purchased by us, our sponsors or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders' ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders' ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination. Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team have, pursuant to a letter agreement entered into with us, waived their right to have any founder shares or public shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination. Unless any of our other affiliates acquires founder shares through a permitted transfer from our sponsors, and thereby becomes subject to the letter agreement, no such affiliate is subject to this waiver. However, to the extent any such affiliate acquires public shares in this offering or thereafter through open market purchases, it would be a public shareholder and subject to the 15% limitation in connection with any such redemption right. |
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Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination |
On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be disbursed directly by the trustee to pay amounts due to any public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under "Proposed Business—Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination," to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. |
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Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination |
Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 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), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. |
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Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsors, directors or members of our management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. |
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The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares. |
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Our sponsors, executive officers, directors and director nominees 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 that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described above under "Proposed Business—Limitations on Redemptions." For example, our board of directors may propose such an amendment if it determines that additional time is necessary to complete our initial business combination. In such event, we will conduct a proxy solicitation and distribute proxy materials pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act seeking shareholder approval of such proposal and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon shareholder approval of such amendment. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person. |
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Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. |
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Limited payments to insiders |
There will be no finder's fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by the company to our sponsors, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination: |
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• Reimbursement of funds advanced to us by our sponsors to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
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• Reimbursement for office space and administrative support services provided to us by BGPT Trebia LP, in the amount of $10,000 per month; |
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• Reimbursement of legal fees and expenses incurred by our sponsors, officers or directors in connection with our formation, the initial business combination and their services to us; |
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• Payment of fees and reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; and |
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• Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
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Any such payments will be made either (i) prior to our initial business combination using proceeds of this offering held outside the trust account or from loans made to us by our sponsors or (ii) in connection with or after the completion of our initial business combination. |
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Audit Committee |
We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsors, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled "Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee." |
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Conflicts of interest |
Trasimene Capital externally manages Cannae Holdings pursuant to a management services agreement and Bridgeport Partners manages proprietary capital. Investment vehicles managed by Trasimene Capital, Bridgeport Partners or their affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these investment vehicles decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, including by our founders, may be suitable for both us and for a current or future Trasimene Capital or Bridgeport Partners investment vehicle and may be directed to such investment vehicle rather than to us. Neither our founders nor members of our management team who are also employed by certain affiliates of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to such member solely in his or her capacity as an officer of the Company. Our founders and/or our management, in their capacities as officers or managing directors of Trasimene Capital or Bridgeport Partners or in their other endeavors, may be required to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners investment vehicles, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. |
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Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. 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 opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. |
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In addition, our sponsors, officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsors, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. |
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Indemnity |
Our sponsors have agreed that they will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accountants) for services rendered or products sold to us, or by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsors will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsors have sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsors' only assets are securities of our company. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. |
We are a newly incorporated company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see "Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419." You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled "Risk Factors."
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The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
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March 12, 2020 | March 31, 2020 | |||||
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(unaudited) |
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Balance Sheet Data: |
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Working capital (deficiency) |
$ | (414,176 | ) | $ | (564,663 | ) | |
Total assets |
$ | 599,176 | $ | 684,508 | |||
Total liabilities |
$ | 579,176 | $ | 664,492 | |||
Value of ordinary shares that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.00 per share) |
$ | — | $ | — | |||
Shareholders' equity |
$ | 20,000 | $ | 20,016 | |||
If no business combination is completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team 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 do not complete our initial business combination within such 24 month time period.
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a recently incorporated company formed under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
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."
As of March 31, 2020, we had $99,829 in cash and a working capital deficiency of $564,663. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management's plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to complete this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Past performance by Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, or their respective affiliates (including the founders and our management team), including our management team, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners or their affiliates, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, their affiliates or our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may complete. You should not rely on the historical record of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, their affiliates or our management team's performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners or their affiliates.
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.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except as required by law or stock exchange, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or
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will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Please see the section of this prospectus entitled "Proposed Business—Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve our Initial Business Combination" for additional information.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering. Our initial shareholders and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders' founder shares, we would need 14,062,501, or approximately 37.5%, of the 37,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised). Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and each member of our management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management will rely on the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase securities to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of the forward purchase securities fails to close, we may lack sufficient funds to complete our initial business combination.
We have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which Cannae Holdings has agreed to purchase the forward purchase securities in a private placement to occur concurrently with our initial business combination. The funds from the sale of forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. The obligations under the forward purchase agreement do not depend on whether any public shareholders elect to redeem their shares and provide us with a minimum funding level for the initial business combination. However, if the sale of the forward purchase securities does not close by reason of the failure by Cannae Holdings to fund the purchase price for their forward purchase securities, for example, we may lack sufficient funds to complete our initial business combination. Additionally, the obligation of
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Cannae Holdings to purchase the forward purchase securities are subject to termination prior to the closing of the sale of the forward purchase securities by mutual written consent of the Company and Cannae Holdings, or, automatically: (a) if this offering is not completed on or prior to June 5, 2022; (b) if the initial business combination is not completed within 24 months of the closing of this offering or such later date as may be approved by the Company's shareholders; (c) if Frank R. Martire, Jr. and William P. Foley, II both die; (d) if Frank R. Martire, Jr. and William P. Foley, II, the sponsors or the Company become subject to any voluntary or involuntary petition under the United States federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law, in each case which is not withdrawn within sixty (60) days after being filed, or a receiver, fiscal agent or similar officer is appointed by a court for business or property of Frank R. Martire, Jr. and William P. Foley, II, the sponsors or the Company, in each case which is not removed, withdrawn or terminated within sixty (60) days after such appointment; or (e) if either of Frank R. Martire, Jr. or William P. Foley, II is convicted in a criminal proceeding for a crime involving fraud or dishonesty. The obligation of Cannae Holdings to purchase the forward purchase securities is subject to fulfillment of customary closing conditions and other conditions as set forth in the forward purchase agreement, including: (a) the initial business combination shall be completed substantially concurrent with, and immediately following, the purchase of the forward purchase securities; and (b) the Company must have delivered to Cannae Holdings a certificate evidencing the Company's good standing as a Cayman Islands exempted company, as of a date within ten (10) business days of the closing of the sale of the forward purchase shares. In the event of any such failure to fund by Cannae Holdings, any obligation is so terminated or any such condition is not satisfied and not waived by Cannae Holdings, we may not be able to obtain additional funds to account for such shortfall on terms favorable to us or at all. Any such shortfall would also reduce the amount of funds that we have available for working capital of the post-business combination company. While Cannae Holdings has represented to us that it has sufficient funds to satisfy its obligations under the forward purchase agreement, we have not obligated Cannae Holdings to reserve funds for such obligations.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which 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 to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust
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account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering 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 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 an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. 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.
We may not be able to complete an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described
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herein. If we have not completed an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders' rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In such case, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See "—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share" and other risk factors below.
The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the impact on business and debt and equity markets could have a material adverse effect on our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States and Europe. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern." On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to the coronavirus, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a "pandemic". A significant outbreak of the coronavirus and other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, business operations and the conduct of commerce generally and could have a material adverse effect on the business of any potential target business with which we complete a business combination. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to the coronavirus restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company's personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and complete a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which the coronavirus 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 the coronavirus pandemic and the actions to contain the coronavirus or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by the coronavirus or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, it could have a material adverse effect on our ability to complete a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination.
In addition, our ability to complete a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing and the coronavirus pandemic and other related events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise adequate financing.
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public "float" of our Class A ordinary shares.
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 initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, where otherwise permissible under applicable laws, rules and regulations, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions.
Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See "Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities" for a description of how our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public "float" of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. For example, we may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in "street name," to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we
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distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Proposed Business—Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights."
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of our Class A ordinary shares, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors' ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or 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, we must maintain a minimum market capitalization (generally $50,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public holders).
Additionally, our units will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE's initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE's continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our shareholders' equity would generally be required to be at least $4.0 million. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an
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over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
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- a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
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- reduced liquidity for our securities;
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- a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a "penny stock" which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary
shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
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- a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
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- a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as "covered securities." Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. 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.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement 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 will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file 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 will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see the section of this prospectus entitled "Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419."
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a "group" of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder,
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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 this offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the "Excess Shares." However, we would not be restricting our shareholders' ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, 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 intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement 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 do not 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 the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, 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 sponsors or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account to fund our working capital requirements may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsors will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a 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 designed to keep target businesses from "shopping" around for transactions with
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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 where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See "—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share" and other risk factors below.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, unless funded by the proceeds of loans available from our sponsors, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsors, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsors, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors 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 obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we do not 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. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See "—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share" and other risk factors below.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues 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
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charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party's engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where 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 an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsors have agreed that they will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, if any, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust
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account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsors will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsors to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsors have sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsors' only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsors would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsors, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, if any, and our sponsors assert 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 sponsors to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsors to enforce their indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive 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 (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we complete 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.
If, after we distribute the proceeds 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 proceeds 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
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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 proceeds 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 proceeds 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 proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
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- restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
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- restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
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- registration as an investment company;
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- adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
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- reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading "investment securities" constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States "government securities" within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other
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securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an "investment company" within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination; (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; or (c) absent our completing an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, 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.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of the interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we complete our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem
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their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. 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 for a fine of approximately $18,292 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the completion of our initial business combination.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or extraordinary 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 elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the completion of an initial business combination.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to
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do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case the number of Class A ordinary shares that you 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). However, no such warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, unless an exemption from state registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a "covered security" under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a "cashless basis" in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the warrants included as part of units sold in this offering. In such an instance, our sponsors and their transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the warrants included as part of units sold in this offering. In such an instance, our sponsors and their transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.
If we call the warrants for redemption, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis in the circumstances described in "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00". If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875
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public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share when there is no effective registration statement, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential "upside" of the holder's investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within twenty business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. Pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, we have agreed to use our reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a resale shelf registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and the forward purchase warrants (and underlying Class A ordinary shares), (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter, (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which Cannae Holdings or its assignee cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act and (iv) after such registration statement is declared effective, cause us to conduct underwritten offerings, subject to certain limitations. In addition, the forward purchase agreement provides for certain "piggy-back" registration rights to the holders of forward purchase securities to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the securities owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees are registered.
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Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business's operations.
We may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we will not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business's operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management's area of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management's area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition 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 units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition 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 prospectus 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 adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholder who choose to remain shareholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses and our strategy will be to identify, acquire and build a company in financial services, technology, business services and related sectors, 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 and our strategy will be to identify, acquire and build a company in financial services, technology, business services and related sectors, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal 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 do not 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.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our 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 from an independent accounting firm or independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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 400,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preferred shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 362,500,000 and 30,625,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants and the forward purchase warrants, shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares or shares issued upon the sale of the forward purchase shares. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A
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ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Immediately after this offering, there will be 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 to redeem the warrants as described in "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00" or 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 contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide, among other things, that prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preferred shares:
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- may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;
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- may 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;
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- could cause a change in control if a substantial number of 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;
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- may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and
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- will not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.
Unlike most other similarly structured blank check companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to complete an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of our ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the sum of (a) the total number of ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or deemed issued by the Company in connection with or in relation to the completion of the initial business combination (including the forward purchase shares, but not the forward purchase warrants), excluding (1) any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and (2) any private placement warrants issued to our sponsors or any of their affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans, minus (b) the number of public shares redeemed by public shareholders in connection with our initial business combination. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one to one. This is different than most other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
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Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we do not 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.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we do not 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.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or "PFIC," which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder (as defined in the section of this prospectus captioned "Certain Tax Considerations—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Holders") of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception (see the section of this prospectus captioned "Certain Tax Considerations—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Holders—PFIC Rules"). Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurance with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a qualified electing fund ("QEF") 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 discussion of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders, see the section of this prospectus captioned "Certain Tax Considerations—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Holders—PFIC Rules."
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Law, 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. We do not intend to
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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.
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.
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Moreover, certain of our directors and executive officers have time and attention requirements for private investment funds of which affiliates of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners are the investment managers. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management, director 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.
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
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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 his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business's management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. 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 who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target's key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate's key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate's management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours
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per week to our affairs. In particular, certain of our officers and directors are employed by affiliates of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, which are investment managers to various private investment funds that make investments in securities or other interests of or relating to companies in industries we may target for our initial business combination. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers' and directors' other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers' and directors' other business affairs, please see the section of this prospectus entitled "Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees."
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we complete our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. In particular, certain of our directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to another blank check company, Foley Trasimene. 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. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our founders and our directors and officers, Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners or their affiliates may in the future become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers' and directors' fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
For a complete discussion of our executive officers' and directors' business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled "Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees," "Management—Conflicts of Interest" and "Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions."
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our
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sponsors, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us, including the formation or participation in one or more other blank check companies. 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. See the section titled "Description of Securities—Certain Differences in Corporate Law—Shareholders' Suits" for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsors, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsors, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsors, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under the section of this prospectus entitled "Management—Conflicts of Interest." Our founders and our directors and officers, Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners or their affiliates may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsors, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled "Proposed Business—Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination" and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting 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 sponsors, executive 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.
Since our sponsors, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On February 18, 2020, the sponsors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsors, the company
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had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. On June 11, 2020, our sponsors transferred 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsors have committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,333,334 private placement warrants (or 7,083,334 private placement warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,625,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.50 per whole warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Holders of founder shares have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsors, affiliates of our sponsors or an officer or director, and we may pay our sponsors, officers, directors and any of their respective affiliates fees and expenses in connection with identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination.
The personal and financial interests of our executive 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 24-month anniversary of the closing of this offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders' investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
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- default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt
obligations;
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- acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain
covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
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- our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;
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- our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing
while the debt security is outstanding;
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- our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares;
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- 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, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions and fund other general corporate purposes;
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- limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
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- increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government
regulation; and
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- limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements and execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this 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.
Of the net proceeds from this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the sale of the forward purchase securities, $437,875,000 (or $492,156,250 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which excludes up to approximately $13,125,000 or $15,093,750 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, after taking into account the deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account and the estimated expense of this offering).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory 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:
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- solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or
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- 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 (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
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single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company's shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those
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risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (such that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsors, 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.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, changed industry focus and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 65% of the public warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
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The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company's pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company's shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by 90% of the company's shareholders attending and voting at a general meeting. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own, on an as converted basis, 20% of our Class A ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsors, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in letter agreements that we have entered into with our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsors, executive 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.
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We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we do not 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.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase securities will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase securities prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we do not 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 not previously released to us to pay our taxes on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the 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. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of this offering, our initial shareholders will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchase any units in this offering or 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, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsors, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our "staggered" board of directors, only a
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minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Our sponsors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary share and none to the one-third of a warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per Class A ordinary share after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsors acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 95.5% (or $9.55 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.45 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
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 and forward purchase warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement will provide 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 and forward purchase warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder 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 and forward purchase 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, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). Please see "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00." If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are
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unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the Market Value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. Please see "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00." 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 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 12,500,000 of our Class A ordinary shares (or up to 14,375,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 6,333,334 private placement warrants (or up to 7,083,334 private placement warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. We will also issue 2,500,000 forward purchase warrants concurrently with the closing of the sale of the forward purchase shares. Our sponsors currently own an aggregate of 10,781,250 founder shares. The founder shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsors make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Our public warrants are also redeemable by us for Class A ordinary shares as described in "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00."
To the extent we issue Class A ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights 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 and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our
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sponsors until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) are subject to registration rights.
Because each unit contains one-third of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for 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.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to complete an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, 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 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 on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and 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 complete an initial business combination with a target business.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
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- the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;
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- prior offerings of those companies;
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- our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;
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- a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;
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- our capital structure;
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- an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;
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- general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and
- •
- other factors as were deemed relevant.
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Shareholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("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 statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an "emerging growth company" within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although
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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 $700.0 million as of any June 30th before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant 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 does not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100.0 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. 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. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome 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 control of any such entity to achieve compliance
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with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
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Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions will 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, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our sponsors, are entitled to vote on the appointment of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the Class A ordinary shares and the one-third of a warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holder's holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered a "qualified dividend" for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the section titled "Certain Tax Considerations—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations" for a summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our units. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our units.
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.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, upon the listing of our shares on the NYSE, the NYSE may consider us to be a 'controlled company' within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
After completion of this offering, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the NYSE may consider us to be a 'controlled company' within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual,
78
group or another company is a 'controlled company' and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
- •
- we have a board that includes a majority of 'independent directors,' as defined under the rules of the NYSE;
- •
- we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the
committee's purpose and responsibilities; and
- •
- we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities.
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
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.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
- •
- costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of
overseas markets;
- •
- rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
- •
- complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
- •
- laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
- •
- exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
- •
- tariffs and trade barriers;
- •
- regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
- •
- local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
- •
- unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
- •
- longer payment cycles;
- •
- tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
- •
- currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
79
- •
- rates of inflation;
- •
- challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
- •
- cultural and language differences;
- •
- employment regulations;
- •
- underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
- •
- corruption;
- •
- protection of intellectual property;
- •
- social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
- •
- regime changes and political upheaval;
- •
- terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars;
- •
- deterioration of political relations with the United States; and
- •
- government appropriation of assets.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the Company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination 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 a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country's economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to complete our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
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Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business' ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following the completion 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 completion 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 complete such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from 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.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intends," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
- •
- our ability to complete our initial business combination;
- •
- 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;
- •
- the proceeds of the forward purchase securities being available to us;
- •
- 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 investment opportunities;
- •
- our public securities' potential liquidity and trading;
- •
- the lack of a market for our securities;
- •
- the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;
- •
- the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or
- •
- our financial performance following this offering.
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the section of this prospectus entitled "Risk Factors." Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 37,500,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table:
| |
Without Over-Allotment Option |
Over-Allotment Option Fully Exercised |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross proceeds |
|||||||
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) |
$ | 375,000,000 | $ | 431,250,000 | |||
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement |
9,500,000 | 10,625,000 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Total gross proceeds |
$ | 384,500,000 | $ | 441,875,000 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Offering expenses(2) |
|||||||
Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3) |
$ | 7,500,000 | $ | 8,625,000 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Legal fees and expenses |
475,000 | 475,000 | |||||
Printing and engraving expenses |
50,000 | 50,000 | |||||
Accounting fees and expenses |
106,500 | 106,500 | |||||
SEC/FINRA Expenses |
121,165 | 121,165 | |||||
Travel and road show |
20,000 | 20,000 | |||||
NYSE listing and filing fees |
75,000 | 75,000 | |||||
Director and Officer liability insurance premiums |
90,000 | 90,000 | |||||
Miscellaneous |
62,335 | 62,335 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions) |
$ | 1,000,000 | $ | 1,000,000 | |||
Proceeds after offering expenses |
$ | 376,000,000 | $ | 432,250,000 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Held in trust account(3) |
$ | 375,000,000 | $ | 431,250,000 | |||
% of public offering size |
100 | % | 100 | % | |||
Not held in trust account after offering expenses |
$ | 1,000,000 | $ | 1,000,000 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
The following table shows the use of the approximately $1,000,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account.(4)(5)
| |
Amount | % of Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combination(6) |
$ | 300,000 | 30.0 | % | |||
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations |
100,000 | 10.0 | % | ||||
Payment for office space and administrative support services ($10,000 per month for up to 24 months) |
240,000 | 24.0 | % | ||||
Consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during search for initial business combination target |
200,000 | 20.0 | % | ||||
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income) |
160,000 | 16.0 | % | ||||
| | | | | | | | |
Total |
$ | 1,000,000 | 100.0 | % | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
- (1)
- Includes amounts payable to public shareholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.
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- (2)
- A
portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from BGPT Trebia LP. These funds will be reimbursed up to $300,000 as
described in this prospectus. As of March 31, 2020, we borrowed $150,000 under the promissory note with BGPT Trebia LP to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The loan
will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and
amounts not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the
event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.
- (3)
- The
underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon and concurrently with the
completion of our initial business combination, $13,125,000, which constitutes the underwriters' deferred commissions (or $15,093,750 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full)
will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, see "Underwriting." The remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming shareholders will be released
to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including
payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will
not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.
- (4)
- These
expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example,
we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such
business combination. In the event we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due
diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence.
We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current
estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. The proceeds
held in the trust account will 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. Prior to such time, such proceeds will not be invested and will be held in a
non-interest bearing trust account. Assuming an interest rate of 1.0% per year, we estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $3,750,000 per year; however, we can provide
no assurances regarding this amount.
- (5)
- Assumes
no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option.
- (6)
- Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a "no shop" provision and commitment fees for financing.
Of the $384,500,000 in proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, or $441,875,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full, $375,000,000 ($10.00 per unit), or $431,250,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $9,500,000, or up to $10,625,000 if the underwriters'
84
over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination; (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest income earned on the trust account (if any) will be sufficient to pay our income taxes.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.
We believe that amounts not held in trust, together with funds available to us from loans from our sponsors, will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsors, members of our management team or their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.
We will reimburse BGPT Trebia LP a total of $10,000 per month for office space and administrative support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Prior to the closing of this offering, BGPT Trebia LP has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of March 31, 2020, we borrowed $150,000 under the promissory note with BGPT Trebia LP to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of January 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business
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combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
Prior to this offering, we have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has agreed to purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, we expect that our initial shareholders will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of our Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the initial business combination. See "Description of Securities—Forward Purchase Agreement."
Under the forward purchase agreement, we will provide a right of first offer to Cannae Holdings, if we propose to raise additional capital by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities, other than the units and certain excluded securities. In addition, if we seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination, Cannae Holdings has agreed under the forward purchase agreement to vote any Class A ordinary shares owned by Cannae Holdings in favor of any proposed initial business combination.
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post transaction company. This purchase will be required to be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public
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shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
Cannae Holdings will have no right to the funds held in the trust account except with respect to any public shares owned by them. We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules) and the agreement for our business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.
A public shareholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (a) our completion of an initial business combination; (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed our business combination within 24 months following the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team have entered into a letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we do not complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if either of our sponsors or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. 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 increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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The difference between the public offering price per Class A ordinary share, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
At March 31, 2020, our net tangible book deficit was $564,663, or approximately $(0.045) per ordinary share. After giving effect to the sale of 37,500,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 43,125,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at March 31, 2020 would have been $5,000,006 or $0.45 per share (or $0.39 per share if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the approximately 35,789,501 Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash or 41,217,626 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.50 per share (or $0.44 per share to our initial shareholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution to the public shareholders from this offering of $10.00 per share or 100% to our public shareholders not exercising their redemption rights. Total dilution to public shareholders from this offering will be $9.55 per share (or $9.61 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public shareholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
| |
Without Over-Allotment |
With Over-Allotment |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | |||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
(0.05 | ) | (0.05 | ) | |||
Increase attributable to public shareholders |
0.50 | 0.44 | |||||
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants |
$ | 0.45 | $ | 0.39 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Dilution to public shareholders |
$ | 9.55 | $ | 9.61 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Percentage of dilution to public shareholders |
95.50 | % | 96.10 | % | |||
For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option) by $357,895,010 because holders of up to approximately 95.4% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or general meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares.
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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial shareholders and the public shareholders:
| |
Shares Purchased | Total Consideration | |
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Average Price per Share |
|||||||||||||||
| |
Number | Percentage | Amount | Percentage | ||||||||||||
Class B Ordinary Shares(1) |
9,375,000 | 20.0 | % | $ | 25,000 | 0.01 | % | $ | 0.003 | |||||||
Public Shareholders |
37,500,000 | 80.0 | % | 375,000,000 | 99.99 | % | $ | 10.00 | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
46,875,000 | 100.0 | % | $ | 375,025,000 | 100.0 | % | |||||||||
- (1)
- Assumes no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 1,406,250 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders.
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering (assuming that the underwriters' do not exercise their over-allotment option) is calculated as follows:
| |
Without Over-Allotment |
With Over-allotment |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Numerator: |
|||||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
$ | (564,663 | ) | $ | (564,663 | ) | |
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants(1) |
376,000,000 | 432,250,000 | |||||
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering |
584,679 | 584,679 | |||||
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions |
(13,125,000 | ) | (15,093,750 | ) | |||
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption(2) |
(357,895,010 | ) | (412,176,260 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | | |
|
$ | 5,000,006 | $ | 5,000,006 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Denominator: |
|||||||
Class B ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering |
10,781,250 | 10,781,250 | |||||
Ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised |
1,406,250 | — | |||||
Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered |
37,500,000 | 43,125,000 | |||||
Less: Ordinary shares subject to redemption |
(35,789,501 | ) | (41,217,626 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | | |
|
11,085,499 | 12,688,624 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
- (1)
- Expenses
applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $1,000,000 and underwriting commissions of $7,500,000 or $8,625,000 if the
underwriters exercise their over-allotment option (excluding deferred underwriting fees). See "Use of Proceeds."
- (2)
- 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 initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See "Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities."
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at March 31, 2020, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the sale of our units in this offering and the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:
| |
March 31, 2020 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Actual | As Adjusted(1) | |||||
Promissory note—related party(2) |
$ | 150,000 | $ | — | |||
Deferred underwriting commissions |
— | 13,125,000 | |||||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption; actual and as adjusted, respectively(3) |
— | 357,895,010 | |||||
Shareholders' equity (deficit): |
|||||||
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 preferred shares authorized (actual and as adjusted), none issued and outstanding (actual and as adjusted) |
— | — | |||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 400,000,000 ordinary shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); no ordinary shares issued and outstanding (actual); 1,710,499 ordinary shares issued and outstanding (excluding 35,789,501 shares subject to redemption) (as adjusted) |
— | 171 | |||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares authorized; 10,781,250 shares issued and outstanding (actual); 9,375,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding (as adjusted)(4) |
1,078 | 938 | |||||
Additional paid-in capital |
23,922 | 5,003,881 | |||||
Accumulated deficit |
(4,984 | ) | (4,984 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Total shareholders' equity |
$ | 20,016 | $ | 5,000,006 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Total capitalization |
$ | 170,016 | $ | 376,020,016 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
- (1)
- Assumes
no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 1,406,250 Class B ordinary shares held by our
initial shareholders.
- (2)
- BGPT
Trebia LP has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 in the aggregate to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of
March 31, 2020, we borrowed $150,000 under the under the promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering.
- (3)
- Upon
the completion of our initial business combination, 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 calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of the initial business combination, including
interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of
the then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein whereby redemptions cannot cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but
not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. For a detailed calculation of Class ordinary shares subject to redemption, please see the section of this
prospectus entitled "Dilution."
- (4)
- Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsors and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option.
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MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on February 11, 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, equity and debt.
The issuance of additional shares in a business combination, including the issuance of forward purchase securities:
- •
- may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in
the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;
- •
- may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preferred shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our
Class A ordinary shares;
- •
- could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things,
our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;
- •
- may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to
obtain control of us; and
- •
- may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants.
Similarly, if we issue debt securities, or otherwise incur significant debt, it could result in:
- •
- default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt
obligations;
- •
- acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain
covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
- •
- our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;
- •
- our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing
while the debt security 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, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions and fund other general corporate purposes;
- •
- limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
- •
- increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government
regulation; and
- •
- limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements and execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
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As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, as of March 31, 2020, we had $99,829 in cash and deferred offering costs of approximately $584,679. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of (i) a $25,000 capital contribution from our sponsors in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our sponsors and (ii) the advancement of funds by our sponsors to cover our expenses in connection with this offering. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $1,000,000, underwriting commissions of $7,500,000 ($8,625,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $13,125,000 (or $15,093,750, if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,625,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $376,000,000 (or $432,250,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full). $375,000,000 (or $431,250,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes the deferred underwriting commissions described above. 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. The remaining approximately $1,000,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less taxes payable and deferred underwriting commissions), to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest income (if any) to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. Based on assumed interest rates, we expect that the interest income earned on the amount in the trust account (if any), will be sufficient to pay our income taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, as well as certain funds from loans
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from our sponsors. We will use these funds to primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination, other than funds available from loans from our sponsors. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $300,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $100,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $240,000 for office space and administrative support services; $200,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during the search for a business combination target; and approximately $160,000 for working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income).
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a "no-shop" provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from "shopping" around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a "no-shop" provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction
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requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account and the proceeds from the issuance of the forward purchase securities, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our 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 our business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our auditors tested our systems, of our internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
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- staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;
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- reconciliation of accounts;
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- proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;
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- evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;
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- documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and
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- documentation of accounting policies and procedures.
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management's report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent auditors to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent auditors may identify additional issues concerning a target business's internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or
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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. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Related Party Transactions
On February 18, 2020, our sponsors purchased 10,781,250 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. On June 11, 2020, our sponsors transferred 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price.
Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay BGPT Trebia LP a total of $10,000 per month for office space and administrative support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
We may pay our sponsors or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder's fee, consulting fee or other compensation in connection with identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination. These individuals will also be reimbursed for any out of pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsors, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which fees and expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on payments that may be made to our sponsors, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates.
Prior to the closing of this offering, BGPT Trebia LP has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of March 31, 2020, we borrowed $150,000 under the promissory note with BGPT Trebia LP to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of January 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Prior to this offering, we have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has agreed to purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward
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purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, we expect that our initial shareholders will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of our Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the initial business combination. See "Description of Securities—Forward Purchase Agreement."
Under the forward purchase agreement, we will provide a right of first offer to Cannae Holdings, if we propose to raise additional capital by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities, other than the units and certain excluded securities. In addition, if we seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination, Cannae Holdings has agreed under the forward purchase agreement to vote any Class A ordinary shares owned by Cannae Holdings in favor of any proposed initial business combination.
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post transaction company. This purchase will be required to be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
Cannae Holdings will have no right to the funds held in the trust account except with respect to any public shares owned by them. We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
Our sponsors have committed to purchase an aggregate of 6,333,334 private placement warrants (or 7,083,334 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.50 per whole warrant ($9,500,000 in the aggregate or $10,625,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. Our sponsors will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by it to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to it, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the sponsors. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees. The private placement warrants may also be exercised by the sponsors and their permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our sponsors on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement will provide that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such
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registration statements. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions."
Pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, we have agreed to use our reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a resale shelf registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and the forward purchase warrants (and underlying Class A ordinary shares), (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter, (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which Cannae Holdings or its assignee cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act and (iv) after such registration statement is declared effective, cause us to conduct underwritten offerings, subject to certain limitations. In addition, the forward purchase agreement provides for certain "piggy-back" registration rights to the holders of forward purchase securities to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Description of Securities—Registration Rights."
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of March 31, 2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus, as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an "emerging growth company" and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an "emerging growth company," we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor's attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the 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.
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We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.
We will seek to capitalize on the more than 60 years of combined executive experience of our co-founders William P. Foley, II, and Frank R. Martire, Jr. Our sponsors, Trasimene Trebia, LP and BGPT Trebia LP, are controlled by our co-founders. We believe our co-founders' distinctive and complementary backgrounds can have a transformative impact on a target business. Although we may pursue targets in any industry, we intend to focus on industries that complement our sponsors' experience in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. Our sponsors will undertake a proactive sourcing strategy and focus our efforts on companies where we believe the combination of our sponsors' operating experience, deal making track record, professional relationships and capital markets expertise can be catalysts to enhance the growth potential and value of a target business and provide opportunities for an attractive risk-adjusted return to our shareholders.
William P. Foley, II has over 32 years of experience in industry consolidation and delivering shareholder value. As a pre-eminent operator, Mr. Foley has led four separate multi-billion dollar public market platforms with over 100 acquisitions across diverse platforms including FNF, FIS, Black Knight, Ceridian and FGL Holdings. Throughout his career, Mr. Foley has demonstrated operational expertise, working to create public companies whose combined market capitalization exceeds $85.0 billion. As Founder, former CEO and now Chairman of FNF, Mr. Foley has built the largest title insurance company, growing equity value from $3.0 million to $5.9 billion. During Mr. Foley's tenure, FIS grew from an approximately $1.0 billion initial acquisition into the world's largest financial technology processing company with a market capitalization of approximately $21.0 billion as of April 2016. Since 2000, FNF and FIS have completed eight control acquisitions of companies with revenues in excess of $150.0 million in their respective core operations that on average achieved 69% uplift of EBITDA from the realization of cost and revenue synergies. His proven track record is driven by his value creation playbook, which is highlighted by identifying cost savings, undertaking strategy shifts, eliminating siloed organizational structures and accelerating product expansion. Coupled with Mr. Foley's exceptional track record of optimizing go-to-market organizations, executing strategic acquisitions and investing in growth, the value creation playbook has been substantiated by Mr. Foley's history of superior shareholder returns through consistently exceeding initial synergy estimates as demonstrated by an average synergy realization of 1.4x the initial forecast. He also has an exceptional track record of recruiting and developing leaders to implement his transformation initiatives.
Frank R. Martire, Jr. has over 30 years of experience in industry consolidation and delivering shareholder value. As a leading executive and manager, Mr. Martire has led growth and value creation at three public company platforms including FIS, Fiserv and NCR as well as at Metavante, a leading technology and processing subsidiary of a leading publicly listed bank holding company. At NCR, Mr. Martire has achieved $100.0 million of cost synergies. Under Mr. Martire's leadership, Metavante grew revenues from approximately $650.0 million to $1.7 billion in six years—growing earnings from approximately $180.0 million to more than $450.0 million over that period. Mr. Martire led the initial public offering of Metavante and the subsequent merger with FIS, taking on the role of CEO post-merger. Post-merger, FIS achieved $300.0 million of synergies—delivering over 115% of target synergies at the time of the merger announcement. Mr. Martire led the $5.1 billion acquisition of SunGard at FIS and achieved more than $325.0 million of annualized cost savings following the transaction, outperforming target amount and timing for cost savings. Alongside a focus on growth and
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cost optimization, under Mr. Martire's leadership, FIS undertook a $2.5 billion share repurchase program in 2010 to optimize the company's capital structure and achieved an investment grade rating in 2013. During Mr. Martire's tenure at FIS, the company's stock outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.7x. Mr. Martire led the largest division at Fiserv as President and Chief Operating Officer, Financial Institution Systems and Services Group at Fiserv. During Mr. Martire's tenure at Fiserv, the company's stock outperformed the S&P 500 by 3.8x.
We are sponsored jointly by affiliates of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners. Trasimene Capital, led by Mr. Foley, and Bridgeport Partners, led by Mr. Martire, bring together a unique team of professionals with extensive operating, investing, diligence and capital raising experience to effect a business combination with an attractive target and position it for long-term success in the public markets.
We are advised by the following team of professionals at Trasimene Capital including among others:
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- Richard N. Massey. Mr. Massey serves as a Senior Managing Director
of Trasimene Capital and as Chief Executive Officer of Cannae Holdings. Mr. Massey has more than three decades of significant related experience, most recently as the Chairman and principal
shareholder of Bear State Financial, Inc., a publicly traded financial institution, from 2011 until April 2018, and as a Partner in Westrock Capital, LLC, a private investment
partnership, since January 2009. Mr. Massey was Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel of Alltel Corporation from January 2006 to January 2009, the fifth largest wireless carrier in the
United States, before being sold for approximately $29.0 billion in 2009. Previously, from 2000 until 2006, Mr. Massey served as a Managing Director of Stephens Inc., a private
investment bank, during which time his financial advisory practice focused on software and information technology companies, and he formerly served as a director of FIS. Mr. Massey also serves
as a director of Dun & Bradstreet, which is a Cannae Holdings portfolio company, as well as a director of FNF, Black Knight and FGL Holdings. He is also a director of the Oxford American
Literary Project and Chairman of the board of directors of the Arkansas Razorback Foundation.
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- Frank Martire, III. Mr. Martire serves as Managing Director at
Trasimene Capital and is a Partner of Bridgeport Partners. He has more than 15 years of experience in public and private M&A with more than 20 completed deals valued at over
$20.0 billion. Mr. Martire is experienced with board governance and shareholder related matters, activist defense campaigns and financial advisory matters. Prior to Trasimene Capital,
Mr. Martire was an Executive Committee member, Investment Committee member and General Counsel of Motive from 2016 to 2019. Prior to Motive, Mr. Martire was a Partner at Greenberg from
2014 to 2015. Prior to Greenberg, Mr. Martire was an associate at Weil from 2007 to 2014. Prior to Weil, Mr. Martire was a research analyst at J.S. Herold from 2003 to 2004 and an
investment banking analyst at JPMorgan from 2000 to 2002.
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- Richard L. Cox. Mr. Cox has served as a Managing Director of
Trasimene Capital since November 2019 and as an Executive Vice President and a Chief Financial Officer of Cannae Holdings since April 2017. Mr. Cox served as an Executive Vice President of FNF
from June 2012 until November 2019. He joined FNF in March 2000 and has served in various roles since that time, including as a Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Officer. Prior to joining FNF,
Mr. Cox served as a Senior Manager for Deloitte in Los Angeles. Mr. Cox is also a founder of Wine Decadence, LLC, a private direct sale wine business based in Jacksonville,
Florida. He also serves as Treasurer of The Folded Flag Foundation and is the Chairman and President of Angel Mission.
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- David W. Ducommun. Mr. Ducommun has served as a Managing Director of Trasimene Capital since November 2019 and as a Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance of Cannae Holdings since November 2017. Mr. Ducommun served as a Senior Vice President of Mergers and
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Acquisitions of FNF from 2011 to November 2019. He also served as Secretary of FGL Holdings from April 2016 until December 2017. Prior to joining FNF, Mr. Ducommun served as a Director of Investment Banking at Bank of America Corporation, since 2008. Before Bank of America Corporation, Mr. Ducommun was an investment banker at Bear Stearns.
We are advised by the following team of professionals at Bridgeport Partners including among others:
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- Paul Danola. Mr. Danola has been a Partner of Bridgeport Partners
since February 2020 and serves as President of Trebia Acquisition Corp. Mr. Danola served as President and CEO of Threshold Consulting LLC from February 2017 until February 2020 and
served as an independent contractor for Catalyst Consulting Group and Advent International Corporation from 2013 until February 2020. Mr. Danola has over 40 years of experience in
strategy, sales and operations with vast M&A experience spanning three decades at FIS, Metavante, Fiserv and Citicorp. Mr. Danola brings more than 30 years of banking experience, serving
with top core solutions providers FIS and Fiserv in executive roles integral to the strategic growth of each firm and its client banks. Mr. Danola led the expansion of Fiserv into Asia Pacific
and Central Europe. In his prior roles, he has been a leader of business segments including wealth management, core banking, business analytics, delivery channel optimization, enterprise risk
management and consulting. Mr. Danola has also served as a director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin since May 2006 and as a director of Friendship Circle of Wisconsin since March 2019.
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- Tanmay Kumar. Mr. Kumar has been a Partner of Bridgeport Partners
since November 2019 and serves as Chief Financial Officer of Trebia Acquisition Corp. Mr. Kumar was a Principal at Motive from July 2019 to November 2019 and prior to that was a Vice President
at Wafra, Inc. in the Alternative Investments Division from August 2014 to April 2019. Mr. Kumar has over 10 years of transaction experience across private and public markets with
a particular focus on financial services and technology companies. Mr. Kumar has also served as a director of Newest York Arts Press, Inc. since June 2017.
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- Frank D'Angelo. Mr. D'Angelo is a Partner of Bridgeport Partners and serves as Executive Vice President and President, Banking, at NCR. His career spans 35 years in the financial services, digital banking and payments industries. He currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of Evertec, a transaction and payments processing company in Latin America and the Caribbean, is a past Chairman of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association and served on the Payments Advisor Counsel of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Previously, he was President of Monitise, a provider of mobile banking, payments and commerce networks. Prior to that post, Mr. D'Angelo was Executive Vice President of the Payments Solutions Group at FIS and head of Payments and Digital Banking at Metavante. He also held several executive positions at Diebold, including CEO of Diebold Mexico, living in Mexico City.
In addition, we are advised by the following investment professionals:
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- Michael L. Gravelle. Mr. Gravelle has served as an Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Cannae Holdings since April 2017. Mr. Gravelle has served as the Chief Compliance Officer for Trasimene Capital since January 2020. Mr. Gravelle has over 25 years of business and legal experience in the financial industry. Mr. Gravelle has served as an Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of FNF since January 2010, and also served in the capacity of an Executive Vice President, Legal since May 2006 and Corporate Secretary since April 2008. Mr. Gravelle joined FNF in 2003, serving as a Senior Vice President. Mr. Gravelle joined a subsidiary of FNF in 1993, where he served as a Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary beginning in 1996 and as a Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary beginning in 2000. Mr. Gravelle has also served as an Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Black Knight and its predecessors since January 2014 and as Corporate Secretary of Black Knight from January 2014 until May 2018.
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- Lance Levy. Mr. Levy will serve as a director of Trebia Acquisition Corp.
upon the completion of this offering and has served as Chief Executive Officer of Capco, a specialized global management consultancy, focused exclusively on the financial services industry, since
2015. In 2017, Mr. Levy oversaw the sale of FIS's majority stake in Capco to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a leading private equity firm. Prior to joining Capco, Mr. Levy served on
the Executive Team of FIS as Head of Consulting Services and spent more than 15 years at Accenture, where he was a member of the Financial Services Leadership Team and the Accenture Leadership
Council. At Accenture Lance held the position of Accenture's Senior Managing Director of Financial Services in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Prior to this role, he served for many years as
Accenture's Global Head of Sales in Financial Services.
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- Mark D. Linehan. Mr. Linehan will serve as a director of Trebia
Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since September 2019. Mr. Linehan has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of
Wynmark, a private real estate investment and development company, since he founded the company in 1993. Prior to founding Wynmark, he served as a Senior Vice President with Trammell in Los Angeles,
California. Prior to working for Trammell, Mr. Linehan worked for Kenneth Leventhal, a Los Angeles-based public accounting firm specializing in the real estate industry which is now part of
Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Linehan serves on the board of directors of Hudson Pacific, and previously served on the board of directors of Condor Hospitality. In addition,
Mr. Linehan serves as a Director of Direct Relief. Mr. Linehan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from UCSB and is a Certified Public Accountant.
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- James B. Stallings. Mr. Stallings will serve as a director of Trebia Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since January 2018. He also has served as a Director of UGI since 2015 and as a Director of FIS since 2013. Since 2013, Mr. Stallings has been a Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of PS27 Ventures, a private investment fund focused on technology companies. From 2009 until his retirement in January 2013, Mr. Stallings served as General Manager of Global Markets in IBM's Systems and Technology Group. From 2002 to 2009, Mr. Stallings served in a variety of roles at IBM, including General Manager, Enterprise Systems, IBM Systems and Technology Group. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Stallings founded and ran E House, a consumer technology company, and prior to that, Mr. Stallings worked for Physician Sales & Services, a medical supplier. From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Stallings worked in various capacities for IBM.
We intend to capitalize on the ability of our sponsors' platform in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. Given our sponsors' global reach and experience, we believe they are well positioned to identify attractive business combination opportunities with a compelling industry backdrop and an opportunity for growth. Our sponsors' objectives are to generate attractive returns for shareholders and enhance value through improving operational performance of the acquired company. We expect to favor opportunities with certain industry and business characteristics. Key industry characteristics include compelling long-term growth, attractive competitive dynamics, consolidation opportunities and low risk of technological obsolescence. Key business characteristics include significant streams of recurring revenue, opportunity for operational improvement, attractive steady-state margins, high incremental margins and attractive free cash flow characteristics.
With respect to the foregoing examples, past performance is not a guarantee (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may complete. You should not rely on the historical record of our sponsors', founders' or our management's performance as indicative of our future performance.
Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners share a similar and complementary investment philosophy focused on identifying undervalued assets through evaluation of the business fundamentals
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and opportunities for operational or capital structure improvements. We believe that the demonstrated ability of our sponsors to source and close investments in a variety of businesses, particularly in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas, coupled with our sponsors' broad relationships in this industry and their deep operational experience, will help us to identify a target and complete a business combination. We also believe that potential sellers of target businesses will view the fact that our sponsors have assisted numerous companies in improving their financial and operating performance as a positive factor in considering whether or not to enter into a business combination with us.
Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has entered into a forward purchase agreement with us which provides for the purchase by Cannae Holdings of Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. We believe our ability to complete an initial business combination will be enhanced by our having entered into the forward purchase agreement with Cannae Holdings. The proceeds from the sale of forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. This purchase will be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP. We believe our ability to complete an initial business combination will be enhanced by our relationship with Cannae Holdings. Cannae Holdings is led by William P. Foley, II, and managed by Trasimene Capital. Cannae Holdings is a diversified holding company with investments in restaurants, technology-enabled healthcare services, financial services and more. Our business strategy is well aligned with Cannae Holdings' primary objective of maximizing shareholder value.
Business Strategy
Our goal is to collaborate with a company that already is a fundamentally sound company. Trebia Acquisition Corp. will seek to work with a potential acquisition candidate to access the capital markets, attract top-tier management talent and execute a proprietary value-creation business plan helping the company continue to grow into the next phase of its life cycle. Trebia Acquisition Corp. intends to employ a fundamental, value-oriented acquisition framework that seeks a target with the potential for significant equity value creation coupled with strong downside protection from dependable cash flows and a durable business franchise.
Although we may pursue targets in any industry, we intend to focus on industries that complement our sponsors' background in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. Our acquisition strategy will leverage Trasimene Capital's and Bridgeport Partners' network of proprietary deal sourcing where we believe a combination of industry research and lending relationships will provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. Additionally, we expect that relationships cultivated from years of transaction experience with management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, restructuring advisers, attorneys and accountants will provide potential opportunities for Trebia Acquisition Corp. Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination, with a company that complements the experience of our sponsors and can benefit from their operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our sponsors' broad
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and deep relationship network, unique industry experiences and proven deal sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities. This network has been developed through our sponsors' extensive experience and demonstrated success in both investing in and operating businesses across a variety of industries, developing a distinctive combination of capabilities including:
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- a track record of building industry-leading companies and proven ability to deliver shareholder value over an extended time period with
above-market-average investment returns that are multiples greater than comparable benchmarks;
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- a prolific acquisition history, having completed in excess of 100 transactions that have in sum contributed to such companies' financial
results and strategic position. This acquisition history has been executed using an established proprietary deal sourcing and differentiated transaction execution/structuring capabilities;
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- experience deploying a unique and broad value creation toolkit including identifying value enhancements, recruiting world-class talent and
delivering elite operating efficiency by consistently exceeding synergy targets; and
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- an extensive history of accessing the capital markets across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with transition to public ownership.
Upon completion of this offering, Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines which we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that we believe:
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- utilize our global network of contacts, which provides access to differentiated deal flow and significant deal-sourcing capabilities;
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- are at an inflection point, such as requiring additional management expertise, are able to innovate through new operational techniques, or
where we believe we can drive improved financial performance;
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- are fundamentally sound companies that are underperforming our estimation of their potential;
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- exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company's growth
strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review;
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- will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders, potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital
structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks; and
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- have been materially impacted by possible market dislocations and would benefit from capital markets access.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as
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discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Founders, Our Board of Directors and Management
Our co-founders, William P. Foley, II and Frank R. Martire, Jr., will serve as directors of the Company.
Past performance of our founders, management team, Trasimene Capital, Bridgeport Partners and their respective affiliates, is not a guarantee either of (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be completed or (ii) the ability to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of our founders', management's, Trasimene Capital's, Bridgeport Partners' or their respective affiliates as indicative of our future performance. See "Risk Factors—Past performance by Trasimene Capital, Bridgeport Partners or their respective affiliates, including our management team, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us." For a list of our executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such officers and the company, please refer to "Management—Conflicts of Interest."
Certain of our founders, officers and directors may have fiduciary and contractual obligations to Trasimene Capital or Bridgeport Partners and to certain companies in which those companies have invested or will invest in the future. As a result, certain of our officers and directors may have a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to companies that they are officers or directors of and certain Trasimene Capital or Bridgeport Partners investment vehicles and/or portfolio companies, as applicable, before Trebia Acquisition Corp. can pursue such opportunities. In particular, William P. Foley, II and Trasimene Capital FT, LP, an affiliate of Trasimene Capital, have recently incorporated Foley Trasimene, a blank check company incorporated in the state of Delaware for the purpose of effecting its own initial business combination. Mr. Foley has served as the Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Foley Trasimene since March 2020 and Frank R. Martire Jr. has served as a member of Foley Trasimene's board of directors since May 2020. As directors, Messrs. Foley and Martire will owe fiduciary duties under Delaware law to Foley Trasimene. While Foley Trasimene may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, it intends to focus on identifying a prospective target business in financial technology or business process outsourcing, which acts as an essential utility to industries that are core to the economy.
However, we do not expect these duties to present a significant conflict of interest with our search for an initial business combination. We believe this conflict of interest will be naturally mitigated, to some extent, by the differing nature of the acquisition targets that Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners typically consider most attractive for their investment vehicles and the types of acquisitions we expect Trebia Acquisition Corp. to find most attractive. As a result of due diligence from the broader platform, we may become aware of a potential transaction that is not a fit for the traditional investing activities of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners but that is an attractive opportunity for Trebia Acquisition Corp. In addition to the above, our founders, officers and directors are not required to commit any specific amount of time to our affairs, but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process. Accordingly, our founders, officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
We believe our sponsors' and their affiliates' operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Our sponsors have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate
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relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our sponsors' relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our sponsors in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Management" for a more complete description of our management team's experience.
Initial Business Combination
In accordance with the rules of the NYSE, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the prior owners of the target business, the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
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In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of 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.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsors, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsors, founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view from either an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm.
Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary 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 founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business, nor have they had any discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriters or other advisors. Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners are continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company.
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We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with our company and we will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners as a suitable acquisition candidate for it, unless Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, in their sole discretion, declines such potential business combination or makes available to our company a co-investment opportunity. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
Trasimene Capital externally manages Cannae Holdings pursuant to a management services agreement and Bridgeport Partners manages proprietary capital, and may raise additional funds and/or accounts in the future, which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These investment vehicles may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters' ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders' interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company's profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team's backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not "emerging growth companies" including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved, If some investors find our
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securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an "emerging growth company" can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an "emerging growth company" can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 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 equals or exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a "smaller reporting company" as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial 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 does not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100.0 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the sale of the forward purchase securities initially in the amount of $437,875,000, after payment of the estimated expenses of this offering and $13,125,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $492,156,250 after payment of $15,093,750 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering, the private placements of the private placement warrants, our equity, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
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If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business, nor have they had any discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriters or other advisors. Some of the members of our management team are employed by certain affiliates of Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners. Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners are continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners as a suitable acquisition candidate for it. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions with any business combination target. Additionally, we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business, other than our officers and directors. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources of Target Businesses
Our process of identifying acquisition targets will leverage Trasimene Capital, Bridgeport Partners, our sponsors and our management team's industry experiences, proven deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships in numerous industries, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination
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opportunities. We expect that the collective experience, capability and network of our founders, Trasimene Capital and Bridgeport Partners, our directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, will help to create prospective business combination opportunities.
In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions.
We also expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the 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 finder's fees 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 either of our sponsors or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder's fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsors, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder's fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such target by us.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsors, officers or directors or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsors, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsors, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting 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.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsors, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See "Management—Conflicts of Interest."
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Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our business combination.
To the extent we effect our business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular 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.
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
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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:
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- 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
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- cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target's Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business's management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
Under the NYSE's listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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- we issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of ordinary shares then outstanding (other than in a public
offering);
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- any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons
collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result
in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or
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- the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control.
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The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
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- the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not
enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company;
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- the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote;
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- the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination;
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- other time and budget constraints of the company; and
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- additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders.
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsors, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public "float" of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which
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may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsors, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsors, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsors, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsors, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsors, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
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 completion of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team 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 any public shares in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
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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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE rules.
If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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- 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
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- file proxy materials with the SEC.
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote therein and who vote at a general meeting. In such case, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders' founder shares, we would need 14,062,501, or approximately 37.5%, of the 37,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an
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initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised). We intend to give not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders, may make it more likely that we will complete our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team, have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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- conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and
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- file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our sponsors will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will 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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
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Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a "group" (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to the Excess Shares. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder's shares are not purchased by us, our sponsors or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders' ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders' ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in "street name," will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company's DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder's option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the initial vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies
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would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders' vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an "option window" after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company's shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become "option" rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder's election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete an initial business combination. If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
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Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsors, director or members of our management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Our sponsors, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC's "penny stock" rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase securities, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors' claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes
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that such third party's engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Credit Suisse and BofA Securities 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 sponsors have agreed that they will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share, due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, if any, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsors will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsors to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsors have sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsors' only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsors would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share, due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, if any, and our sponsors assert that they are unable to satisfy their indemnification obligations or that they have no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsors to enforce their indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsors to enforce their indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsors will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsors will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $1,000,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account
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could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our 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 an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder's voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder's redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
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Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with our Initial Business Combination and if We Do Not Complete our Initial Business Combination
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we have not completed our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
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Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination |
Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates |
Redemptions if we do not Complete an Initial Business Combination |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Calculation of redemption price |
Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. In either case, our public shareholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsors, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. | If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares. |
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Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination |
Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates |
Redemptions if we do not Complete an Initial Business Combination |
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Impact to remaining shareholders |
The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable. |
If the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining shareholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. |
The redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our sponsors, who will be our only remaining shareholder after such redemptions. |
Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Escrow of offering proceeds |
$375,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | Approximately $318,937,500 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | ||
Investment of net proceeds |
$375,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust 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. |
Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. |
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Receipt of interest on escrowed funds |
Interest income (if any) on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. |
Interest income on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination. |
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| |
Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business |
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. |
The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. |
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Trading of securities issued |
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Credit Suisse and BofA Securities inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, an additional Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option. |
No trading of the units or the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. |
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The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
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Exercise of the warrants |
The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or twelve months from the closing of this offering. |
The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account. |
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Election to remain an investor |
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 calculated as of two business days prior to the completion 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a shareholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC's proxy rules. If, however, we hold a shareholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote therein and who vote at a general meeting. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that at least five days' notice will be given of any such general meeting. |
A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company's registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a shareholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the shareholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. |
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Business combination deadline |
If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. |
If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company's registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. |
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Release of funds |
Except for the withdrawal of interest income (if any) to pay our taxes, if any, none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account until the earliest of: |
The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. |
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(i) the completion of our initial business combination, |
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(ii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or |
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(iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that (A) would affect 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. |
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020, New York, NY 10010. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to BGPT Trebia LP for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the PCAOB standards. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
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We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Law. As an exempted company, we have obtained a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination.
We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not "emerging growth companies" including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an "emerging growth company" can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an "emerging growth company" can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 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 equals or exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.
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Founders, Officers, Directors and Director Nominees
Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:
Name
|
Age | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
William P. Foley, II |
75 | Co-Founder and Director | ||
Frank R. Martire, Jr. |
72 | Co-Founder and Director | ||
Paul Danola |
68 | President | ||
Tanmay Kumar |
31 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
Lance Levy |
53 | Director Nominee | ||
Mark D. Linehan |
58 | Director Nominee | ||
James B. Stallings |
65 | Director Nominee |
William P. Foley, II is a co-founder and has served as a director of the Company since February 2020 and as the Executive Chairman of Foley Trasimene since March 2020. In addition, he has served as the Chairman of Cannae Holdings since July 2017. Mr. Foley is a founder of FNF, and has served as the Chairman of the board of directors of FNF since 1984. Mr. Foley serves as a Senior Managing Director of Trasimene Capital. He served as Chief Executive Officer of FNF until May 2007 and as President of FNF until December 1994. Mr. Foley also has served as the Chairman of Black Knight since December 2019, as the Executive Chairman of Black Knight and its predecessors from January 2014 to December 2019 and as the co-Executive Chairman of FGL Holdings since April 2016. Mr. Foley also previously served as a director of Ceridian from September 2013 to August 2019. Mr. Foley also serves as the Chairman of Dun & Bradstreet, which is a Cannae Holdings portfolio company. Mr. Foley also serves as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Foley Family Wines Holdings, Inc., a private holding company for numerous vineyards and wineries, and the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Black Knight Sports and Entertainment LLC, which is the private company that owns the Vegas Golden Knights, a National Hockey League team. Within the past five-years, Mr. Foley served as the Vice Chairman of FIS and as the Chairman of Remy. After receiving his B.S. degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Foley served in the U.S. Air Force, where he attained the rank of captain. Mr. Foley's qualifications to serve on our board include more than 30 years as a director and executive officer of FNF, his long and deep knowledge of our business and industry, his strategic vision, his experience as a board member and executive officer of public and private companies in a wide variety of industries, and his strong track record of building and maintaining stockholder value and successfully negotiating and implementing mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Foley provides high-value added services to our board of directors and has sufficient time to focus on the Company.
Frank R. Martire, Jr. is a co-founder and has served as a director of the Company since February 2020. He has served as a director of Foley Trasimene since May 2020. In addition, he has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since November 2017. Mr. Martire has served as the Executive Chairman of NCR since May 2018. Mr. Martire served as Chairman of FIS from January 2017 until May 2018, and as Executive Chairman of FIS from January 2015 through December 2016. Mr. Martire served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of FIS from April 2012 until January 2015. Mr. Martire joined FIS as President and Chief Executive Officer after its acquisition of Metavante in October 2009, where he had served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since January 2003. Mr. Martire served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Call Solutions, Inc. from 2001 to 2003 and President and Chief Operating Officer, Financial Institution Systems and Services Group of Fiserv from 1991 to 2001. Mr. Martire's qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his years of experience in providing technology solutions to the banking industry, particularly his experience with FIS and Metavante, his knowledge of and contacts in the financial services industry,
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his strong leadership abilities and experience in driving growth and results in large complex business organizations.
Paul Danola has served as President of the Company since February 2020. Mr. Danola has been a Partner of Bridgeport Partners since February 2020. Mr. Danola served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Threshold Consulting LLC from February 2017 until February 2020 and served as an independent contractor for Catalyst Consulting Group and Advent International Corporation from 2013 until February 2020. Mr. Danola has over 40 years of experience in strategy, sales and operations with vast M&A experience spanning three decades at FIS, Metavante, Fiserv and Citicorp. In his prior roles, he has been a leader of business segments including wealth management, core banking, business analytics, delivery channel optimization, enterprise risk management and consulting. Mr. Danola has also served as a director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin since May 2006 and as a director of Friendship Circle of Wisconsin since March 2019.
Tanmay Kumar has served as Chief Financial Officer of the Company since February 2020 and has served as a Partner of Bridgeport Partners since November 2019. Mr. Kumar was a Principal at Motive from July 2019 to November 2019 and prior to that was a Vice President at Wafra, Inc. in the Alternative Investments Division from August 2014 to April 2019. Mr. Kumar has over 10 years of transaction experience across private and public markets with a particular focus on financial services and technology companies. Mr. Kumar has also served as a director of Newest York Arts Press, Inc. since June 2017.
Lance Levy will serve as a director of Trebia Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as Chief Executive Officer of Capco, a specialized global management consultancy, focused exclusively on the financial services industry, since 2015. Prior to joining Capco, Mr. Levy served on the Executive Team of FIS as Head of Consulting Services and spent more than 15 years at Accenture, where he was a member of the Financial Services Leadership Team and the Accenture Leadership Council. At Accenture Lance held the position of Accenture's Senior Managing Director of Financial Services in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Prior to this role, he served for many years as Accenture's Global Head of Sales in Financial Services.
Mark D. Linehan will serve as a director of Trebia Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since September 2019. Mr. Linehan has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Wynmark, a private real estate investment and development company, since he founded the company in 1993. Prior to founding Wynmark, he served as a Senior Vice President with Trammell in Los Angeles, California. Prior to working for Trammell, Mr. Linehan worked for Kenneth Leventhal, a Los Angeles-based public accounting firm specializing in the real estate industry which is now part of Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Linehan serves on the board of directors of Hudson Pacific since 2010, and previously served on the board of directors of Condor Hospitality from March 2016 to December 2017. In addition, Mr. Linehan serves as a Director of Direct Relief. Mr. Linehan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from UCSB and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Linehan's qualifications to serve on our board include more than 25 years of business management and leadership experience, his experience as an entrepreneur and his strategic vision and innovation.
James B. Stallings will serve as a director of Trebia Acquisition Corp. upon the completion of this offering and has served as a director of Cannae Holdings since January 2018. He also has served as a Director of UGI since 2015 and as a Director of FIS since 2013. Since 2013, Mr. Stallings has been a Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of PS27 Ventures, a private investment fund focused on technology companies. From 2009 until his retirement in January 2013, Mr. Stallings served as General Manager of Global Markets in IBM's Systems and Technology Group. From 2002 to 2009, Mr. Stallings served in a variety of roles at IBM, including General Manager, Enterprise Systems, IBM Systems and Technology Group. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Stallings founded and ran E House, a consumer technology company, and prior to that, Mr. Stallings worked for Physician Sales & Services, a medical supplier.
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From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Stallings worked in various capacities for IBM. Mr. Stallings's qualifications to serve on our board include more than 25 years of experience in the information technology industry, including leadership roles in business management, strategy and innovation, his experience as an entrepreneur and his financial expertise.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors will be divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with 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 Lance Levy, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mark D. Linehan and James B. Stallings, will expire at our second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of William P. Foley, II and Frank R. Martire, Jr., will expire at our third annual general meeting. We may not hold an annual general meeting until after we complete our initial business combination.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
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 nominate persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board of directors, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An "independent director" is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company's board of directors, would interfere with the director's exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Lance Levy, Mark D. Linehan and James B. Stallings are "independent directors" as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of completion of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will reimburse BGPT Trebia LP for office space and administrative support services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsors, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsors, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly
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audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and completing 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 sponsors, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the completion of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management's motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Mark D. Linehan, Lance Levy and James B. Stallings will serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Mark D. Linehan, Lance Levy and James B. Stallings is independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Mark D. Linehan will serve as the chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mark D. Linehan qualifies as an "audit committee financial expert" as defined in applicable SEC rules.
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The audit committee is responsible for:
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- meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits and adequacy of our accounting and control
systems;
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- monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm;
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- verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner
responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law;
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- inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
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- pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm,
including the fees and terms of the services to be performed;
- •
- appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm;
- •
- determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of
disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work;
- •
- establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting
controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies;
- •
- monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of this offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all
action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of this offering; and
- •
- reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval.
Nominating Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee will be Lance Levy and Mark D. Linehan, and Lance Levy will serve as chairman of the nominating committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Lance Levy and Mark D. Linehan is independent.
The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.
Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which will be specified a charter to be adopted by us, generally provide that persons to be nominated:
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- should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service;
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- should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and
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- should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders.
The nominating committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person's candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
Compensation Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be James B. Stallings and Lance Levy, and James B. Stallings will serve as chairman of the compensation committee.
Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of James B. Stallings and Lance Levy is independent. We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
- •
- reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer's compensation,
evaluating our Chief Executive Officer's performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such
evaluation;
- •
- reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers;
- •
- reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;
- •
- implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
- •
- assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
- •
- approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and
employees;
- •
- producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and
- •
- reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
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Code of Ethics
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit committee charter as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Where You Can Find Additional Information."
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
- •
- duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;
- •
- duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;
- •
- directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;
- •
- duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders;
- •
- duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and
- •
- duty to exercise independent judgment.
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsors, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:
Individual
|
Entity | Entity's Business |
Affiliation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
William P. Foley, II |
Black Knight | Technology | Chairman | |||
|
Black Knight Sports & Entertainment LLC | Entertainment | Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | |||
|
Cannae Holdings | Investment | Chairman | |||
|
Dun & Bradstreet | Data and Analytics | Chairman | |||
|
FGL Holdings | Insurance | co-Executive Chairman | |||
|
FNF | Insurance | Chairman | |||
|
Foley Family Wines Holdings, Inc | Wineries | Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President | |||
|
Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. | Special Purpose Acquisition Company | Executive Chairman | |||
|
Trasimene Capital | Investment | Senior Managing Director | |||
Frank R. Martire, Jr. |
Bridgeport Partners |
Asset Management |
Partner |
|||
|
Cannae Holdings | Investment | Director | |||
|
Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. | Special Purpose Acquisition Company | Director | |||
|
NCR | Technology | Executive Chairman | |||
Lance Levy |
Capco |
Investment |
Chief Executive Officer |
|||
Mark D. Linehan |
Cannae Holdings |
Investment |
Director |
|||
|
Direct Relief | Non-Profit | Director | |||
|
Hudson Pacific | Real Estate | Director | |||
|
Wynmark | Real Estate | President & Chief Executive Officer | |||
James B. Stallings |
Cannae Holdings |
Investment |
Director |
|||
|
FIS | Technology | Director | |||
|
PS27 Ventures | Investment | Managing Partner | |||
|
UGI | Energy | Director | |||
Paul Danola |
Bridgeport Partners |
Asset Management |
Partner |
|||
|
Friendship Circle of Wisconsin | Non-Profit | Director | |||
|
Junior Achievement of Wisconsin | Non-Profit | Director | |||
Tanmay Kumar |
Bridgeport Partners |
Asset Management |
Partner |
|||
|
Newest York Arts Press, Inc | Non-Profit | Director |
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Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
- •
- Trasimene Capital externally manages Cannae Holdings pursuant to a management services agreement and Bridgeport Partners manages proprietary
capital, and may raise additional funds and/or accounts in the future, which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These investment vehicles may be seeking
acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity. In particular, William P. Foley, II and Trasimene Capital
FT, LP, an affiliate of Trasimene Capital, have recently incorporated Foley Trasimene, a blank check company incorporated in the state of Delaware for the purpose of effecting its own initial
business combination. Mr. Foley has served as the Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Foley Trasimene since March 2020 and Frank R. Martire Jr. has served as a member of Foley
Trasimene's board of directors since May 2020. As directors, Messrs. Foley and Martire will owe fiduciary duties under Delaware law to Foley Trasimene. While Foley Trasimene may pursue an
initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, it intends to focus on identifying a prospective target business in financial technology or business process outsourcing,
which acts as an essential utility to industries that are core to the economy.
- •
- Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict
of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the
completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our
executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.
- •
- Our sponsors subscribed for founder shares prior to the date of this prospectus and will purchase private placement warrants in a transaction
that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
- •
- Our sponsors and each member of our management team have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Additionally, our sponsors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we do not 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. Except as described herein, our sponsors and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange 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. The private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our executive officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants
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- •
- 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 is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
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.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsors, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsors, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsors, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such 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 either of our sponsors 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, commencing on the date our securities are first listed on the NYSE, we will also reimburse BGPT Trebia LP for office space and administrative support services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, and our sponsors and the members of our management team have agreed to vote any shares purchased during or after the offering, in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company's memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, 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 expect to purchase a policy of directors' and officers' liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we complete 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
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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.
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The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
- •
- each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares;
- •
- each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns ordinary shares; and
- •
- all our executive officers and directors as a group.
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
On February 18, 2020, the sponsors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On June 11, 2020, our sponsors transferred 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsors, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option and that there are 46,875,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.
| |
|
Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Ordinary Shares |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) |
|||||||||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)
|
Before Offering |
After Offering |
||||||||
Trasimene Trebia, LP(3) |
6,156,094 | 57.1 | % | 11.4 | % | |||||
BGPT Trebia LP(4) |
4,550,156 | 42.2 | % | 8.4 | % | |||||
William P. Foley, II(3) |
6,156,094 | 57.1 | % | 11.4 | % | |||||
Frank R. Martire, Jr.(4) |
4,550,156 | 42.2 | % | 8.4 | % | |||||
Frank Martire, III(4) |
4,550,156 | 42.2 | % | 8.4 | % | |||||
Paul Danola |
— | — | — | |||||||
Tanmay Kumar |
— | — | — | |||||||
Lance Levy |
25,000 | * | * | |||||||
Mark D. Linehan |
25,000 | * | * | |||||||
James B. Stallings |
25,000 | * | * | |||||||
All officers, directors and director nominees as a group (individuals): |
10,781,250 | 100 | % | 20 | % | |||||
- *
- Less
than one percent.
- (1)
- Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020, New York, NY 10010.
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- (2)
- Interests
shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into
Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination as described in the section entitled "Description of Securities." Excludes
Class A ordinary shares issuable pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, as such shares will only be issued concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination.
- (3)
- Trasimene
Trebia, LLC is the sole general partner of Trasimene Trebia, LP. Trasimene Trebia, LLC has sole voting and dispositive
power over the founder shares owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP. William P. Foley, II is the sole member of Trasimene Trebia, LLC, and therefore may be deemed to beneficially own 6,156,094
founder shares and ultimately exercises voting and dispositive power over the founder shares held by Trasimene Trebia, LP. Mr. Foley disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except
to the extent of any pecuniary interest therein. The address of each of the entities and individuals in this footnote is 1701 Village Center Circle, Las Vegas, NV 89134. We currently expect that an
affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest
in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
- (4)
- Bridgeport Partners GP LLC is the sole general partner of BGPT Trebia LP. Bridgeport Partners GP LLC has sole voting and dispositive power over the founder shares owned by BGPT Trebia LP. Each of Messrs. Frank R. Martire, Jr. and Frank Martire, III is a managing member of Bridgeport Partners GP LLC, and therefore may be deemed to beneficially own 4,550,156 founder shares and jointly exercises voting and dispositive power over the founder shares held by BGPT Trebia LP. Each of Messrs. Frank R. Martire, Jr. and Frank Martire, III disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except to the extent of any pecuniary interest therein.
Immediately after this offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 20% of the then issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering) and will have the right to appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
The holders of the founder shares have agreed (a) to vote any founder shares owned by it in favor of any proposed business combination and (b) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.
Our sponsors and our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our "promoters" as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Prior to this offering, we have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has agreed to purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, we expect that our initial shareholders will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the
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aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of our Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the initial business combination. See "Description of Securities—Forward Purchase Agreement."
Under the forward purchase agreement, we will provide a right of first offer to Cannae Holdings, if we propose to raise additional capital by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities, other than the units and certain excluded securities. In addition, if we seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination, Cannae Holdings has agreed under the forward purchase agreement to vote any Class A ordinary shares owned by Cannae Holdings in favor of any proposed initial business combination.
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post transaction company. This purchase will be required to be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
Cannae Holdings will have no right to the funds held in the trust account except with respect to any public shares owned by them. We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
Restrictions on 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 agreements entered into by our sponsors and management team. Our sponsors, directors and each member of our management team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (b) upon completion of our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. The private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants are not transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The foregoing restrictions are not applicable to transfers (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members or partners of our sponsors or their affiliates, any affiliates of our sponsors, or any employees of such affiliates; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individual's immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual's immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the completion of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the founder shares, private placement warrants or Class A ordinary shares, as applicable, were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands or either of our sponsors' organizational documents upon liquidation or dissolution of our sponsors; (g) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (h) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; or (i) in the event
143
of our completion of 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 subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f), or with the prior written consent of the Company, 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.
144
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
On February 18, 2020, the sponsors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. On June 11, 2020, our sponsors transferred 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 1,406,250 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsors depending on the extent to which the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised. The founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Our sponsors have committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,333,334 private placement warrants (or 7,083,334 private placement warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $1.50 per whole warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. As such, our sponsors' interest in this transaction is valued at between $9,500,000 and $10,625,000, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our Class A ordinary shares at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled "Management—Conflicts of Interest," if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Prior to this offering, we have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has agreed to purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, we expect that our initial shareholders will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of our Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the initial business combination. See "Description of Securities—Forward Purchase Agreement."
Under the forward purchase agreement, we will provide a right of first offer to Cannae Holdings, if we propose to raise additional capital by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities, other than the units and certain excluded securities. In addition, if we seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination, Cannae Holdings
145
has agreed under the forward purchase agreement to vote any Class A ordinary shares owned by Cannae Holdings in favor of any proposed initial business combination.
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post transaction company. This purchase will be required to be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
Cannae Holdings will have no right to the funds held in the trust account except with respect to any public shares owned by them. We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020, New York, NY 10010. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to BGPT Trebia LP for office space and administrative support services, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finder's and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsors, 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 will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsors, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Prior to the closing of this offering, a portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsors. These funds will be reimbursed up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. These funds will be reimbursed upon the earlier of (i) closing of this offering, or (ii) January 31, 2021 out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we 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 $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts
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being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We will enter into a registration rights agreement pursuant to which our sponsors will be entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares. Pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, we have agreed to use our reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a resale shelf registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and the forward purchase warrants (and underlying Class A ordinary shares), (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter, (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which Cannae Holdings or its assignee cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act and (iv) after such registration statement is declared effective, cause us to conduct underwritten offerings, subject to certain limitations. In addition, the forward purchase agreement provides for certain "piggy-back" registration rights to the holders of forward purchase securities to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. See the section of this prospectus entitled "Description of Securities—Registration Rights."
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a charter, providing for the review, approval and/or ratification of "related party transactions," which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee shall be provided with the details of each new, existing or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee's discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association we are authorized to issue 400,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, as well as 1,000,000 preferred shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes certain terms of our shares as set out more particularly in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a 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. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units are expected to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Credit Suisse and BofA Securities inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering. If the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option.
Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
Ordinary Shares
Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding, all of which were held of record by our initial shareholders, so that our initial shareholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Upon the closing of this offering, 46,875,000 of our ordinary shares will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option) including:
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- 37,500,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units issued as part of this offering; and
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- 9,375,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders.
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If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering.
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our Class B ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Law or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares that are voted, 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 elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the appointment of directors can elect all of the directors. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 400,000,000 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 will be 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 elected 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 Law for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings or appoint directors. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
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 completion of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds
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held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial owner must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsors and each member of our management team have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Unlike many blank check companies that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a shareholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC's proxy rules. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote therein and who vote at a general meeting. However, the participation of our sponsors, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding ordinary shares, 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 Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders' ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our shareholders' inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will
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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 and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders' founder shares, we would need 14,062,501, or approximately 37.5%, of the 375,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised). The other members of our management team have entered into a letter agreement similar to the one entered into by our sponsors with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our 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), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsors and members of our management team have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsors or members of our management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
In 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, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
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Founder Shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and, except as described below, are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have 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) our sponsors, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect 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 completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering and (C) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares it holds if we do not complete our initial business combination within such time period, (iii) the founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination as described herein, and (iv) prior to the completion of our initial business combination, only our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of our directors. If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of our ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued by the Company in connection with or in relation to the completion of the initial business combination (including the forward purchase shares, but not the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsors or any of their affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one to one.
Except as described herein, our sponsors and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, or (b) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, 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 converted Class A ordinary shares will be released from the lock-up.
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Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our Class B ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there will be entered therein:
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- the names and addresses of the members, a statement of the shares held by each member, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as
paid, on the shares of each member and the voting rights of the shares;
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- the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and
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- the date on which any person ceased to be a member.
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e., the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members will be immediately updated to reflect the issue of shares by us. Once our register of members has been updated, the shareholders recorded in the register of members will be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preferred Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize 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 issued and outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preferred shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preferred shares are being issued or registered in this offering.
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Warrants
Public Shareholders' Warrants and Forward Purchase 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 this offering and 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a 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 three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. 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.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty 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 for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective 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 60th business 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 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. In addition, 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 our 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 elect to do so, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not
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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 the excess of the "fair market value" less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The "fair market value" 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):
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- in whole and not in part;
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- at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
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- upon not less than 30 days' prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and
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- 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 to 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 splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like).
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 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 criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each 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 splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption 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:
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- in whole and not in part;
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- 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);
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- 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
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- if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, 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.
share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and
The numbers in the table below represent the number of Class A ordinary shares that a warrant holder will receive upon 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 based on volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares as reported 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.
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 raising capital in connection with the initial business combination, the adjusted stock prices in the column headings will by multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly
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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 | ³$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 as reported 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. 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 as reported 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 differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in many other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A ordinary shares exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. 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
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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 this prospectus. 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 issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a capitalization or share dividend payable in Class A ordinary shares, or by a split-up of ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each 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 dividend of a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares) 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
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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 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 to appropriately reflect any other adjustments and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant) 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, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, 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.
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 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 sponsors 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 on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial business combination (such price, the
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"Market Value") is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described adjacent to "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00" and "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00" 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 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. 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 value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. 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 will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants and forward purchase warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The 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 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
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down to the nearest whole number, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except pursuant to limited exceptions as described under "Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants," to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the initial purchasers of the private placement warrants) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees (except as otherwise set forth herein). Our sponsors, or their permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsors or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
Except as described under "Description of Securities—Warrants—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" (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, the "historical fair market value" shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our initial shareholders and their 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 restrict insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public shareholders who could exercise their 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.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or certain of our officers and directors may loan us funds as may be required, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general
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financial condition subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any claims and losses 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 Law. The Companies Law is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Law applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Law allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands 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 Law (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
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similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (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.
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 Law 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.
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
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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 complete 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 Law or that would amount to a "fraud on the minority."
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to 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 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. Our Cayman Islands 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."
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.
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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 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 (meaning our public shareholders have no liability, as members of the company, for liabilities of the company over and above the amount paid for their shares) under the Companies Law. The Companies Law distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
- •
- annual reporting requirements are minimal and consist mainly of a statement that the company has conducted its operations mainly outside of the
Cayman Islands and has complied with the provisions of the Companies Law;
- •
- an exempted company's register of members is not open to inspection;
- •
- an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting;
- •
- an exempted company may issue negotiable or bearer shares or 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.
Forward Purchase Agreement
Cannae Holdings, a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital but is not an affiliate of us or our sponsors, has entered into a forward purchase agreement to which
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they have agreed to purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering.
In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, we expect that our initial shareholders will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of our Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the initial business combination. In this regard, our initial shareholders have agreed to forfeit to us at no cost one Class B ordinary share for each four public shares redeemed in the redemption in connection with our initial business combination, provided that in no event will any of the initial shareholders forfeit any fractional Class B ordinary shares.
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post transaction company. This purchase will be required to be made regardless of whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders and is intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
Cannae Holdings will have no right to the funds held in the trust account except with respect to any public shares owned by them. We currently expect that an affiliate of Cannae Holdings will have an approximately 26% limited partnership interest in Trasimene Trebia, LP. As a result, Cannae Holdings is expected to have an indirect economic interest in approximately 26% of the founder shares and private placement warrants owned by Trasimene Trebia, LP.
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution under Cayman Islands law. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (i) the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company's articles of association) of a company's shareholders entitled to vote and so voting 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 who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that:
- •
- If we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the
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- •
- Prior to or in connection with 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 or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the
completion of an initial business combination;
- •
- Although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsors, our directors or
our executive officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent
investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;
- •
- If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business
or other legal 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;
- •
- Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least
80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the
agreement to enter into the initial business combination;
- •
- If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or
timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within
24 months from the closing of this offering, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their ordinary shares upon such approval at a per-share
price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay
our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein; and
- •
- We will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders' rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;
In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.
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The Companies Law permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of such company's issued and outstanding ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting or by way of unanimous written 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.
Anti-Money Laundering—Cayman Islands
In order to comply with legislation or regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering, we are required to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering procedures, and may require subscribers to provide evidence to verify their identity and source of funds. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, we may also delegate the maintenance of our anti-money laundering procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) to a suitable person.
We reserve the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a subscriber. In some cases the directors may be satisfied that no further information is required since an exemption applies under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, as amended and revised from time to time (the "Regulations"). Depending on the circumstances of each application, a detailed verification of identity might not be required where:
- •
- the subscriber is a relevant financial business required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2020 Revision) or is a
majority-owned subsidiary of such a business; or
- •
- the subscriber is acting in the course of a business in relation to which a regulatory authority exercises regulatory functions and which is in
a country listed by the Cayman Islands Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee ("Equivalent Jurisdiction") or is a majority-owned subsidiary of such subscriber; or
- •
- the subscriber is a central or local government organization, statutory body or agency of government in the Cayman Islands or an Equivalent
Jurisdiction; or
- •
- the subscriber is a company that is listed on a recognized stock exchange and subject to disclosure requirements which impose requirements to
ensure adequate transparency of beneficial ownership, or is a majority-owned subsidiary of such a company; or
- •
- the subscriber is a pension fund for a professional association, trade union or is acting on behalf of employees of an entity referred to in
sub-paragraphs (a) to (d); or
- •
- the application is made through an intermediary which falls within one of sub-paragraphs (a) to (e). In this situation the company may rely on a written assurance from the intermediary which confirms (i) that the requisite identification and verification procedures on the applicant for business and its beneficial owners have been carried out; (ii) the nature and intended purpose of the business relationship; (iii) that the intermediary has identified the source of funds of the applicant for business; and (iv) that the intermediary shall make available copies of any identification and verification data or information and relevant documents.
For the purposes of these exceptions, recognition of a financial institution, regulatory authority or jurisdiction will be determined in accordance with the Regulations by reference to those jurisdictions recognized by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority as having equivalent anti-money laundering regulations.
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In the event of delay or failure on the part of the subscriber in producing any information required for verification purposes, we may refuse to accept the application, in which case any funds received will be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.
We also reserve the right to refuse to make any payment to a shareholder if our directors or officers suspect or are advised that the payment to such shareholder might result in a breach of applicable anti-money laundering or other laws or regulations by any person in any relevant jurisdiction, or if such refusal is considered necessary or appropriate to ensure our compliance with any such laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction.
If any person resident in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects, or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting, that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or is involved with terrorism or terrorist property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report will not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
Data Protection—Cayman Islands
We have certain duties under the Data Protection Law, 2017 of the Cayman Islands (the "DPL") based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
Privacy Notice
This privacy notice puts our shareholders on notice that through your investment in the Company you will provide us with certain personal information which constitutes personal data within the meaning of the DPL ("personal data").
In the following discussion, the "Company" refers to us and our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
Investor Data
We will collect, use, disclose, retain and secure personal data to the extent reasonably required only and within the parameters that could be reasonably expected during the normal course of business. We will only process, disclose, transfer or retain personal data to the extent legitimately required to conduct our activities of on an ongoing basis or to comply with legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPL, and will apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of the personal data and against the accidental loss, destruction or damage to the personal data.
In our use of this personal data, we will be characterized as a "data controller" for the purposes of the DPL, while our affiliates and service providers who may receive this personal data from us in the conduct of our activities may either act as our "data processors" for the purposes of the DPL or may process personal information for their own lawful purposes in connection with services provided to us.
We may also obtain personal data from other public sources. Personal data includes, without limitation, the following information relating to a shareholder and/or any individuals connected with a shareholder as an investor: name, residential address, email address, contact details, corporate contact
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information, signature, nationality, place of birth, date of birth, tax identification, credit history, correspondence records, passport number, bank account details, source of funds details and details relating to the shareholder's investment activity.
Who this Affects
If you are a natural person, this will affect you directly. If you are a corporate investor (including, for these purposes, legal arrangements such as trusts or exempted limited partnerships) that provides us with personal data on individuals connected to you for any reason in relation your investment in the Company, this will be relevant for those individuals and you should transmit the content of this Privacy Notice to such individuals or otherwise advise them of its content.
How the Company May Use a Shareholder's Personal Data
The Company, as the data controller, may collect, store and use personal data for lawful purposes, including, in particular:
- •
- where this is necessary for the performance of our rights and obligations under any purchase agreements;
- •
- where this is necessary for compliance with a legal and regulatory obligation to which we are subject (such as compliance with anti-money
laundering and FATCA/CRS requirements); and/or
- •
- where this is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and such interests are not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms.
Should we wish to use personal data for other specific purposes (including, if applicable, any purpose that requires your consent), we will contact you.
Why We May Transfer Your Personal Data
In certain circumstances we may be legally obliged to share personal data and other information with respect to your shareholding with the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority or the Tax Information Authority. They, in turn, may exchange this information with foreign authorities, including tax authorities.
We anticipates disclosing personal data to persons who provide services to us and their respective affiliates (which may include certain entities located outside the United States, the Cayman Islands or the European Economic Area), who will process your personal data on our behalf.
The Data Protection Measures We Take
Any transfer of personal data by us or our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the DPL.
We and our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates shall apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
We shall notify you of any personal data breach that is reasonably likely to result in a risk to your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms or those data subjects to whom the relevant personal data relates.
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Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual general meetings.
Our authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and preferred shares will be 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
Immediately after this offering we will have 46,875,000 ordinary shares (or 53,906,250 ordinary shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) issued and outstanding on an as-converted basis. Of these shares, the Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering (37,500,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is not exercised and 43,125,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any Class A ordinary shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (9,375,000 founder shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is not exercised and 10,781,250 founder shares if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) and all of the outstanding private placement warrants (6,333,334 private placement warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is not exercised and 7,083,334 private placement warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.
Upon the closing of the sale of the forward purchase securities, all of the 7,500,000 forward purchase shares, 2,500,000 forward purchase warrants and Class A ordinary shares underlying the forward purchase warrants will be restricted securities under Rule 144.
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 twelve months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
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 ordinary shares then outstanding, which will equal 468,750 shares immediately after this offering (or 539,062 shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or
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- •
- 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 twelve months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; 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 warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. 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.
Except as described herein, our sponsors and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, or (b) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, 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 converted Class A ordinary shares will be released from the lock-up.
Pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, we have agreed to use our reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a resale shelf registration
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statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and the forward purchase warrants (and underlying Class A ordinary shares), (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter, (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which Cannae Holdings or its assignee cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act and (iv) after such registration statement is declared effective, cause us to conduct underwritten offerings, subject to certain limitations. In addition, the forward purchase agreement provides for certain "piggy-back" registration rights to the holders of forward purchase securities to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us.
Listing of Securities
We have applied to list our units on the NYSE under the symbol "TREB.U." We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols "TREB" and "TREB WS," respectively. The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded following the completion of our initial business combination.
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The following summary of certain Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant, which we refer to collectively as our securities, is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this prospectus, all of which are subject to change. This summary does not deal with all possible tax consequences relating to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants, such as the tax consequences under state, local and other tax laws.
Prospective investors should consult their advisors on the possible tax consequences of investing in our securities under the laws of their country of citizenship, residence or domicile.
Cayman Islands Tax Considerations
The following is a discussion on certain Cayman Islands income tax consequences of an investment in the securities of the Company. The discussion is a general summary of present law, which is subject to prospective and retroactive change. It is not intended as tax advice, does not consider any investor's particular circumstances and does not consider tax consequences other than those arising under Cayman Islands law.
Under Existing Cayman Islands Laws:
Payments of dividends and capital in respect of our securities will not be subject to taxation in the Cayman Islands and no withholding will be required on the payment of a dividend or capital to any holder of the securities nor will gains derived from the disposal of the securities be subject to Cayman Islands income or corporation tax. The Cayman Islands currently have no income, corporation or capital gains tax and no estate duty, inheritance tax or gift tax.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of the warrants. An instrument of transfer in respect of a warrant is stampable if executed in or brought into the Cayman Islands.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of our Class A ordinary shares or on an instrument of transfer in respect of such shares.
The Company has been incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability and, as such, has obtained an undertaking from the Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands in the following form:
The Tax Concessions Law
(2018 Revision)
Undertaking as to Tax Concessions
In accordance with the provision of Section 6 of The Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision), the Financial Secretary undertakes with Trebia Acquisition Corp. (the "Company"):
- 1.
- That
no law which is hereafter enacted in the Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to the Company or its
operations; and
- 2.
- In
addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be
payable:
- 2.1
- On
or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of the Company; or
- 2.2
- by way of the withholding in whole or part, of any relevant payment as defined in Section 6(3) of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision).
These concessions shall be for a period of twenty years from the date hereof.
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Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations
General
The following discussion summarizes certain U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units (each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant) that are purchased in this offering by U.S. Holders (as defined below) and Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below). Because the components of a unit are generally separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying Class A ordinary share and warrant components of the unit. As a result, the discussion below with respect to holders of Class A ordinary shares and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants that constitute the units).
This discussion is limited to certain U.S. federal income tax considerations to beneficial owners of our securities who are initial purchasers of a unit pursuant to this offering and hold the unit and each component of the unit as a capital asset under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). This discussion assumes that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will trade separately and that any distributions made (or deemed made) by us on our Class A ordinary shares and any consideration received (or deemed received) by a holder in consideration for the sale or other disposition of our securities will be in U.S. dollars. This discussion is a summary only and does not consider all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of a unit by a prospective investor in light of its particular circumstances, including:
- •
- our founders, sponsors, officers or directors or holders of Class B ordinary shares, forward purchase securities or private placement
warrants;
- •
- financial institutions or financial services entities;
- •
- broker-dealers;
- •
- taxpayers that are subject to the mark-to-market tax accounting rules;
- •
- tax-exempt entities;
- •
- S-corporations;
- •
- governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof;
- •
- insurance companies;
- •
- regulated investment companies;
- •
- real estate investment trusts;
- •
- PFICs;
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- controlled foreign corporations;
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- expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States;
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- persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our shares (by vote or value);
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- persons that acquired our securities pursuant to an exercise of employee share options, in connection with employee share incentive plans or
otherwise as compensation or in connection with services;
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- persons required for U.S. federal income tax purposes to conform the timing of income accruals to their financial statements under Section 451 of the Code;
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- persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, constructive sale, hedging, conversion or other integrated or similar transaction; or
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- U.S. Holders whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar.
Moreover, the discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code, the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, all as of the date hereof, and such provisions may be repealed, revoked, modified or subject to differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis, so as to result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. Furthermore, this discussion does not address any aspect of U.S. federal non-income tax laws, such as gift, estate or Medicare contribution tax laws, or state, local or non-U.S. tax laws.
We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the IRS as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion.
As used herein, the term "U.S. Holder" means a beneficial owner of units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) an individual citizen or resident of the United States, (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is created or organized (or treated as created or organized) in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (iii) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source or (iv) a trust if (A) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more United States persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (B) it has in effect a valid election to be treated as a United States person.
This discussion does not consider the tax treatment of partnerships or other pass-through entities (including branches) or persons who hold our securities through such entities. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our securities, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner in the partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partner and the partnership. If you are a partner of a partnership holding our securities, we urge you to consult your own tax advisor.
THIS DISCUSSION IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR UNITS. EACH PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR UNITS IS URGED TO CONSULT ITS OWN TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO SUCH INVESTOR OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR UNITS, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-UNITED STATES TAX LAWS.
Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our Class A ordinary shares and one-third of one warrant, a whole one of which is exercisable to acquire one share of our Class A ordinary shares, and we intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit should allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one Class A ordinary share and the one-third of one warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of
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issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make its own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult its tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant should constitute the shareholder's initial tax basis in such share or warrant. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. Neither the separation of the Class A ordinary share and the one-third of one warrant constituting a unit nor the combination of thirds of warrants into a single warrant should be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants and a holder's purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Holders
Taxation of Distributions
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will be required to include in gross income as dividends the amount of any distribution paid on our Class A ordinary shares to the extent the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles). Such dividends paid by us will be taxable to a corporate U.S. Holder at regular rates and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to domestic corporations in respect of dividends received from other domestic corporations. Distributions in excess of such earnings and profits generally will be applied against and reduce the U.S. Holder's basis in its Class A ordinary shares (but not below zero) and, to the extent in excess of such basis, will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such Class A ordinary shares (see "—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants" below).
With respect to non-corporate U.S. Holders, under tax laws currently in effect, dividends generally will be taxed at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate (see "—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants" below) only if our Class A ordinary shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, the Company is not treated as a PFIC at the time the dividend was paid or in the preceding year and certain other requirements are met. It is unclear whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the required holding period for this purpose. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the availability of such lower rate for any dividends paid with respect to our Class A ordinary shares.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss on the sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants (including on our dissolution and liquidation if we do not complete an initial business combination within the required time period). Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder's holding period for such Class A ordinary shares or warrants exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose.
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The amount of gain or loss recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition generally will be equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A ordinary shares or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A ordinary shares or warrants based upon the then relative fair market values of the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. Holder's adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. Holder's adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares and warrants generally will equal the U.S. Holder's acquisition cost (that is, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a Class A ordinary share or one-third of one warrant, as described above under "—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit") reduced by any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. Long-term capital gain realized by a non-corporate U.S. Holder is currently eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. See "—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant" below for a discussion regarding a U.S. Holder's tax basis in the Class A ordinary share acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant. The deduction of capital losses is subject to certain limitations.
Redemption of Class A Ordinary Shares
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, in the event that a U.S. Holder's Class A ordinary shares are redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under "Description of Securities—Ordinary Shares" or if we purchase a U.S. Holder's Class A ordinary shares in an open market transaction (referred to herein as a redemption), the treatment of the redemption for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether it qualifies as a sale or exchange of the Class A ordinary shares under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as described under "—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants" above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under "—Taxation of Distributions." Whether a redemption qualifies for sale or exchange treatment will depend largely on the total number of our shares treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any shares constructively owned by the U.S. Holder described in the following paragraph) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after such redemption. The redemption of Class A ordinary shares generally will be treated as a sale or exchange of the Class A ordinary shares (rather than as a corporate distribution) if, within the meaning of Section 302 of the Code, such redemption (i) is "substantially disproportionate" with respect to the U.S. Holder, (ii) results in a "complete termination" of the U.S. Holder's interest in us or (iii) is "not essentially equivalent to a dividend" with respect to the U.S. Holder. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only our shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also our shares that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to shares owned directly, shares owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any shares the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A ordinary shares which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of Class A ordinary shares must, among other requirements, be less than 80 percent of the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination, the Class A ordinary shares may not be treated as voting shares for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder's interest if either (i) all of our shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of our shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed and the
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U.S. Holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of shares owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other shares of ours. The redemption of the Class A ordinary shares will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to a U.S. Holder if it results in a "meaningful reduction" of the U.S. Holder's proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder's proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority shareholder in a publicly-held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a "meaningful reduction." A U.S. Holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.
If none of the foregoing tests are satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under "—Taxation of Distributions" above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A ordinary shares will be added to the U.S. Holder's adjusted tax basis in its remaining shares, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holder's adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other shares constructively owned by it.
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below and except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the acquisition of a Class A ordinary share on the exercise of a warrant for cash. A U.S. Holder's initial tax basis in a Class A ordinary share received upon exercise of the warrant generally will equal the sum of the U.S. Holder's initial investment in the warrant (that is, the portion of the U.S. Holder's purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under "—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit") and the exercise price. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder's holding period for the Class A ordinary share will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder's tax basis in the warrant.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current law. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a cashless exercise may not be taxable, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a "recapitalization" for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either situation, a U.S. Holder's tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received generally would equal the U.S. Holder's tax basis in the warrants. If the cashless exercise was not a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder's holding period for the Class A ordinary share will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A ordinary shares would include the holding period of the warrants.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise may be treated as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder may be deemed to have surrendered a number of warrants having a value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, the U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. Holder's tax basis in such warrants. In this case, a U.S. Holder's tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holder's initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder's purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under "—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit") and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder's holding period for the Class A ordinary shares would commence on the date of exercise of the warrants or the day following the date of exercise of the warrants.
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Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder should consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
While not free from doubt, a redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares described in the section of this prospectus entitled "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00" should be treated as a "recapitalization" for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, subject to the PFIC rules described below, a U.S. Holder should not recognize any gain or loss on the redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares. In such event, a U.S. Holder's aggregate tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received in the redemption generally should equal the U.S. Holder's aggregate tax basis in the warrants redeemed and the holding period for the Class A ordinary shares received should include the U.S. Holder's holding period for the surrendered warrants. However, there is some uncertainty regarding this tax treatment and it is possible such a redemption could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized in a manner similar to that discussed above for a cashless exercise of warrants. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of a redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares.
Subject to the PFIC rules described below, if we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled "Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00" or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to the U.S. Holder, taxed as described above under "—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants."
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of Class A ordinary shares for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned "Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders' Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants." An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. Holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the warrant holders' proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of Class A ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease to the exercise price, including, for example, where additional ordinary shares are issued in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price of less than $9.20 and the exercise price of the warrants is adjusted to be equal to 115% of the Newly Issued Price, as described under "Description of Securities—Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments") as a result of a distribution of cash or other property to the holders of our Class A ordinary shares which is taxable to the U.S. Holders of such Class A ordinary shares as described under "—Taxation of Distributions" above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. Holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.
PFIC Rules
A foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporation will be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes if either (i) at least 75% of its gross income in a taxable year, including its pro rata share of the gross income of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, is passive income or (ii) at least 50% of its assets in a taxable year (ordinarily determined based on fair market value and averaged quarterly over the year), including its pro rata share of the assets of
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any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, are held for the production of, or produce, passive income. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of passive assets.
Because we are a blank check company, with no current active business, we believe that it is likely that we will meet the PFIC asset or income test for our current taxable year. However, pursuant to a start-up exception, a corporation will not be a PFIC for the first taxable year the corporation has gross income (the "start-up year"), if (1) no predecessor of the corporation was a PFIC; (2) the corporation satisfies the IRS that it will not be a PFIC for either of the two taxable years following the start-up year; and (3) the corporation is not in fact a PFIC for either of those years. The applicability of the start-up exception to us is uncertain and will not be known until after the close of our current taxable year (or possibly not until after the close of the first two taxable years following our start-up year, as described under the start-up exception). After the acquisition of a company or assets in a business combination, we may still meet one of the PFIC tests depending on the timing of the acquisition and the amount of our passive income and assets as well as the passive income and assets of the acquired business. If the company that we acquire in a business combination is a PFIC, then we will likely not qualify for the start-up exception and will be a PFIC for our current taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Accordingly, there can be no assurance with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any future taxable year.
Although our PFIC status is determined annually, an initial determination that our company is a PFIC will generally apply for subsequent years to a U.S. Holder who held Class A ordinary shares or warrants while we were a PFIC, whether or not we meet the test for PFIC status in those subsequent years. If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants and, in the case of our Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder did not make either a QEF election or a mark-to-market election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder held (or was deemed to hold) Class A ordinary shares, as described below, such U.S. Holder generally will be subject to special rules with respect to (i) any gain recognized by the U.S. Holder on the sale or other disposition of its Class A ordinary shares or warrants and (ii) any "excess distribution" made to the U.S. Holder (generally, any distributions to such U.S. Holder during a taxable year of the U.S. Holder that are greater than 125% of the average annual distributions received by such U.S. Holder in respect of the Class A ordinary shares during the three preceding taxable years of such U.S. Holder or, if shorter, such U.S. Holder's holding period for the Class A ordinary shares).
Under these rules:
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- the U.S. Holder's gain or excess distribution will be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder's holding period for the Class A ordinary
shares or warrants;
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- the amount allocated to the U.S. Holder's taxable year in which the U.S. Holder recognized the gain or received the excess distribution, or to
the period in the U.S. Holder's holding period before the first day of our first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, will be taxed as ordinary income;
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- the amount allocated to other taxable years (or portions thereof) of the U.S. Holder and included in its holding period will be taxed at the
highest tax rate in effect for that year and applicable to the U.S. Holder; and
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- an additional tax equal to the interest charge generally applicable to underpayments of tax will be imposed on the U.S. Holder with respect to the tax attributable to each such other taxable year of the U.S. Holder.
In general, if we are determined to be a PFIC, a U.S. Holder may avoid the PFIC tax consequences described above in respect of our Class A ordinary shares (but not our warrants) by
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making a timely and valid QEF election (if eligible to do so) to include in income its pro rata share of our net capital gains (as long-term capital gain) and other earnings and profits (as ordinary income), on a current basis, in each case whether or not distributed, in the taxable year of the U.S. Holder in which or with which our taxable year ends. A U.S. Holder generally may make a separate election to defer the payment of taxes on undistributed income inclusions under the QEF rules, but if deferred, any such taxes will be subject to an interest charge.
A U.S. Holder may not make a QEF election with respect to its warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if a U.S. Holder sells or otherwise disposes of such warrants (other than upon exercise of such warrants) and we were a PFIC at any time during the U.S. Holder's holding period of such warrants, any gain recognized generally will be treated as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. If a U.S. Holder that exercises such warrants properly makes a QEF election with respect to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (or has previously made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares), the QEF election will apply to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares. Notwithstanding such QEF election, the adverse tax consequences relating to PFIC shares, adjusted to take into account the current income inclusions resulting from the QEF election, will continue to apply with respect to such newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (which generally will be deemed to have a holding period for purposes of the PFIC rules that includes the period the U.S. Holder held the warrants), unless the U.S. Holder makes a purging election under the PFIC rules. Under the purging election, the U.S. Holder will be deemed to have sold such shares at their fair market value and any gain recognized on such deemed sale will be treated as an excess distribution, as described above. As a result of the purging election, the U.S. Holder will have a new basis and holding period in the Class A ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the warrants for purposes of the PFIC rules.
The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and, once made, can be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. A U.S. Holder generally makes a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621 (Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund), including the information provided in a PFIC annual information statement, to a timely filed U.S. federal income tax return for the tax year to which the election relates. Retroactive QEF elections generally may be made only by filing a protective statement with such return and if certain other conditions are met or with the consent of the IRS. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a retroactive QEF election under their particular circumstances.
In order to comply with the requirements of a QEF election, a U.S. Holder must receive a PFIC annual information statement from us. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a QEF election, but there is no assurance that we will timely provide such required information. There is also no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of our status as a PFIC in the future or of the required information to be provided.
If a U.S. Holder has made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, and the excess distribution rules discussed above do not apply to such shares (because of a timely QEF election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) such shares or a purge of the PFIC taint pursuant to a purging election, as described above), any gain recognized on the sale of our Class A ordinary shares generally will be taxable as capital gain and no additional tax charge will be imposed under the PFIC rules. As discussed above, if we are a PFIC for any taxable year, a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares that has made a QEF election will be currently taxed on its pro rata share of our earnings and profits, whether or not distributed for such year. A subsequent distribution of such earnings and profits that were previously included in income generally should not be taxable when distributed to such U.S. Holder. The tax basis of a U.S. Holder's shares in a QEF will be increased by amounts that are included in income, and decreased by amounts distributed
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but not taxed as dividends, under the above rules. In addition, if we are not a PFIC for any taxable year, such U.S. Holder will not be subject to the QEF inclusion regime with respect to our Class A ordinary shares for such taxable year.
If we are a PFIC and our Class A ordinary shares constitute "marketable stock," a U.S. Holder may avoid the adverse PFIC tax consequences discussed above if such U.S. Holder, at the close of the first taxable year in which it holds (or is deemed to hold) our Class A ordinary shares, makes a mark-to-market election with respect to such shares for such taxable year. Such U.S. Holder generally will include for each of its taxable years as ordinary income the excess, if any, of the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of such year over its adjusted basis in its Class A ordinary shares. The U.S. Holder also will recognize an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of its adjusted basis of its Class A ordinary shares over the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of its taxable year (but only to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election). The U.S. Holder's basis in its Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss amounts, and any further gain recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of its Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary income. Currently, a mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to warrants.
The mark-to-market election is available only for "marketable stock," generally, stock that is regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the SEC, including the NYSE (on which we intend to list the Class A ordinary shares), or on a foreign exchange or market that the IRS determines has rules sufficient to ensure that the market price represents a legitimate and sound fair market value. U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a mark-to-market election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares under their particular circumstances.
If we are a PFIC and, at any time, have a foreign subsidiary that is classified as a PFIC, U.S. Holders generally would be deemed to own a portion of the shares of such lower-tier PFIC, and generally could incur liability for the deferred tax and interest charge described above if we receive a distribution from, or dispose of all or part of our interest in, the lower-tier PFIC or the U.S. Holders otherwise were deemed to have disposed of an interest in the lower-tier PFIC. We will endeavor to cause any lower-tier PFIC to provide to a U.S. Holder the information that may be required to make or maintain a QEF election with respect to the lower-tier PFIC. There can be no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of the status of any such lower-tier PFIC. In addition, we may not hold a controlling interest in any such lower-tier PFIC and thus there can be no assurance we will be able to cause the lower-tier PFIC to provide such required information. U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax issues raised by lower-tier PFICs.
A U.S. Holder that owns (or is deemed to own) shares in a PFIC during any taxable year of the U.S. Holder, may have to file an IRS Form 8621 (whether or not a QEF or market-to-market election is made) and such other information as may be required by the U.S. Treasury Department. If a U.S. Holder does not file the required IRS Form 8621, such person may be subject to substantial penalties, and the statute of limitations on the assessment and collection of all U.S. federal income taxes of such person for the related tax year may not close before the date which is three years after the date on which such form is filed.
The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF and mark-to-market elections are very complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described above. Accordingly, U.S. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares and warrants should consult their own tax advisors concerning the application of the PFIC rules to our securities under their particular circumstances.
Tax Reporting
Certain U.S. Holders may be required to file an IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) to report a transfer of property (including cash) to us. Substantial
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penalties may be imposed on a U.S. Holder that fails to comply with this reporting requirement. Furthermore, certain U.S. Holders who are individuals and certain entities will be required to report information with respect to such U.S. Holder's investment in "specified foreign financial assets" on IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), subject to certain exceptions. An interest in the Company constitutes a specified foreign financial asset for these purposes. Persons who are required to report specified foreign financial assets and fail to do so may be subject to substantial penalties. Potential investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the foreign financial asset and other reporting obligations and their application to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants.
Non-U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a "Non-U.S. Holder." As used herein, the term "Non-U.S. Holder" means a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants that is an individual, corporation, estate or trust and is not a U.S. Holder, but such term generally does not include an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition. If you are such an individual, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the sale or other disposition of our securities.
Dividends (including constructive dividends) paid or deemed paid to a Non-U.S. Holder in respect of our Class A ordinary shares generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, unless the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder's conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States). In addition, a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain attributable to a sale or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants unless such gain is effectively connected with its conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States).
Dividends and gains that are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder's conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the United States) generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the same regular U.S. federal income tax rates applicable to a comparable U.S. Holder and, in the case of a Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, also may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a 30% rate or a lower applicable tax treaty rate.
The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. Holder's exercise of a warrant, or the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder, generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise or lapse of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under "—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant," above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described in the preceding paragraphs above for a Non-U.S. Holder's gain on the sale or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares and warrants. A non-U.S. Holder is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit, receipt of any dividend (including a constructive dividend) and a sale, redemption or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding
Dividend payments with respect to our Class A ordinary shares and proceeds from the sale, exchange or redemption of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants may be subject to information reporting to the IRS and possible United States backup withholding. Backup withholding will not apply, however, to a U.S. Holder who furnishes a correct taxpayer identification number and makes other required certifications, or who is otherwise exempt from backup withholding and establishes such exempt status. A Non-U.S. Holder generally will eliminate the requirement for information reporting
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and backup withholding by providing certification of its foreign status, under penalties of perjury, on a duly executed applicable IRS Form W-8 or by otherwise establishing an exemption.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Amounts withheld as backup withholding may be credited against a holder's U.S. federal income tax liability, and a holder generally may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules by timely filing the appropriate claim for refund with the IRS and furnishing any required information.
THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX DISCUSSION SET FORTH ABOVE IS INCLUDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE DEPENDING UPON A HOLDER'S PARTICULAR SITUATION. HOLDERS ARE URGED TO CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR CLASS A ORDINARY SHARES AND WARRANTS, INCLUDING THE TAX CONSEQUENCES UNDER STATE, LOCAL, ESTATE, NON-U.S. AND OTHER TAX LAWS AND TAX TREATIES AND THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN U.S. OR OTHER TAX LAWS.
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Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering and as representatives of the underwriters named below.
Under the terms and subject to the conditions contained in an underwriting agreement dated , 2020, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters named below the following respective numbers of units:
Underwriters
|
Number of Units |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC |
||||
BofA Securities, Inc. |
||||
Moelis & Company LLC |
||||
Total |
37,500,000 | |||
The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units in this offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below.
We have granted to the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 5,625,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The option may be exercised only to cover any over-allotments of units.
The underwriters propose to offer the units initially at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selling group members at that price less a selling concession of $ per unit.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. $0.35 per unit, or $13,125,000 (or $15,093,750 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions will be paid to the underwriters upon the completion of our initial business combination.
| |
Per Unit(1) | Total(1) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Without Over-allotment |
With Over-allotment |
Without Over-allotment |
With Over-allotment |
|||||||||
Underwriting Discounts and Commissions paid by us |
$ | 0.55 | $ | 0.55 | $ | 20,625,000 | $ | 23,718,750 | |||||
- (1)
- Includes $0.35 per unit, or $13,125,000 (or $15,093,750 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus.
We estimate that our non-reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses for this offering will be approximately $1,000,000. We have agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters' legal counsel, not to exceed $25,000.
The underwriters have informed us that they do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.
We, our sponsors and our officers and directors have agreed that we will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, any units, warrants, Class A ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, Class A ordinary shares; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement warrants; (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters' over-allotment option (if any); (3) register with the SEC pursuant to the registration rights agreement
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or the forward purchase agreement, as applicable, to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, the founder shares and the forward purchase securities; and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination, including the forward purchase securities. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of founder shares to any current or future independent director of the Company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement, filed herewith, at the time of such transfer; and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur 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 Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, capitalization of shares, 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, stock 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 (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under "Principal Shareholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants"). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares.
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under "Principal Shareholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants").
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in that respect.
We have applied to list our units on the NYSE under the symbol "TREB.U" promptly after the effective date of the registration statement and, once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants begin separate trading, to have our Class A ordinary shares and warrants listed on the NYSE under the symbols "TREB" and "TREB WS," respectively.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the underwriters.
The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
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If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the trustee and the underwriters have agreed that: (1) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account; and (2) the deferred underwriters' discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) to the public shareholders.
In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
- •
- Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.
- •
- Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriters of units in excess of the number of units the underwriters are obligated to purchase, which
creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of units over-allotted by the
underwriters is not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in
the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing units in the open market.
- •
- Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover
syndicate short positions. In determining the source of units to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open
market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option. If the underwriters sell more units than could be covered by the over-allotment option (a naked
short position), the position can only be closed out by buying units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could be
downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering.
- •
- Penalty bids permit the underwriters to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.
These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. As a result, the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the NYSE or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm's length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters prior to the date that is 90 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters' compensation in connection with this offering, and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder's fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.
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Some of the underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by one or more of the underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and one or more of the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The underwriters may agree to allocate a number of units to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.
The units are offered for sale in the United States, Europe, Asia and other jurisdictions where it is lawful to make such offers.
Each of the underwriters has represented and agreed that it has not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area and United Kingdom
In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (each a "Relevant State"), no Shares have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in that Relevant State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the Shares which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation), except that offers of Shares may be made to the public in that Relevant State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:
- (a)
- to
any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;
- (b)
- to
fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the
underwriters for any such offer; or
- (c)
- in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,
provided that no such offer of Shares shall require the Issuer or any Manager to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an "offer to the public" in relation to any Shares in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any Shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to
189
decide to purchase or subscribe for any Shares, and the expression "Prospectus Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom
Each of the underwriters severally represents, warrants and agrees as follows:
- a)
- it
has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment
activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) to persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling with Article 19(5) of the Financial Services
and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 or in circumstances in which section 21 of FSMA does not apply to the company; and
- b)
- it has complied with, and will comply with all applicable provisions of FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.
Notice to Residents of Japan
The underwriters will not offer or sell any of our units directly or indirectly in Japan or to, or for the benefit of any Japanese person or to others, for re-offering or re-sale directly or indirectly in Japan or to any Japanese person, except in each case pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Securities and Exchange Law of Japan and any other applicable laws and regulations of Japan. For purposes of this paragraph, "Japanese person" means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.
Notice to Residents of Hong Kong
The underwriters and each of their affiliates have not (1) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our units other than (A) to "professional investors" as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571) of Hong Kong and any rules made under that Ordinance or (B) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a "prospectus" as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32 of Hong Kong) or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance or (2) issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, and will not issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our units which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to "professional investors" as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made under that Ordinance. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the offer. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice.
Notice to Residents of Singapore
This prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units has not been and will not be registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the units will be offered in Singapore pursuant to exemptions under Section 274 and Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the "Securities and Futures Act"). Accordingly our units may not be offered or sold, or be the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly,
190
to the public or any member of the public in Singapore other than (a) to an institutional investor or other person specified in Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, (b) to a sophisticated investor, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act or (c) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the Securities and Futures Act.
Notice to Residents of Germany
Each person who is in possession of this prospectus is aware that no German sales prospectus (Verkaufsprospekt) within the meaning of the Securities Sales Prospectus Act (Wertpapier-Verkaufsprospektgesetz, the "Act") of the Federal Republic of Germany has been or will be published with respect to our units. In particular, each underwriter has represented that it has not engaged and has agreed that it will not engage in a public offering (offentliches Angebot) within the meaning of the Act with respect to any of our units otherwise then in accordance with the Act and all other applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Notice to Residents of France
The units are being issued and sold outside the Republic of France and that, in connection with their initial distribution, it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell, directly or indirectly, any units to the public in the Republic of France, and that it has not distributed and will not distribute or cause to be distributed to the public in the Republic of France this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, and that such offers, sales and distributions have been and will be made in the Republic of France only to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) in accordance with Article L.411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code and decrét no. 98-880 dated October 1, 1998.
Notice to Residents of the Netherlands
Our units may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered in or from the Netherlands as part of their initial distribution or at any time thereafter, directly or indirectly, other than to, individuals or legal entities situated in The Netherlands who or which trade or invest in securities in the conduct of a business or profession (which includes banks, securities intermediaries (including dealers and brokers), insurance companies, pension funds, collective investment institution, central governments, large international and supranational organizations, other institutional investors and other parties, including treasury departments of commercial enterprises, which as an ancillary activity regularly invest in securities; hereinafter, "Professional Investors"); provided that in the offer, prospectus and in any other documents or advertisements in which a forthcoming offering of our units is publicly announced (whether electronically or otherwise) in The Netherlands it is stated that such offer is and will be exclusively made to such Professional Investors. Individual or legal entities who are not Professional Investors may not participate in the offering of our units, and this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units may not be considered an offer or the prospect of an offer to sell or exchange our units.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands
No invitation, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our units.
Notice to Canadian Residents
Resale Restrictions
The distribution of units in Canada is being made only in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we
191
prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the units in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.
Representations of Canadian Purchasers
By purchasing units in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:
- •
- the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the units without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under
those securities laws as it is an "accredited investor" as defined under National Instrument 45-106—Prospectus Exemptions;
- •
- the purchaser is a "permitted client" as defined in National Instrument 31-103—Registration
Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations;
- •
- where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent; and
- •
- the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions.
Conflicts of Interest
Canadian purchasers are hereby notified that the underwriters are relying on the exemption set out in section 3A.3 or 3A.4, if applicable, of National Instrument 33-105—Underwriting Conflicts from having to provide certain conflict of interest disclosure in this document.
Statutory Rights of Action
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser's province or territory.
The purchaser of these securities in Canada should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser's province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Enforcement of Legal Rights
All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.
Taxation and Eligibility for Investment
Canadian purchasers of units should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the units in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the units for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.
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Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, New York will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and warrants. Maples and Calder will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to the ordinary shares and matters of Cayman Islands law. In connection with this offering, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP advised the underwriters in connection with the offering of the securities.
The financial statements of Trebia Acquisition Corp. at March 12, 2020 and for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through March 12, 2020 included in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report, thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Trebia Acquisition Corp. to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given upon such firm as experts in auditing and accounting.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. We do not have a website, and therefore do not make our public filings available on such a website. Upon request, we will provide electronic copies of our public filings free of charge.
193
Audited Financial Statements for Trebia Acquisition Corp.:
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To
the Shareholder and the Board of Directors of
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Trebia Acquisition Corp. (the "Company") as of March 12, 2020 and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholder's equity and cash flows for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through March 12, 2020 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 March 12, 2020 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through March 12, 2020, 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 to the financial statements, the Company's ability to execute its business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company has a working capital deficiency of $414,176 as of March 12, 2020 and lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans with regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might become necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the "PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
F-2
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2020.
New York, NY
March 23, 2020
F-3
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEETS
| |
March 31, 2020 |
March 12, 2020 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
(Unaudited) |
(Audited) |
|||||
ASSETS |
|||||||
Current Asset—Cash |
$ | 99,829 | $ | 165,000 | |||
Deferred offering costs |
584,679 | 434,176 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Total Assets |
$ | 684,508 | $ | 599,176 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY |
|||||||
Current liabilities: |
|||||||
Accrued offering costs |
$ | 514,492 | $ | 429,176 | |||
Promissory note—related party |
150,000 | 150,000 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Total Current Liabilities |
664,492 | 579,176 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Commitments |
|||||||
Shareholder's Equity |
|||||||
Preferred shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
— | — | |||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 400,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
— | — | |||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 40,000,000 shares authorized; 10,781,250 shares issued and outstanding(1) |
1,078 | 1,078 | |||||
Additional paid-in capital |
23,922 | 23,922 | |||||
Accumulated deficit |
(4,984 | ) | (5,000 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Total Shareholder's Equity |
20,016 | 20,000 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Total Liabilities and Shareholder's Equity |
$ | 684,508 | $ | 599,176 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
- (1)
- Includes an aggregate of up to 1,406,250 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 7).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| |
For the Period from February 11, 2020 (Inception) Through |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
March 31, 2020 |
March 12, 2020 |
|||||
| |
(Unaudited) |
(Audited) |
|||||
Formation costs |
$ | 4,984 | $ | 5,000 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Net Loss |
$ | (4,984 | ) | $ | (5,000 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1) |
9,375,000 | 9,375,000 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Basic and diluted net loss per share |
$ | (0.00 | ) | $ | (0.00 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
- (1)
- Excludes an aggregate of up to 1,406,250 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 7).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY
| |
Class B Ordinary Shares(1) |
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Additional Paid-In Capital |
Accumulated Deficit |
Total Shareholder's Equity |
|||||||||||||
| |
Shares | Amount | ||||||||||||||
Balance—February 11, 2020 (inception) |
— | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to BGPT Trebia LP(1) |
10,781,250 | 1,078 | 23,922 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||
Net loss |
— | — | — | (5,000 | ) | (5,000 | ) | |||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance—March 12, 2020 (audited) |
10,781,250 | $ | 1,078 | $ | 23,922 | $ | (5,000 | ) | $ | 20,000 | ||||||
Net income |
— | — | — | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance—March 31, 2020 (unaudited) |
10,781,250 | $ | 1,078 | $ | 23,922 | $ | (4,984 | ) | $ | 20,016 | ||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
- (1)
- Includes an aggregate of up to 1,406,250 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 6).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| |
For the Period From February 11, 2020 (Inception) Through |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
March 31, 2020 |
March 12, 2020 |
|||||
| |
(Unaudited) |
(Audited) |
|||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities |
|||||||
Net loss |
$ | (4,984 | ) | $ | (5,000 | ) | |
| | | | | | | | |
Net cash used in operating activities |
(4,984 | ) | (5,000 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Cash Flows from Financing Activities |
|||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Class B ordinary shares |
25,000 | 25,000 | |||||
Proceeds from promissory note—related party |
150,000 | 150,000 | |||||
Payment of offering costs |
(70,187 | ) | (5,000 | ) | |||
| | | | | | | | |
Net cash provided by financing activities |
104,813 | 170,000 | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Net Change in Cash |
99,829 | 165,000 | |||||
Cash—beginning of the period |
— | — | |||||
| | | | | | | | |
Cash—end of the period |
$ | 99,829 | $ | 165,000 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Non-cash investing and financing activities: |
|||||||
Offering costs included in accrued offering costs |
$ | 514,492 | $ | 429,176 | |||
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-7
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE 1—ORGANIZATION AND PLAN OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Trebia Acquisition Corp. (the "Company") is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on February 11, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses ("Business Combination").
Although the Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of completing a Business Combination, the Company intends to focus on industries that complements the Sponsors' (as defined below) and management team's background in financial services, technology, software, data, analytics, services and related areas. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of March 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through March 31, 2020 relates to the Company's formation and the proposed initial public offering ("Proposed Offering"), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company's ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Offering of 37,500,000 units (the "Units" and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the "Public Shares") at $10.00 per Unit (or 43,125,000 Units if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 6,333,334 warrants (or 7,083,334 warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised on full) (the "Private Placement Warrants") at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to Trasimene Trebia, LP, an affiliate of Trasimene Capital Management, LLC, and BGPT Trebia LP, an affiliate of Bridgeport Partners LLC (collectively the "Sponsors"), that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Offering.
The Company's management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward completing a Business Combination. The Company must complete its initial Business Combination with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions held in the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into a Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination. Upon the closing of the Proposed Offering, management has agreed that $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Offering, including proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, will be held in a trust account ("Trust Account") and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting
F-8
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 1—ORGANIZATION AND PLAN OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS (Continued)
certain conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company's shareholders, as described below.
The Company will provide its shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The shareholders will be entitled to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the amount held in the Trust Account (initially $10.00 per share), calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of a Business Combination, including any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company's warrants. The Class A ordinary shares will be recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Offering, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 480 "Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity."
If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, it receives an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law approving a Business Combination, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who vote at a general meeting of the Company. If a shareholder vote is not required under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and file tender offer documents containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the holders of the Company's Founder Shares have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased in or after the Proposed Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination and to waive their redemption rights with respect to any such shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a Business Combination. However, in no event will the Company redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In such case, the Company would not proceed with the redemption of its Public Shares and the related Business Combination, and instead may search for an alternate Business Combination. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its Public Shares, without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against a proposed Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Company's Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a "group" (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act")), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares without the Company's prior written consent.
F-9
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 1—ORGANIZATION AND PLAN OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS (Continued)
The Sponsors have agreed (a) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company's obligation to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders' rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless the Company provides the public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment and (iii) to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination.
The Company will have until 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (the "Combination Period") to complete a Business Combination. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders' rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the Company's board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
The Sponsors have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsors acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Proposed Offering price per Unit ($10.00).
The Sponsors have agreed that they will be liable to the Company, if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or by a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $10.00 per Public Share or (2) such lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account nor will it apply to any claims under the Company's indemnity of the underwriters of the Proposed Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act").
F-10
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 1—ORGANIZATION AND PLAN OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS (Continued)
Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsors will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsors will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than the Company's independent public accountants), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern Consideration
At March 31, 2020, the Company had $99,829 in cash and a working capital deficiency of $564,663. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Management plans to address this uncertainty through a Proposed Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Company's plans to raise capital or to complete a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the Combination Period. BGPT Trebia LP has agreed to loan the Company up to an aggregate amount of $300,000 to be used, in part, for transaction costs incurred in connection with the Proposed Offering (the "Promissory Note"). The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
NOTE 2—SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
The accompanying unaudited financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, operating results and cash flows for the period presented. The interim results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020 or for any future interim periods.
Emerging growth company
The Company is an "emerging growth company," as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the "JOBS Act"), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
F-11
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 2—SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued)
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company's financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
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 March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020.
Deferred offering costs
Deferred offering costs consist of underwriting, legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Offering and that will be charged to shareholder's equity upon the completion of the Proposed Offering. Should the Proposed Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses incurred, will be charged to operations.
Income taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 740, "Income Taxes" ("ASC 740"). ASC 740 requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards. ASC 740 additionally requires a
F-12
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 2—SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued)
valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
ASC 740 also clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise's financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
The Company is considered an exempted Cayman Islands Company and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the Cayman Islands or the United States. As such, the Company's tax provision was zero for the period presented.
Net loss per share
Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period, excluding ordinary shares subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 1,406,250 ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters (see Note 6). At March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.
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 $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on this account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.
Fair value of financial instruments
The fair value of the Company's assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, "Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures," approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Recently issued accounting standards
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company's financial statements.
F-13
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 3—PROPOSED OFFERING
Pursuant to the Proposed Offering, the Company will offer for sale up to 37,500,000 Units (or 43,125,000 Units if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant ("Public Warrant"). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
NOTE 4—PRIVATE PLACEMENT
The Sponsors have committed to purchase an aggregate of 6,333,334 Private Placement Warrants (or 7,083,334 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment is exercised in full) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant from the Company in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Offering. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7). The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the net proceeds from the Proposed Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
NOTE 5—RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On February 18, 2020, the Sponsors purchased 10,781,250 of the Company's Class B ordinary shares (the "Founder Shares") for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 1,406,250 shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsors to the extent that the underwriters' over-allotment is not exercised in full or in part, so that the number of Founder Shares will collectively represent 20% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares upon the completion of the Proposed Offering.
The Sponsors have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination; and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company's shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Promissory Note—Related Party
On February 18, 2020, the Company issued the Promissory Note to BGPT Trebia LP, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000, The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) January 31, 2021 and (ii) the completion of the Proposed Offering. As of March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020, there was $150,000 outstanding under the Promissory Note.
F-14
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 5—RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (Continued)
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the effective date of the Proposed Offering, the Company will enter into an agreement pursuant to which it will pay BGPT Trebia LP up to $10,000 per month for office space, and administrative support services. Upon completion of a Business Combination or its liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsors or an affiliate of the Sponsors, 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"). Such Working Capital Loans would be evidenced by promissory notes. The notes may be repaid upon completion of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender's discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted upon completion of a Business Combination into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans.
NOTE 6—COMMITMENTS
Registration Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the Proposed Offering. The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain "piggy-back" registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, the Company has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a resale shelf registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and the forward purchase warrants (and underlying Class A ordinary shares), (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter, (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which Cannae Holdings or its assignee cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act and (iv) after such registration statement is declared effective, cause us to conduct underwritten offerings, subject to certain limitations. In addition, the forward purchase agreement provides for certain "piggy-back"
F-15
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 6—COMMITMENTS (Continued)
registration rights to the holders of forward purchase securities to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 5,625,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments at the Proposed Offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriters will be entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $7,500,000 in the aggregate (or $8,625,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $13,125,000 in the aggregate (or $15,093,750 if the underwriters' over-allotment is exercised in full). The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Forward Purchase Agreement
The Company intends to enter into a forward purchase agreement with Cannae Holdings, Inc ("Cannae Holdings"), a diversified holding company which is externally managed by Trasimene Capital Management, LLC but is not an affiliate of the Company or the Sponsors, pursuant to which Cannae Holdings will purchase Class A ordinary shares in an aggregate share amount equal to 7,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, plus an aggregate of 2,500,000 redeemable warrants to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000, or $10.00 per Class A ordinary share, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of the Business Combination. The warrants to be issued as part of the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering. In connection with the forward purchase securities sold to Cannae Holdings, the Sponsors will receive (by way of an adjustment to their existing Class B ordinary shares) an aggregate number of additional Class B ordinary shares so that the initial shareholders, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, will hold 20% of the Company's Class A ordinary shares at the time of the closing of the Business Combination. The obligations under the forward purchase agreement do not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by the public shareholders.
NOTE 7—SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY
Preference Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001. The Company's 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. The 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. At March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
F-16
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 7—SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY (Continued)
Class A Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 400,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020, there were no Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
Class B Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At March 31, 2020 and March 12, 2020, there were 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 1,406,250 shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters' over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part so that the number of Founder Shares will equal 20% of the Company's issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Proposed Offering.
Only holders of the Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of the Company's shareholders except as otherwise required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of A business combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of Proposed Offering, plus (ii) the sum of (a) the total number of ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued by the Company in connection with or in relation to the completion of a Business Combination (including the forward purchase shares, but not the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination and any private placement warrants issued to the Sponsors or any of their affiliates upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, minus (b) the number of Public Shares redeemed by public shareholders in connection with a Business Combination. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one to one.
Warrants—Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years from the completion of a Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a Public Warrant and will have no obligation to settle such Public Warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share
F-17
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 7—SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY (Continued)
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.
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, it will use its 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 issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of a 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. In addition, if the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a "covered security" under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of the 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 elects to do so, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but it will use its best 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 the warrants 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 the excess of the "fair market value" less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The "fair market value" 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, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants:
- •
- in whole and not in part;
- •
- at a price of $0.01 per Public Warrant;
- •
- upon not less than 30 days' prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder and
- •
- if, and only if, the 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 sending the notice of redemption to warrant holders (the "Reference Value") equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like).
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is 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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon
F-18
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 7—SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY (Continued)
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.
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 the table below, based on the redemption date and the "fair market value" of the
Class A ordinary shares;
- •
- if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined in the 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 splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and
- •
- if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms (except as described below with respect to a holder's ability to cashless exercise its warrants) as the outstanding public warrants, as described above.
The exercise price and number of ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the Public Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of ordinary shares at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Public Warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of Public Warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their Public Warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company's assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such Public Warrants. Accordingly, the Public Warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company's board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsors or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsors 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 a Business Combination on the date of the completion of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company's Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company completes a Business Combination (such price, the "Market Value") is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the Public Warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued
F-19
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
NOTE 7—SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY (Continued)
Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described above adjacent to "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00" and "Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00" 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.
The Private Placement Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering, except that (x) the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions, (y) the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees and (z) the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to registration rights. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
NOTE 8—SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to March 23, 2020, the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
On June 11, 2020, the Sponsors transferred 25,000 of the Founder Shares to each of the independent director nominees at their original purchase price.
F-20
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
37,500,000 Units
| Credit Suisse | BofA Securities |
Co-Manager
Moelis & Company
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
, 2020
Until , 2020 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our ordinary shares, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers' obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
SEC expenses |
$ | 55,977 | ||
FINRA expenses |
65,188 | |||
Accounting fees and expenses |
106,500 | |||
Printing and engraving expenses |
50,000 | |||
Travel and road show expenses |
20,000 | |||
Legal fees and expenses |
475,000 | |||
NYSE listing and filing fees |
75,000 | |||
Director & Officers liability insurance premiums(1) |
90,000 | |||
Miscellaneous |
62,335 | |||
| | | | | |
Total |
$ | 1,000,000 |
- (1)
- This amount represents the approximate amount of annual director and officer liability insurance premiums the registrant anticipates paying following the completion of its initial public offering and until it completes a business combination.
Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company's memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil 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 may purchase a policy of directors' and officers' liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we complete an initial business combination.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.
On February 18, 2020, the sponsors paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares, par
II-1
value $0.0001. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Our sponsors are accredited investors for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D. Each of the equity holders in our sponsors are accredited investors under Rule 501 of Regulation D. The sole business of our sponsors is to act as the Company's sponsors in connection with this offering.
Our sponsors have committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,333,334 private placement warrants (or 7,083,334 private placement warrants if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($9,500,000 in the aggregate or $10,625,000 if the underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. These issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
- (i)
- The Exhibit Index is incorporated herein by reference.
- (i)
- The
undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriters at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such
denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriters to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.
- (ii)
- Insofar
as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the
registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
- (iii)
- The
undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
- 1.
- For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the
II-2
- 2.
- For
the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the
undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the
securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and
will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:
- (a)
- Any
preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
- (b)
- Any
free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by an undersigned registrant;
- (c)
- The
portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided
by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and
- (d)
- Any
other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.
- (iv)
- The
undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
- 1.
- For
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration
statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be
deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.
- 2.
- For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.
II-3
II-4
| Exhibit No. |
Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 99.5 | Consent of James B. Stallings.** | ||
| 99.6 | Form of Nominating Committee Charter.* | ||
- *
- Filed
herewith.
- **
- Previously filed.
II-5
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the city of New York, State of New York, on the 11th day of June 2020.
|
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP. | |||||
|
By: |
/s/ TANMAY KUMAR |
||||
|
Name: | Tanmay Kumar | ||||
|
Title: | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Name
|
Position
|
Date
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| * Paul Danola |
President (Principal Executive Officer) | June 11, 2020 | ||
/s/ TANMAY KUMAR Tanmay Kumar |
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
June 11, 2020 |
||
* William P. Foley, II |
Co-Founder and Director |
June 11, 2020 |
||
* Frank R. Martire, Jr. |
Co-Founder and Director |
June 11, 2020 |
| *By: | /s/ TANMAY KUMAR Tanmay Kumar Attorney-in-Fact |
II-6
THE COMPANIES LAW (2020 REVISION)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
AMENDED AND RESTATED
MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
OF
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
(ADOPTED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION DATED [DATE] AND EFFECTIVE ON [DATE])
THE COMPANIES LAW (2020 REVISION)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
AMENDED AND RESTATED
MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
OF
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
(ADOPTED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION DATED [DATE] AND EFFECTIVE ON [DATE])
1 The name of the Company is Trebia Acquisition Corp.
2 The Registered Office of the Company shall be at the offices of Maples Corporate Services Limited, PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands, or at such other place within the Cayman Islands as the Directors may decide.
3 The objects for which the Company is established are unrestricted and the Company shall have full power and authority to carry out any object not prohibited by the laws of the Cayman Islands.
4 The liability of each Member is limited to the amount unpaid on such Member’s shares.
5 The share capital of the Company is US$44,100 divided into 400,000,000 Class A ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each, 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each and 1,000,000 preference shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each.
6 The Company has power to register by way of continuation as a body corporate limited by shares under the laws of any jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands and to be deregistered in the Cayman Islands.
7 Capitalised terms that are not defined in this Memorandum of Association bear the respective meanings given to them in the Articles of Association of the Company.
THE COMPANIES LAW (2020 REVISION)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
AMENDED AND RESTATED
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
OF
TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP.
(ADOPTED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION DATED [DATE] AND EFFECTIVE ON [DATE])
1 Interpretation
1.1 In the Articles Table A in the First Schedule to the Statute does not apply and, unless there is something in the subject or context inconsistent therewith:
|
“Affiliate” |
|
in respect of a person, means any other person that, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such person, and (a) in the case of a natural person, shall include, without limitation, such person’s spouse, parents, children, siblings, mother-in-law and father-in-law and brothers and sisters-in-law, whether by blood, marriage or adoption or anyone residing in such person’s home, a trust for the benefit of any of the foregoing, a company, partnership or any natural person or entity wholly or jointly owned by any of the foregoing and (b) in the case of an entity, shall include a partnership, a corporation or any natural person or entity which directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such entity. |
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“Applicable Law” |
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means, with respect to any person, all provisions of laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, regulations, permits, certificates, judgments, decisions, decrees or orders of any governmental authority applicable to such person. |
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“Articles” |
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means these articles of association of the Company. |
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“Audit Committee” |
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means the audit committee of the board of directors of the Company established pursuant to the Articles, or any successor committee. |
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“Auditor” |
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means the person for the time being performing the duties of auditor of the Company (if any). |
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“Business Combination” |
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means a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganisation or similar business combination involving the Company, with one or more businesses or entities (the “target business”), which Business Combination: (a) as long as the securities of the Company are listed on the Designated Stock Exchange, must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80 per cent of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into such Business Combination; and (b) must not be effectuated with another blank cheque company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
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“business day” |
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means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or trust companies are authorised or obligated by law to close in New York City. |
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“Clearing House” |
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means a clearing house recognised by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Shares (or depositary receipts therefor) are listed or quoted on a stock exchange or interdealer quotation system in such jurisdiction. |
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“Class A Share” |
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means a class A ordinary share of a par value of US$0.0001 in the share capital of the Company. |
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“Class B Share” |
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means a class B ordinary share of a par value of US$0.0001 in the share capital of the Company. |
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“Company” |
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means the above named company. |
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“Company’s Website” |
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means the website of the Company and/or its web-address or domain name (if any). |
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“Compensation Committee” |
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means the compensation committee of the board of directors of |
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the Company established pursuant to the Articles, or any successor committee. |
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“Designated Stock Exchange” |
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means any United States national securities exchange on which the securities of the Company are listed for trading, including the New York Stock Exchange. |
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“Directors” |
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means the directors for the time being of the Company. |
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“Dividend” |
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means any dividend (whether interim or final) resolved to be paid on Shares pursuant to the Articles. |
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“Electronic Communication” |
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means a communication sent by electronic means, including electronic posting to the Company’s Website, transmission to any number, address or internet website (including the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission) or other electronic delivery methods as otherwise decided and approved by the Directors. |
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“Electronic Record” |
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has the same meaning as in the Electronic Transactions Law. |
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“Electronic Transactions Law” |
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means the Electronic Transactions Law (2003 Revision) of the Cayman Islands. |
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“Equity-linked Securities” |
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means any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for Class A Shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with a Business Combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt. |
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“Exchange Act” |
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means the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any similar U.S. federal statute and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder, all as the same shall be in effect at the time. |
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“Forward Purchase Agreement” |
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means an agreement that provides for the sale of Class A Shares and warrants to the Sponsor and its permitted transferees in a private placement that will close substantially concurrently with the closing of any Business Combination. |
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“Forward Purchase Shares” |
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means any Class A Shares to be issued pursuant to the Forward Purchase Agreement. |
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“Forward Purchase Warrants” |
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means any warrants to purchase Class A Shares to be issued pursuant to the Forward Purchase Agreement. |
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“Founders” |
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means all Members immediately prior to the consummation of the IPO. |
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“Independent Director” |
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has the same meaning as in the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange or in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act, as the case may be. |
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“IPO” |
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means the Company’s initial public offering of securities. |
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“Member” |
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has the same meaning as in the Statute. |
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“Memorandum” |
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means the memorandum of association of the Company. |
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“Nominating Committee” |
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means the nominating committee of the board of directors of the Company established pursuant to the Articles, or any successor committee. |
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“Officer” |
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means a person appointed to hold an office in the Company. |
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“Ordinary Resolution” |
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means a resolution passed by a simple majority of the Members as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting, and includes a unanimous written resolution. In computing the majority when a poll is demanded regard shall be had to the number of votes to which each Member is entitled by the Articles. |
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“Over-Allotment Option” |
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means the option of the Underwriters to purchase up to an additional 15 per cent of the units (as described in the Articles) sold in the IPO at a price equal to US$10.00 per unit, less underwriting discounts and commissions. |
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“Preference Share” |
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means a preference share of a par value of US$0.0001 in the share capital of the Company. |
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“Public Share” |
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means a Class A Share issued as part of the units (as described in the Articles) issued in the IPO. |
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“Redemption Notice” |
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means a notice in a form approved by the Directors by which a holder of Public Shares is entitled to require the Company to redeem its Public Shares. |
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“Register of Members” |
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means the register of Members maintained in accordance with the Statute and includes (except where otherwise stated) any |
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branch or duplicate register of Members. |
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“Registered Office” |
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means the registered office for the time being of the Company. |
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“Representative” |
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means a representative of the Underwriters. |
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“Seal” |
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means the common seal of the Company and includes every duplicate seal. |
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“Securities and Exchange Commission” |
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means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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“Share” |
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means a Class A Share, a Class B Share or a Preference Share and includes a fraction of a share in the Company. |
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“Special Resolution” |
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subject to Article 29.4, has the same meaning as in the Statute, and includes a unanimous written resolution. |
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“Sponsors” |
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means Trasimene Trebia, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, and BGPT Trebia LP, a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership, and their respective successors or assigns. |
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“Statute” |
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means the Companies Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands. |
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“Treasury Share” |
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means a Share held in the name of the Company as a treasury share in accordance with the Statute. |
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“Trust Account” |
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means the trust account established by the Company upon the consummation of its IPO and into which a certain amount of the net proceeds of the IPO, together with a certain amount of the proceeds of a private placement of warrants simultaneously with the closing date of the IPO, will be deposited. |
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“Underwriter” |
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means an underwriter of the IPO from time to time and any successor underwriter. |
1.2 In the Articles:
(a) words importing the singular number include the plural number and vice versa;
(b) words importing the masculine gender include the feminine gender;
(c) words importing persons include corporations as well as any other legal or natural person;
(d) “written” and “in writing” include all modes of representing or reproducing words in visible form, including in the form of an Electronic Record;
(e) “shall” shall be construed as imperative and “may” shall be construed as permissive;
(f) references to provisions of any law or regulation shall be construed as references to those provisions as amended, modified, re-enacted or replaced;
(g) any phrase introduced by the terms “including”, “include”, “in particular” or any similar expression shall be construed as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words preceding those terms;
(h) the term “and/or” is used herein to mean both “and” as well as “or.” The use of “and/or” in certain contexts in no respects qualifies or modifies the use of the terms “and” or “or” in others. The term “or” shall not be interpreted to be exclusive and the term “and” shall not be interpreted to require the conjunctive (in each case, unless the context otherwise requires);
(i) headings are inserted for reference only and shall be ignored in construing the Articles;
(j) any requirements as to delivery under the Articles include delivery in the form of an Electronic Record;
(k) any requirements as to execution or signature under the Articles including the execution of the Articles themselves can be satisfied in the form of an electronic signature as defined in the Electronic Transactions Law;
(l) sections 8 and 19(3) of the Electronic Transactions Law shall not apply;
(m) the term “clear days” in relation to the period of a notice means that period excluding the day when the notice is received or deemed to be received and the day for which it is given or on which it is to take effect;
(n) the term “holder” in relation to a Share means a person whose name is entered in the Register of Members as the holder of such Share;
(o) reference to a dollar or dollars or USD (including $ and US$) and to a cent or cents is reference to dollars and cents of the United States of America; and
(p) reference to any determination by the Directors shall be construed as a determination by the Directors in their sole and absolute discretion and shall be applicable either generally or in any particular case.
2 Commencement of Business
2.1 The business of the Company may be commenced as soon after incorporation of the Company as the Directors shall see fit.
2.2 The Directors may pay, out of the capital or any other monies of the Company, all expenses incurred in or about the formation and establishment of the Company, including the expenses of registration.
3 Issue of Shares and other Securities
3.1 Subject to the provisions, if any, in the Memorandum (and to any direction that may be given by the Company in general meeting) and, where applicable, the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, and without prejudice to any rights attached to any existing Shares, the Directors may allot, issue, grant options over or otherwise dispose of Shares (including fractions of a Share) with or without preferred, deferred or other rights or restrictions, whether in regard to Dividends or other distributions, voting, return of capital or otherwise and to such persons, at such times and on such other terms as they think proper, and may also (subject to the Statute and the Articles) vary such rights, save that the Directors shall not allot, issue, grant options over or otherwise dispose of Shares (including fractions of a Share) to the extent that it may affect the ability of the Company to carry out a Class B Share Conversion set out in the Articles.
3.2 The Company may issue rights, options, warrants or convertible securities or securities of similar nature conferring the right upon the holders thereof to subscribe for, purchase or receive any class of Shares or other securities in the Company on such terms as the Directors may from time to time determine.
3.3 The Company may issue units of securities in the Company, which may be comprised of whole or fractional Shares, rights, options, warrants or convertible securities or securities of similar nature conferring the right upon the holders thereof to subscribe for, purchase or receive any class of Shares or other securities in the Company, upon such terms as the Directors may from time to time determine. The securities comprising any such units which are issued pursuant to the IPO can only be traded separately from one another on the 52nd day following the date of the prospectus relating to the IPO unless the Representative(s) determines that an earlier date is acceptable, subject to the Company having filed a current report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Prior to such date, the units can be traded, but the securities comprising such units cannot be traded separately from one another.
3.4 The Company shall not issue Shares to bearer.
4 Register of Members
4.1 The Company shall maintain or cause to be maintained the Register of Members in accordance with the Statute.
4.2 The Directors may determine that the Company shall maintain one or more branch registers of Members in accordance with the Statute. The Directors may also determine which register of Members shall constitute the principal register and which shall constitute the branch register or registers, and to vary such determination from time to time.
5 Closing Register of Members or Fixing Record Date
5.1 For the purpose of determining Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at any meeting of Members or any adjournment thereof, or Members entitled to receive payment of any Dividend or other distribution, or in order to make a determination of Members for any other purpose, the Directors may, after notice has been given by advertisement in an appointed newspaper or any other newspaper or by any other means in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, provide that the Register of Members shall be closed for transfers for a stated period which shall not in any case exceed forty days.
5.2 In lieu of, or apart from, closing the Register of Members, the Directors may fix in advance or arrears a date as the record date for any such determination of Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at any meeting of the Members or any adjournment thereof, or for the purpose of determining the Members entitled to receive payment of any Dividend or other distribution, or in order to make a determination of Members for any other purpose.
5.3 If the Register of Members is not so closed and no record date is fixed for the determination of Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at, a meeting of Members or Members entitled to receive payment of a Dividend or other distribution, the date on which notice of the meeting is sent or the date on which the resolution of the Directors resolving to pay such Dividend or other distribution is passed, as the case may be, shall be the record date for such determination of Members. When a determination of Members entitled to vote at any meeting of Members has been made as provided in this Article, such determination shall apply to any adjournment thereof.
6 Certificates for Shares
6.1 A Member shall only be entitled to a share certificate if the Directors resolve that share certificates shall be issued. Share certificates representing Shares, if any, shall be in such form as the Directors may determine. Share certificates shall be signed by one or more Directors or other person authorised by the Directors. The Directors may authorise certificates to be issued with the authorised signature(s) affixed by mechanical process. All certificates for Shares shall be consecutively numbered or otherwise identified and shall specify the Shares to which they relate. All certificates surrendered to the Company for transfer shall be cancelled and, subject to the
Articles, no new certificate shall be issued until the former certificate representing a like number of relevant Shares shall have been surrendered and cancelled.
6.2 The Company shall not be bound to issue more than one certificate for Shares held jointly by more than one person and delivery of a certificate to one joint holder shall be a sufficient delivery to all of them.
6.3 If a share certificate is defaced, worn out, lost or destroyed, it may be renewed on such terms (if any) as to evidence and indemnity and on the payment of such expenses reasonably incurred by the Company in investigating evidence, as the Directors may prescribe, and (in the case of defacement or wearing out) upon delivery of the old certificate.
6.4 Every share certificate sent in accordance with the Articles will be sent at the risk of the Member or other person entitled to the certificate. The Company will not be responsible for any share certificate lost or delayed in the course of delivery.
6.5 Share certificates shall be issued within the relevant time limit as prescribed by the Statute, if applicable, or as the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law may from time to time determine, whichever is shorter, after the allotment or, except in the case of a Share transfer which the Company is for the time being entitled to refuse to register and does not register, after lodgement of a Share transfer with the Company.
7 Transfer of Shares
7.1 Subject to the terms of the Articles, any Member may transfer all or any of his Shares by an instrument of transfer provided that such transfer complies with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. If the Shares in question were issued in conjunction with rights, options or warrants issued pursuant to the Articles on terms that one cannot be transferred without the other, the Directors shall refuse to register the transfer of any such Share without evidence satisfactory to them of the like transfer of such option or warrant.
7.2 The instrument of transfer of any Share shall be in writing in the usual or common form or in a form prescribed by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law or in any other form approved by the Directors and shall be executed by or on behalf of the transferor (and if the Directors so require, signed by or on behalf of the transferee) and may be under hand or, if the transferor or transferee is a Clearing House or its nominee(s), by hand or by machine imprinted signature or by such other manner of execution as the Directors may approve from time to time. The transferor shall be deemed to remain the holder of a Share until the name of the transferee is entered in the Register of Members.
8 Redemption, Repurchase and Surrender of Shares
8.1 Subject to the provisions of the Statute, and, where applicable, the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, the Company may issue Shares that are to be redeemed or are liable to be redeemed at the option of the Member or the Company. The redemption of such Shares, except Public Shares, shall be effected in such manner and upon such other terms as the Company may, by Special Resolution, determine before the issue of such Shares. With respect to redeeming or repurchasing the Shares:
(a) Members who hold Public Shares are entitled to request the redemption of such Shares in the circumstances described in the Business Combination Article hereof;
(b) Class B Shares held by the Founders shall be surrendered by the Founders on a pro rata basis for no consideration to the extent that the Over-Allotment Option is not exercised in full so that the Founders will own 20 per cent of the Company’s issued Shares after the IPO (exclusive of any securities purchased in a private placement simultaneously with the IPO); and
(c) Public Shares shall be repurchased by way of tender offer in the circumstances set out in the Business Combination Article hereof.
8.2 Subject to the provisions of the Statute, and, where applicable, the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, the Company may purchase its own Shares (including any redeemable Shares) in such manner and on such other terms as the Directors may agree with the relevant Member. For the avoidance of doubt, redemptions, repurchases and surrenders of Shares in the circumstances described in the Article above shall not require further approval of the Members.
8.3 The Company may make a payment in respect of the redemption or purchase of its own Shares in any manner permitted by the Statute, including out of capital.
8.4 The Directors may accept the surrender for no consideration of any fully paid Share.
9 Treasury Shares
9.1 The Directors may, prior to the purchase, redemption or surrender of any Share, determine that such Share shall be held as a Treasury Share.
9.2 The Directors may determine to cancel a Treasury Share or transfer a Treasury Share on such terms as they think proper in accordance with the Statute (including, without limitation, for nil consideration). In the event that the Directors do not specify that the relevant Shares are to be held as Treasury Shares, such Shares shall be cancelled.
10 Variation of Rights of Shares
10.1 Subject to Article 3.1, if at any time the share capital of the Company is divided into different classes of Shares, all or any of the rights attached to any class (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the Shares of that class) may, whether or not the Company is being wound up, be varied without the consent of the holders of the issued Shares of that class where such variation is considered by the Directors not to have a material adverse effect upon such rights; otherwise, any such variation shall be made only with the consent in writing of the holders of not less than two thirds of the issued Shares of that class other than with respect to a waiver of the provisions of the Class B Share Conversion Article hereof, which as stated therein shall only require the consent in writing of the holders of a majority of the issued Shares of that class), or with the approval of a resolution passed by a majority of not less than two thirds of the votes cast at a separate meeting of the holders of the Shares of that class. For the avoidance of doubt, the Directors reserve the right, notwithstanding that any such variation may not have a material adverse effect, to obtain consent from the holders of Shares of the relevant class. To any such meeting all the provisions of the Articles relating to general meetings shall apply mutatis mutandis, except that the necessary quorum shall be one person holding or representing by proxy at least one third of the issued Shares of the class and that any holder of Shares of the class present in person or by proxy may demand a poll.
10.2 For the purposes of a separate class meeting, the Directors may treat two or more or all the classes of Shares as forming one class of Shares if the Directors consider that such class of Shares would be affected in the same way by the proposals under consideration, but in any other case shall treat them as separate classes of Shares.
10.3 The rights conferred upon the holders of the Shares of any class issued with preferred or other rights shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the Shares of that class, be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of further Shares ranking pari passu therewith or Shares issued with preferred or other rights.
11 Commission on Sale of Shares
The Company may, in so far as the Statute permits, pay a commission to any person in consideration of his subscribing or agreeing to subscribe (whether absolutely or conditionally) or procuring or agreeing to procure subscriptions (whether absolutely or conditionally) for any Shares. Such commissions may be satisfied by the payment of cash and/or the issue of fully or partly paid-up Shares. The Company may also on any issue of Shares pay such brokerage as may be lawful.
12 Non Recognition of Trusts
The Company shall not be bound by or compelled to recognise in any way (even when notified) any equitable, contingent, future or partial interest in any Share, or (except only as is otherwise provided by the Articles or the Statute) any other rights in respect of any Share other than an absolute right to the entirety thereof in the holder.
13 Lien on Shares
13.1 The Company shall have a first and paramount lien on all Shares (whether fully paid-up or not) registered in the name of a Member (whether solely or jointly with others) for all debts, liabilities or engagements to or with the Company (whether presently payable or not) by such Member or his estate, either alone or jointly with any other person, whether a Member or not, but the Directors may at any time declare any Share to be wholly or in part exempt from the provisions of this Article. The registration of a transfer of any such Share shall operate as a waiver of the Company’s lien thereon. The Company’s lien on a Share shall also extend to any amount payable in respect of that Share.
13.2 The Company may sell, in such manner as the Directors think fit, any Shares on which the Company has a lien, if a sum in respect of which the lien exists is presently payable, and is not paid within fourteen clear days after notice has been received or deemed to have been received by the holder of the Shares, or to the person entitled to it in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of the holder, demanding payment and stating that if the notice is not complied with the Shares may be sold.
13.3 To give effect to any such sale the Directors may authorise any person to execute an instrument of transfer of the Shares sold to, or in accordance with the directions of, the purchaser. The purchaser or his nominee shall be registered as the holder of the Shares comprised in any such transfer, and he shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, nor shall his title to the Shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the sale or the exercise of the Company’s power of sale under the Articles.
13.4 The net proceeds of such sale after payment of costs, shall be applied in payment of such part of the amount in respect of which the lien exists as is presently payable and any balance shall (subject to a like lien for sums not presently payable as existed upon the Shares before the sale) be paid to the person entitled to the Shares at the date of the sale.
14 Call on Shares
14.1 Subject to the terms of the allotment and issue of any Shares, the Directors may make calls upon the Members in respect of any monies unpaid on their Shares (whether in respect of par value or premium), and each Member shall (subject to receiving at least fourteen clear days’ notice specifying the time or times of payment) pay to the Company at the time or times so specified the amount called on the Shares. A call may be revoked or postponed, in whole or in part, as the Directors may determine. A call may be required to be paid by instalments. A person upon whom a call is made shall remain liable for calls made upon him notwithstanding the subsequent transfer of the Shares in respect of which the call was made.
14.2 A call shall be deemed to have been made at the time when the resolution of the Directors authorising such call was passed.
14.3 The joint holders of a Share shall be jointly and severally liable to pay all calls in respect thereof.
14.4 If a call remains unpaid after it has become due and payable, the person from whom it is due shall pay interest on the amount unpaid from the day it became due and payable until it is paid at such rate as the Directors may determine (and in addition all expenses that have been incurred by the Company by reason of such non-payment), but the Directors may waive payment of the interest or expenses wholly or in part.
14.5 An amount payable in respect of a Share on issue or allotment or at any fixed date, whether on account of the par value of the Share or premium or otherwise, shall be deemed to be a call and if it is not paid all the provisions of the Articles shall apply as if that amount had become due and payable by virtue of a call.
14.6 The Directors may issue Shares with different terms as to the amount and times of payment of calls, or the interest to be paid.
14.7 The Directors may, if they think fit, receive an amount from any Member willing to advance all or any part of the monies uncalled and unpaid upon any Shares held by him, and may (until the amount would otherwise become payable) pay interest at such rate as may be agreed upon between the Directors and the Member paying such amount in advance.
14.8 No such amount paid in advance of calls shall entitle the Member paying such amount to any portion of a Dividend or other distribution payable in respect of any period prior to the date upon which such amount would, but for such payment, become payable.
15 Forfeiture of Shares
15.1 If a call or instalment of a call remains unpaid after it has become due and payable the Directors may give to the person from whom it is due not less than fourteen clear days’ notice requiring payment of the amount unpaid together with any interest which may have accrued and any expenses incurred by the Company by reason of such non-payment. The notice shall specify where payment is to be made and shall state that if the notice is not complied with the Shares in respect of which the call was made will be liable to be forfeited.
15.2 If the notice is not complied with, any Share in respect of which it was given may, before the payment required by the notice has been made, be forfeited by a resolution of the Directors. Such forfeiture shall include all Dividends, other distributions or other monies payable in respect of the forfeited Share and not paid before the forfeiture.
15.3 A forfeited Share may be sold, re-allotted or otherwise disposed of on such terms and in such manner as the Directors think fit and at any time before a sale, re-allotment or disposition the forfeiture may be cancelled on such terms as the Directors think fit. Where for the purposes of its disposal a forfeited Share is to be transferred to any person the Directors may authorise some person to execute an instrument of transfer of the Share in favour of that person.
15.4 A person any of whose Shares have been forfeited shall cease to be a Member in respect of them and shall surrender to the Company for cancellation the certificate for the Shares forfeited
and shall remain liable to pay to the Company all monies which at the date of forfeiture were payable by him to the Company in respect of those Shares together with interest at such rate as the Directors may determine, but his liability shall cease if and when the Company shall have received payment in full of all monies due and payable by him in respect of those Shares.
15.5 A certificate in writing under the hand of one Director or Officer that a Share has been forfeited on a specified date shall be conclusive evidence of the facts stated in it as against all persons claiming to be entitled to the Share. The certificate shall (subject to the execution of an instrument of transfer) constitute a good title to the Share and the person to whom the Share is sold or otherwise disposed of shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, if any, nor shall his title to the Share be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings in reference to the forfeiture, sale or disposal of the Share.
15.6 The provisions of the Articles as to forfeiture shall apply in the case of non payment of any sum which, by the terms of issue of a Share, becomes payable at a fixed time, whether on account of the par value of the Share or by way of premium as if it had been payable by virtue of a call duly made and notified.
16 Transmission of Shares
16.1 If a Member dies, the survivor or survivors (where he was a joint holder), or his legal personal representatives (where he was a sole holder), shall be the only persons recognised by the Company as having any title to his Shares. The estate of a deceased Member is not thereby released from any liability in respect of any Share, for which he was a joint or sole holder.
16.2 Any person becoming entitled to a Share in consequence of the death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution of a Member (or in any other way than by transfer) may, upon such evidence being produced as may be required by the Directors, elect, by a notice in writing sent by him to the Company, either to become the holder of such Share or to have some person nominated by him registered as the holder of such Share. If he elects to have another person registered as the holder of such Share he shall sign an instrument of transfer of that Share to that person. The Directors shall, in either case, have the same right to decline or suspend registration as they would have had in the case of a transfer of the Share by the relevant Member before his death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution, as the case may be.
16.3 A person becoming entitled to a Share by reason of the death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution of a Member (or in any other case than by transfer) shall be entitled to the same Dividends, other distributions and other advantages to which he would be entitled if he were the holder of such Share. However, he shall not, before becoming a Member in respect of a Share, be entitled in respect of it to exercise any right conferred by membership in relation to general meetings of the Company and the Directors may at any time give notice requiring any such person to elect either to be registered himself or to have some person nominated by him be registered as the holder of the Share (but the Directors shall, in either case, have the same right to decline or suspend registration as they would have had in the case of a transfer of the Share by the relevant Member before his death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution or any other
case than by transfer, as the case may be). If the notice is not complied with within ninety days of being received or deemed to be received (as determined pursuant to the Articles), the Directors may thereafter withhold payment of all Dividends, other distributions, bonuses or other monies payable in respect of the Share until the requirements of the notice have been complied with.
17 Class B Ordinary Share Conversion
17.1 The rights attaching to all Shares shall rank pari passu in all respects, and the Class A Shares and Class B Shares shall vote together as a single class on all matters (subject to the Variation of Rights of Shares Article and the Appointment and Removal of Directors Article hereof) with the exception that the holder of a Class B Share shall have the Conversion Rights referred to in this Article.
17.2 Class B Shares shall automatically convert into Class A Shares on a one-for-one basis (the “Initial Conversion Ratio”): (a) at any time and from time to time at the option of the holder thereof; and (b) automatically on the first business day following the closing of a Business Combination.
17.3 Notwithstanding the Initial Conversion Ratio, in the case that additional Class A Shares or any other Equity-linked Securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the IPO and related to the closing of a Business Combination, all Class B Shares in issue shall automatically convert into Class A Shares on the first business day following the closing of such Business Combination such that the total number of Class A Shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B Shares in issue will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20 per cent of the sum of the total number of Class A Shares and Class B Shares in issue upon completion of the IPO plus all Class A Shares and Equity-linked Securities issued, or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (including the Forward Purchase Shares but not the Forward Purchase Warrants), excluding any Shares or Equity-linked Securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination and any private placement warrants issued to the Sponsors or any of their affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans.
17.4 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the foregoing adjustment to the Initial Conversion Ratio may be waived as to any particular issuance or deemed issuance of additional Class A Shares or Equity-linked Securities by the written consent or agreement of holders of a majority of the Class B Shares then in issue consenting or agreeing separately as a separate class in the manner provided in the Variation of Rights of Shares Article hereof.
17.5 The foregoing conversion ratio shall also be adjusted to account for any subdivision (by share split, subdivision, exchange, capitalisation, rights issue, reclassification, recapitalisation or otherwise) or combination (by reverse share split, share consolidation, exchange, reclassification, recapitalisation or otherwise) or similar reclassification or recapitalisation of the Class A Shares in issue into a greater or lesser number of shares occurring after the original filing of the Articles
without a proportionate and corresponding subdivision, combination or similar reclassification or recapitalisation of the Class B Shares in issue.
17.6 Each Class B Share shall convert into its pro rata number of Class A Shares pursuant to this Article. The pro rata share for each holder of Class B Shares will be determined as follows: each Class B Share shall convert into such number of Class A Shares as is equal to the product of 1 multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the total number of Class A Shares into which all of the Class B Shares in issue shall be converted pursuant to this Article and the denominator of which shall be the total number of Class B Shares in issue at the time of conversion.
17.7 References in this Article to “converted”, “conversion” or “exchange” shall mean the compulsory redemption without notice of Class B Shares of any Member and, on behalf of such Members, automatic application of such redemption proceeds in paying for such new Class A Shares into which the Class B Shares have been converted or exchanged at a price per Class B Share necessary to give effect to a conversion or exchange calculated on the basis that the Class A Shares to be issued as part of the conversion or exchange will be issued at par. The Class A Shares to be issued on an exchange or conversion shall be registered in the name of such Member or in such name as the Member may direct.
17.8 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Article, in no event may any Class B Share convert into Class A Shares at a ratio that is less than one-for-one.
18 Amendments of Memorandum and Articles of Association and Alteration of Capital
18.1 The Company may by Ordinary Resolution:
(a) increase its share capital by such sum as the Ordinary Resolution shall prescribe and with such rights, priorities and privileges annexed thereto, as the Company in general meeting may determine;
(b) consolidate and divide all or any of its share capital into Shares of larger amount than its existing Shares;
(c) convert all or any of its paid-up Shares into stock, and reconvert that stock into paid-up Shares of any denomination;
(d) by subdivision of its existing Shares or any of them divide the whole or any part of its share capital into Shares of smaller amount than is fixed by the Memorandum or into Shares without par value; and
(e) cancel any Shares that at the date of the passing of the Ordinary Resolution have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person and diminish the amount of its share capital by the amount of the Shares so cancelled.
18.2 All new Shares created in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article shall be subject to the same provisions of the Articles with reference to the payment of calls, liens, transfer, transmission, forfeiture and otherwise as the Shares in the original share capital.
18.3 Subject to the provisions of the Statute, the provisions of the Articles as regards the matters to be dealt with by Ordinary Resolution and Article 29.4, the Company may by Special Resolution:
(a) change its name;
(b) alter or add to the Articles (subject to Article 29.4);
(c) alter or add to the Memorandum with respect to any objects, powers or other matters specified therein; and
(d) reduce its share capital or any capital redemption reserve fund.
19 Offices and Places of Business
Subject to the provisions of the Statute, the Company may by resolution of the Directors change the location of its Registered Office. The Company may, in addition to its Registered Office, maintain such other offices or places of business as the Directors determine.
20 General Meetings
20.1 All general meetings other than annual general meetings shall be called extraordinary general meetings.
20.2 The Company may, but shall not (unless required by the Statute) be obliged to, in each year hold a general meeting as its annual general meeting, and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it. Any annual general meeting shall be held at such time and place as the Directors shall appoint and if no other time and place is prescribed by them, it shall be held at the Registered Office on the second Wednesday in December of each year at ten o’clock in the morning. At these meetings the report of the Directors (if any) shall be presented.
20.3 The Directors, the chief executive officer or the chairman of the board of Directors may call general meetings. The Members shall not have the ability to call general meetings.
20.4 Members seeking to bring business before the annual general meeting or to nominate candidates for appointment as Directors at the annual general meeting must deliver notice to the principal executive offices of the Company not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the scheduled date of the annual general meeting.
21 Notice of General Meetings
21.1 At least five clear days’ notice shall be given of any general meeting. Every notice shall specify the place, the day and the hour of the meeting and the general nature of the business to be conducted at the general meeting and shall be given in the manner hereinafter mentioned or in such other manner if any as may be prescribed by the Company, provided that a general meeting of the Company shall, whether or not the notice specified in this Article has been given and whether or not the provisions of the Articles regarding general meetings have been complied with, be deemed to have been duly convened if it is so agreed:
(a) in the case of an annual general meeting, by all of the Members entitled to attend and vote thereat; and
(b) in the case of an extraordinary general meeting, by a majority in number of the Members having a right to attend and vote at the meeting, together holding not less than ninety-five per cent in par value of the Shares giving that right.
21.2 The accidental omission to give notice of a general meeting to, or the non receipt of notice of a general meeting by, any person entitled to receive such notice shall not invalidate the proceedings of that general meeting.
22 Proceedings at General Meetings
22.1 No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum is present. The holders of a majority of the Shares being individuals present in person or by proxy or if a corporation or other non-natural person by its duly authorised representative or proxy shall be a quorum.
22.2 A person may participate at a general meeting by conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all the persons participating in the meeting can communicate with each other. Participation by a person in a general meeting in this manner is treated as presence in person at that meeting.
22.3 A resolution (including a Special Resolution) in writing (in one or more counterparts) signed by or on behalf of all of the Members for the time being entitled to receive notice of and to attend and vote at general meetings (or, being corporations or other non-natural persons, signed by their duly authorised representatives) shall be as valid and effective as if the resolution had been passed at a general meeting of the Company duly convened and held.
22.4 If a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting to commence or if during such a meeting a quorum ceases to be present, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and/or place or to such other day, time and/or place as the Directors may determine, and if at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the Members present shall be a quorum.
22.5 The Directors may, at any time prior to the time appointed for the meeting to commence, appoint any person to act as chairman of a general meeting of the Company or, if the Directors do not make any such appointment, the chairman, if any, of the board of Directors shall preside as chairman at such general meeting. If there is no such chairman, or if he shall not be present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for the meeting to commence, or is unwilling to act, the Directors present shall elect one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.
22.6 If no Director is willing to act as chairman or if no Director is present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the Members present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.
22.7 The chairman may, with the consent of a meeting at which a quorum is present (and shall if so directed by the meeting) adjourn the meeting from time to time and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place.
22.8 When a general meeting is adjourned for thirty days or more, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Otherwise it shall not be necessary to give any such notice of an adjourned meeting.
22.9 If, prior to a Business Combination, a notice is issued in respect of a general meeting and the Directors, in their absolute discretion, consider that it is impractical or undesirable for any reason to hold that general meeting at the place, the day and the hour specified in the notice calling such general meeting, the Directors may postpone the general meeting to another place, day and/or hour provided that notice of the place, the day and the hour of the rearranged general meeting is promptly given to all Members. No business shall be transacted at any postponed meeting other than the business specified in the notice of the original meeting.
22.10 When a general meeting is postponed for thirty days or more, notice of the postponed meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Otherwise it shall not be necessary to give any such notice of a postponed meeting. All proxy forms submitted for the original general meeting shall remain valid for the postponed meeting. The Directors may postpone a general meeting which has already been postponed.
22.11 A resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided on a poll.
22.12 A poll shall be taken as the chairman directs, and the result of the poll shall be deemed to be the resolution of the general meeting at which the poll was demanded.
22.13 A poll demanded on the election of a chairman or on a question of adjournment shall be taken forthwith. A poll demanded on any other question shall be taken at such date, time and place as the chairman of the general meeting directs, and any business other than that upon which a poll has been demanded or is contingent thereon may proceed pending the taking of the poll.
22.14 In the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall be entitled to a second or casting vote.
23 Votes of Members
23.1 Subject to any rights or restrictions attached to any Shares, including as set out at Article 29.4, every Member present in any such manner shall have one vote for every Share of which he is the holder.
23.2 In the case of joint holders the vote of the senior holder who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy (or, in the case of a corporation or other non-natural person, by its duly authorised representative or proxy), shall be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the other joint holders, and seniority shall be determined by the order in which the names of the holders stand in the Register of Members.
23.3 A Member of unsound mind, or in respect of whom an order has been made by any court, having jurisdiction in lunacy, may vote by his committee, receiver, curator bonis, or other person on such Member’s behalf appointed by that court, and any such committee, receiver, curator bonis or other person may vote by proxy.
23.4 No person shall be entitled to vote at any general meeting unless he is registered as a Member on the record date for such meeting nor unless all calls or other monies then payable by him in respect of Shares have been paid.
23.5 No objection shall be raised as to the qualification of any voter except at the general meeting or adjourned general meeting at which the vote objected to is given or tendered and every vote not disallowed at the meeting shall be valid. Any objection made in due time in accordance with this Article shall be referred to the chairman whose decision shall be final and conclusive.
23.6 Votes may be cast either personally or by proxy (or in the case of a corporation or other non-natural person by its duly authorised representative or proxy). A Member may appoint more than one proxy or the same proxy under one or more instruments to attend and vote at a meeting. Where a Member appoints more than one proxy the instrument of proxy shall specify the number of Shares in respect of which each proxy is entitled to exercise the related votes.
23.7 A Member holding more than one Share need not cast the votes in respect of his Shares in the same way on any resolution and therefore may vote a Share or some or all such Shares either for or against a resolution and/or abstain from voting a Share or some or all of the Shares and, subject to the terms of the instrument appointing him, a proxy appointed under one or more instruments may vote a Share or some or all of the Shares in respect of which he is appointed either for or against a resolution and/or abstain from voting a Share or some or all of the Shares in respect of which he is appointed.
24 Proxies
24.1 The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing and shall be executed under the hand of the appointor or of his attorney duly authorised in writing, or, if the appointor is a corporation or other
non natural person, under the hand of its duly authorised representative. A proxy need not be a Member.
24.2 The Directors may, in the notice convening any meeting or adjourned meeting, or in an instrument of proxy sent out by the Company, specify the manner by which the instrument appointing a proxy shall be deposited and the place and the time (being not later than the time appointed for the commencement of the meeting or adjourned meeting to which the proxy relates) at which the instrument appointing a proxy shall be deposited. In the absence of any such direction from the Directors in the notice convening any meeting or adjourned meeting or in an instrument of proxy sent out by the Company, the instrument appointing a proxy shall be deposited physically at the Registered Office not less than 48 hours before the time appointed for the meeting or adjourned meeting to commence at which the person named in the instrument proposes to vote.
24.3 The chairman may in any event at his discretion declare that an instrument of proxy shall be deemed to have been duly deposited. An instrument of proxy that is not deposited in the manner permitted, or which has not been declared to have been duly deposited by the chairman, shall be invalid.
24.4 The instrument appointing a proxy may be in any usual or common form (or such other form as the Directors may approve) and may be expressed to be for a particular meeting or any adjournment thereof or generally until revoked. An instrument appointing a proxy shall be deemed to include the power to demand or join or concur in demanding a poll.
24.5 Votes given in accordance with the terms of an instrument of proxy shall be valid notwithstanding the previous death or insanity of the principal or revocation of the proxy or of the authority under which the proxy was executed, or the transfer of the Share in respect of which the proxy is given unless notice in writing of such death, insanity, revocation or transfer was received by the Company at the Registered Office before the commencement of the general meeting, or adjourned meeting at which it is sought to use the proxy.
25 Corporate Members
25.1 Any corporation or other non-natural person which is a Member may in accordance with its constitutional documents, or in the absence of such provision by resolution of its directors or other governing body, authorise such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at any meeting of the Company or of any class of Members, and the person so authorised shall be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the corporation which he represents as the corporation could exercise if it were an individual Member.
25.2 If a Clearing House (or its nominee(s)), being a corporation, is a Member, it may authorise such persons as it sees fit to act as its representative at any meeting of the Company or at any meeting of any class of Members provided that the authorisation shall specify the number and class of Shares in respect of which each such representative is so authorised. Each person so authorised under the provisions of this Article shall be deemed to have been duly authorised
without further evidence of the facts and be entitled to exercise the same rights and powers on behalf of the Clearing House (or its nominee(s)) as if such person was the registered holder of such Shares held by the Clearing House (or its nominee(s)).
26 Shares that May Not be Voted
Shares in the Company that are beneficially owned by the Company shall not be voted, directly or indirectly, at any meeting and shall not be counted in determining the total number of outstanding Shares at any given time.
27 Directors
27.1 There shall be a board of Directors consisting of not less than one person provided however that the Company may by Ordinary Resolution increase or reduce the limits in the number of Directors.
27.2 The Directors shall be divided into three classes: Class I, Class II and Class III. The number of Directors in each class shall be as nearly equal as possible. Upon the adoption of the Articles, the existing Directors shall by resolution classify themselves as Class I, Class II or Class III Directors. The Class I Directors shall stand elected for a term expiring at the Company’s first annual general meeting, the Class II Directors shall stand elected for a term expiring at the Company’s second annual general meeting and the Class III Directors shall stand elected for a term expiring at the Company’s third annual general meeting. Commencing at the Company’s first annual general meeting, and at each annual general meeting thereafter, Directors elected to succeed those Directors whose terms expire shall be elected for a term of office to expire at the third succeeding annual general meeting after their election. Except as the Statute or other Applicable Law may otherwise require, in the interim between annual general meetings or extraordinary general meetings called for the election of Directors and/or the removal of one or more Directors and the filling of any vacancy in that connection, additional Directors and any vacancies in the board of Directors, including unfilled vacancies resulting from the removal of Directors for cause, may be filled by the vote of a majority of the remaining Directors then in office, although less than a quorum (as defined in the Articles), or by the sole remaining Director. All Directors shall hold office until the expiration of their respective terms of office and until their successors shall have been elected and qualified. A Director elected to fill a vacancy resulting from the death, resignation or removal of a Director shall serve for the remainder of the full term of the Director whose death, resignation or removal shall have created such vacancy and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified.
28 Powers of Directors
28.1 Subject to the provisions of the Statute, the Memorandum and the Articles and to any directions given by Special Resolution, the business of the Company shall be managed by the Directors who may exercise all the powers of the Company. No alteration of the Memorandum or Articles and no such direction shall invalidate any prior act of the Directors which would have been valid if that alteration had not been made or that direction had not been given. A duly convened meeting of Directors at which a quorum is present may exercise all powers exercisable by the Directors.
28.2 All cheques, promissory notes, drafts, bills of exchange and other negotiable or transferable instruments and all receipts for monies paid to the Company shall be signed, drawn, accepted, endorsed or otherwise executed as the case may be in such manner as the Directors shall determine by resolution.
28.3 The Directors on behalf of the Company may pay a gratuity or pension or allowance on retirement to any Director who has held any other salaried office or place of profit with the Company or to his widow or dependants and may make contributions to any fund and pay premiums for the purchase or provision of any such gratuity, pension or allowance.
28.4 The Directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, property and assets (present and future) and uncalled capital or any part thereof and to issue debentures, debenture stock, mortgages, bonds and other such securities whether outright or as security for any debt, liability or obligation of the Company or of any third party.
29 Appointment and Removal of Directors
29.1 Prior to the closing of a Business Combination, the Company may by Ordinary Resolution of the holders of the Class B Shares appoint any person to be a Director or may by Ordinary Resolution of the holders of the Class B Shares remove any Director. For the avoidance of doubt, prior to the closing of a Business Combination, holders of Class A Shares shall have no right to vote on the appointment or removal of any Director.
29.2 The Directors may appoint any person to be a Director, either to fill a vacancy or as an additional Director provided that the appointment does not cause the number of Directors to exceed any number fixed by or in accordance with the Articles as the maximum number of Directors.
29.3 After the closing of a Business Combination, the Company may by Ordinary Resolution appoint any person to be a Director or may by Ordinary Resolution remove any Director.
29.4 Article 29.1 may only be amended by a Special Resolution passed by at least 90 per cent of such Members as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given, or by way of unanimous written resolution.
30 Vacation of Office of Director
The office of a Director shall be vacated if:
(a) the Director gives notice in writing to the Company that he resigns the office of Director; or
(b) the Director absents himself (for the avoidance of doubt, without being represented by proxy) from three consecutive meetings of the board of Directors without special leave of
absence from the Directors, and the Directors pass a resolution that he has by reason of such absence vacated office; or
(c) the Director dies, becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his creditors generally; or
(d) the Director is found to be or becomes of unsound mind; or
(e) all of the other Directors (being not less than two in number) determine that he should be removed as a Director, either by a resolution passed by all of the other Directors at a meeting of the Directors duly convened and held in accordance with the Articles or by a resolution in writing signed by all of the other Directors.
31 Proceedings of Directors
31.1 The quorum for the transaction of the business of the Directors may be fixed by the Directors, and unless so fixed shall be a majority of the Directors then in office.
31.2 Subject to the provisions of the Articles, the Directors may regulate their proceedings as they think fit. Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes. In the case of an equality of votes, the chairman shall have a second or casting vote.
31.3 A person may participate in a meeting of the Directors or any committee of Directors by conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all the persons participating in the meeting can communicate with each other at the same time. Participation by a person in a meeting in this manner is treated as presence in person at that meeting. Unless otherwise determined by the Directors, the meeting shall be deemed to be held at the place where the chairman is located at the start of the meeting.
31.4 A resolution in writing (in one or more counterparts) signed by all the Directors or all the members of a committee of the Directors or, in the case of a resolution in writing relating to the removal of any Director or the vacation of office by any Director, all of the Directors other than the Director who is the subject of such resolution shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Directors, or committee of Directors as the case may be, duly convened and held.
31.5 A Director may, or other Officer on the direction of a Director shall, call a meeting of the Directors by at least two days’ notice in writing to every Director which notice shall set forth the general nature of the business to be considered unless notice is waived by all the Directors either at, before or after the meeting is held. To any such notice of a meeting of the Directors all the provisions of the Articles relating to the giving of notices by the Company to the Members shall apply mutatis mutandis.
31.6 The continuing Directors (or a sole continuing Director, as the case may be) may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body, but if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant to the Articles as the necessary quorum of Directors the
continuing Directors or Director may act for the purpose of increasing the number of Directors to be equal to such fixed number, or of summoning a general meeting of the Company, but for no other purpose.
31.7 The Directors may elect a chairman of their board and determine the period for which he is to hold office; but if no such chairman is elected, or if at any meeting the chairman is not present within five minutes after the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the Directors present may choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.
31.8 All acts done by any meeting of the Directors or of a committee of the Directors shall, notwithstanding that it is afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any Director, and/or that they or any of them were disqualified, and/or had vacated their office and/or were not entitled to vote, be as valid as if every such person had been duly appointed and/or not disqualified to be a Director and/or had not vacated their office and/or had been entitled to vote, as the case may be.
31.9 A Director may be represented at any meetings of the board of Directors by a proxy appointed in writing by him. The proxy shall count towards the quorum and the vote of the proxy shall for all purposes be deemed to be that of the appointing Director.
32 Presumption of Assent
A Director who is present at a meeting of the board of Directors at which action on any Company matter is taken shall be presumed to have assented to the action taken unless his dissent shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting or unless he shall file his written dissent from such action with the person acting as the chairman or secretary of the meeting before the adjournment thereof or shall forward such dissent by registered post to such person immediately after the adjournment of the meeting. Such right to dissent shall not apply to a Director who voted in favour of such action.
33 Directors’ Interests
33.1 A Director may hold any other office or place of profit under the Company (other than the office of Auditor) in conjunction with his office of Director for such period and on such terms as to remuneration and otherwise as the Directors may determine.
33.2 A Director may act by himself or by, through or on behalf of his firm in a professional capacity for the Company and he or his firm shall be entitled to remuneration for professional services as if he were not a Director.
33.3 A Director may be or become a director or other officer of or otherwise interested in any company promoted by the Company or in which the Company may be interested as a shareholder, a contracting party or otherwise, and no such Director shall be accountable to the Company for any remuneration or other benefits received by him as a director or officer of, or from his interest in, such other company.
33.4 No person shall be disqualified from the office of Director or prevented by such office from contracting with the Company, either as vendor, purchaser or otherwise, nor shall any such contract or any contract or transaction entered into by or on behalf of the Company in which any Director shall be in any way interested be or be liable to be avoided, nor shall any Director so contracting or being so interested be liable to account to the Company for any profit realised by or arising in connection with any such contract or transaction by reason of such Director holding office or of the fiduciary relationship thereby established. A Director shall be at liberty to vote in respect of any contract or transaction in which he is interested provided that the nature of the interest of any Director in any such contract or transaction shall be disclosed by him at or prior to its consideration and any vote thereon.
33.5 A general notice that a Director is a shareholder, director, officer or employee of any specified firm or company and is to be regarded as interested in any transaction with such firm or company shall be sufficient disclosure for the purposes of voting on a resolution in respect of a contract or transaction in which he has an interest, and after such general notice it shall not be necessary to give special notice relating to any particular transaction.
34 Minutes
The Directors shall cause minutes to be made in books kept for the purpose of recording all appointments of Officers made by the Directors, all proceedings at meetings of the Company or the holders of any class of Shares and of the Directors, and of committees of the Directors, including the names of the Directors present at each meeting.
35 Delegation of Directors’ Powers
35.1 The Directors may delegate any of their powers, authorities and discretions, including the power to sub-delegate, to any committee consisting of one or more Directors (including, without limitation, the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating Committee). Any such delegation may be made subject to any conditions the Directors may impose and either collaterally with or to the exclusion of their own powers and any such delegation may be revoked or altered by the Directors. Subject to any such conditions, the proceedings of a committee of Directors shall be governed by the Articles regulating the proceedings of Directors, so far as they are capable of applying.
35.2 The Directors may establish any committees, local boards or agencies or appoint any person to be a manager or agent for managing the affairs of the Company and may appoint any person to be a member of such committees, local boards or agencies. Any such appointment may be made subject to any conditions the Directors may impose, and either collaterally with or to the exclusion of their own powers and any such appointment may be revoked or altered by the Directors. Subject to any such conditions, the proceedings of any such committee, local board or agency shall be governed by the Articles regulating the proceedings of Directors, so far as they are capable of applying.
35.3 The Directors may adopt formal written charters for committees and, if so adopted, shall review and assess the adequacy of such formal written charters on an annual basis. Each of these
committees shall be empowered to do all things necessary to exercise the rights of such committee set forth in the Articles and shall have such powers as the Directors may delegate pursuant to the Articles and as required by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. Each of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating Committee, if established, shall consist of such number of Directors as the Directors shall from time to time determine (or such minimum number as may be required from time to time by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law). For so long as any class of Shares is listed on the Designated Stock Exchange, the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating Committee shall be made up of such number of Independent Directors as is required from time to time by the rules and regulations of the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law.
35.4 The Directors may by power of attorney or otherwise appoint any person to be the agent of the Company on such conditions as the Directors may determine, provided that the delegation is not to the exclusion of their own powers and may be revoked by the Directors at any time.
35.5 The Directors may by power of attorney or otherwise appoint any company, firm, person or body of persons, whether nominated directly or indirectly by the Directors, to be the attorney or authorised signatory of the Company for such purpose and with such powers, authorities and discretions (not exceeding those vested in or exercisable by the Directors under the Articles) and for such period and subject to such conditions as they may think fit, and any such powers of attorney or other appointment may contain such provisions for the protection and convenience of persons dealing with any such attorneys or authorised signatories as the Directors may think fit and may also authorise any such attorney or authorised signatory to delegate all or any of the powers, authorities and discretions vested in him.
35.6 The Directors may appoint such Officers as they consider necessary on such terms, at such remuneration and to perform such duties, and subject to such provisions as to disqualification and removal as the Directors may think fit. Unless otherwise specified in the terms of his appointment an Officer may be removed by resolution of the Directors or Members. An Officer may vacate his office at any time if he gives notice in writing to the Company that he resigns his office.
36 No Minimum Shareholding
The Company in general meeting may fix a minimum shareholding required to be held by a Director, but unless and until such a shareholding qualification is fixed a Director is not required to hold Shares.
37 Remuneration of Directors
37.1 The remuneration to be paid to the Directors, if any, shall be such remuneration as the Directors shall determine, provided that no remuneration shall be paid to any Director by the Company prior to the completion of a Business Combination. The Directors shall also, whether prior to or after the completion of a Business Combination, be entitled to be paid all travelling, hotel and other expenses properly incurred by them in connection with their attendance at meetings of Directors or committees of Directors, or general meetings of the Company, or separate meetings of the holders of any class of Shares or debentures of the Company, or otherwise in connection with the business of the Company or the discharge of their duties as a Director, or to receive a fixed allowance in respect thereof as may be determined by the Directors, or a combination partly of one such method and partly the other.
37.2 The Directors may by resolution approve additional remuneration to any Director for any services which in the opinion of the Directors go beyond his ordinary routine work as a Director. Any fees paid to a Director who is also counsel, attorney or solicitor to the Company, or otherwise serves it in a professional capacity shall be in addition to his remuneration as a Director.
38 Seal
38.1 The Company may, if the Directors so determine, have a Seal. The Seal shall only be used by the authority of the Directors or of a committee of the Directors authorised by the Directors. Every instrument to which the Seal has been affixed shall be signed by at least one person who shall be either a Director or some Officer or other person appointed by the Directors for the purpose.
38.2 The Company may have for use in any place or places outside the Cayman Islands a duplicate Seal or Seals each of which shall be a facsimile of the common Seal of the Company and, if the Directors so determine, with the addition on its face of the name of every place where it is to be used.
38.3 A Director or Officer, representative or attorney of the Company may without further authority of the Directors affix the Seal over his signature alone to any document of the Company required to be authenticated by him under seal or to be filed with the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere wheresoever.
39 Dividends, Distributions and Reserve
39.1 Subject to the Statute and this Article and except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to any Shares, the Directors may resolve to pay Dividends and other distributions on Shares in issue and authorise payment of the Dividends or other distributions out of the funds of the Company lawfully available therefor. A Dividend shall be deemed to be an interim Dividend unless the terms of the resolution pursuant to which the Directors resolve to pay such Dividend specifically state that such Dividend shall be a final Dividend. No Dividend or other distribution shall be paid except out of the realised or unrealised profits of the Company, out of the share premium account or as otherwise permitted by law.
39.2 Except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to any Shares, all Dividends and other distributions shall be paid according to the par value of the Shares that a Member holds. If any Share is issued on terms providing that it shall rank for Dividend as from a particular date, that Share shall rank for Dividend accordingly.
39.3 The Directors may deduct from any Dividend or other distribution payable to any Member all sums of money (if any) then payable by him to the Company on account of calls or otherwise.
39.4 The Directors may resolve that any Dividend or other distribution be paid wholly or partly by the distribution of specific assets and in particular (but without limitation) by the distribution of shares, debentures, or securities of any other company or in any one or more of such ways and where any difficulty arises in regard to such distribution, the Directors may settle the same as they think expedient and in particular may issue fractional Shares and may fix the value for distribution of such specific assets or any part thereof and may determine that cash payments shall be made to any Members upon the basis of the value so fixed in order to adjust the rights of all Members and may vest any such specific assets in trustees in such manner as may seem expedient to the Directors.
39.5 Except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to any Shares, Dividends and other distributions may be paid in any currency. The Directors may determine the basis of conversion for any currency conversions that may be required and how any costs involved are to be met.
39.6 The Directors may, before resolving to pay any Dividend or other distribution, set aside such sums as they think proper as a reserve or reserves which shall, at the discretion of the Directors, be applicable for any purpose of the Company and pending such application may, at the discretion of the Directors, be employed in the business of the Company.
39.7 Any Dividend, other distribution, interest or other monies payable in cash in respect of Shares may be paid by wire transfer to the holder or by cheque or warrant sent through the post directed to the registered address of the holder or, in the case of joint holders, to the registered address of the holder who is first named on the Register of Members or to such person and to such address as such holder or joint holders may in writing direct. Every such cheque or warrant shall be made payable to the order of the person to whom it is sent. Any one of two or more joint holders may give effectual receipts for any Dividends, other distributions, bonuses, or other monies payable in respect of the Share held by them as joint holders.
39.8 No Dividend or other distribution shall bear interest against the Company.
39.9 Any Dividend or other distribution which cannot be paid to a Member and/or which remains unclaimed after six months from the date on which such Dividend or other distribution becomes payable may, in the discretion of the Directors, be paid into a separate account in the Company’s name, provided that the Company shall not be constituted as a trustee in respect of that account and the Dividend or other distribution shall remain as a debt due to the Member. Any Dividend or other distribution which remains unclaimed after a period of six years from the date on which such
Dividend or other distribution becomes payable shall be forfeited and shall revert to the Company.
40 Capitalisation
The Directors may at any time capitalise any sum standing to the credit of any of the Company’s reserve accounts or funds (including the share premium account and capital redemption reserve fund) or any sum standing to the credit of the profit and loss account or otherwise available for distribution; appropriate such sum to Members in the proportions in which such sum would have been divisible amongst such Members had the same been a distribution of profits by way of Dividend or other distribution; and apply such sum on their behalf in paying up in full unissued Shares for allotment and distribution credited as fully paid-up to and amongst them in the proportion aforesaid. In such event the Directors shall do all acts and things required to give effect to such capitalisation, with full power given to the Directors to make such provisions as they think fit in the case of Shares becoming distributable in fractions (including provisions whereby the benefit of fractional entitlements accrue to the Company rather than to the Members concerned). The Directors may authorise any person to enter on behalf of all of the Members interested into an agreement with the Company providing for such capitalisation and matters incidental or relating thereto and any agreement made under such authority shall be effective and binding on all such Members and the Company.
41 Books of Account
41.1 The Directors shall cause proper books of account (including, where applicable, material underlying documentation including contracts and invoices) to be kept with respect to all sums of money received and expended by the Company and the matters in respect of which the receipt or expenditure takes place, all sales and purchases of goods by the Company and the assets and liabilities of the Company. Such books of account must be retained for a minimum period of five years from the date on which they are prepared. Proper books shall not be deemed to be kept if there are not kept such books of account as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the Company’s affairs and to explain its transactions.
41.2 The Directors shall determine whether and to what extent and at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts and books of the Company or any of them shall be open to the inspection of Members not being Directors and no Member (not being a Director) shall have any right of inspecting any account or book or document of the Company except as conferred by Statute or authorised by the Directors or by the Company in general meeting.
41.3 The Directors may cause to be prepared and to be laid before the Company in general meeting profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, group accounts (if any) and such other reports and accounts as may be required by law.
42 Audit
42.1 The Directors may appoint an Auditor of the Company who shall hold office on such terms as the Directors determine.
42.2 Without prejudice to the freedom of the Directors to establish any other committee, if the Shares (or depositary receipts therefor) are listed or quoted on the Designated Stock Exchange, and if required by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, the Directors shall establish and maintain an Audit Committee as a committee of the Directors and shall adopt a formal written Audit Committee charter and review and assess the adequacy of the formal written charter on an annual basis. The composition and responsibilities of the Audit Committee shall comply with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. The Audit Committee shall meet at least once every financial quarter, or more frequently as circumstances dictate.
42.3 If the Shares (or depositary receipts therefor) are listed or quoted on the Designated Stock Exchange, the Company shall conduct an appropriate review of all related party transactions on an ongoing basis and shall utilise the Audit Committee for the review and approval of potential conflicts of interest.
42.4 The remuneration of the Auditor shall be fixed by the Audit Committee (if one exists).
42.5 If the office of Auditor becomes vacant by resignation or death of the Auditor, or by his becoming incapable of acting by reason of illness or other disability at a time when his services are required, the Directors shall fill the vacancy and determine the remuneration of such Auditor.
42.6 Every Auditor of the Company shall have a right of access at all times to the books and accounts and vouchers of the Company and shall be entitled to require from the Directors and Officers such information and explanation as may be necessary for the performance of the duties of the Auditor.
42.7 Auditors shall, if so required by the Directors, make a report on the accounts of the Company during their tenure of office at the next annual general meeting following their appointment in the case of a company which is registered with the Registrar of Companies as an ordinary company, and at the next extraordinary general meeting following their appointment in the case of a company which is registered with the Registrar of Companies as an exempted company, and at any other time during their term of office, upon request of the Directors or any general meeting of the Members.
42.8 At least one member of the Audit Committee shall be an “audit committee financial expert” as determined by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. The “audit committee financial expert” shall have a special past employment
experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or any other comparable experience or background which results in the individual’s financial sophistication.
43 Notices
43.1 Notices shall be in writing and may be given by the Company to any Member either personally or by sending it by courier, post, cable, telex, fax or e-mail to him or to his address as shown in the Register of Members (or where the notice is given by e-mail by sending it to the e-mail address provided by such Member). Notice may also be served by Electronic Communication in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or by placing it on the Company’s Website.
43.2 Where a notice is sent by:
(a) courier; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by delivery of the notice to a courier company, and shall be deemed to have been received on the third day (not including Saturdays or Sundays or public holidays) following the day on which the notice was delivered to the courier;
(b) post; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre paying and posting a letter containing the notice, and shall be deemed to have been received on the fifth day (not including Saturdays or Sundays or public holidays in the Cayman Islands) following the day on which the notice was posted;
(c) cable, telex or fax; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing and sending such notice and shall be deemed to have been received on the same day that it was transmitted;
(d) e-mail or other Electronic Communication; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by transmitting the e-mail to the e-mail address provided by the intended recipient and shall be deemed to have been received on the same day that it was sent, and it shall not be necessary for the receipt of the e-mail to be acknowledged by the recipient; and
(e) placing it on the Company’s Website; service of the notice shall be deemed to have been effected one hour after the notice or document was placed on the Company’s Website.
43.3 A notice may be given by the Company to the person or persons which the Company has been advised are entitled to a Share or Shares in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a Member in the same manner as other notices which are required to be given under the Articles and shall be addressed to them by name, or by the title of representatives of the deceased, or trustee of the bankrupt, or by any like description at the address supplied for that purpose by the persons claiming to be so entitled, or at the option of the Company by giving the notice in any manner in which the same might have been given if the death or bankruptcy had not occurred.
43.4 Notice of every general meeting shall be given in any manner authorised by the Articles to every holder of Shares carrying an entitlement to receive such notice on the record date for such meeting except that in the case of joint holders the notice shall be sufficient if given to the joint holder first named in the Register of Members and every person upon whom the ownership of a Share devolves by reason of his being a legal personal representative or a trustee in bankruptcy of a Member where the Member but for his death or bankruptcy would be entitled to receive notice of the meeting, and no other person shall be entitled to receive notices of general meetings.
44 Winding Up
44.1 If the Company shall be wound up, the liquidator shall apply the assets of the Company in satisfaction of creditors’ claims in such manner and order as such liquidator thinks fit. Subject to the rights attaching to any Shares, in a winding up:
(a) if the assets available for distribution amongst the Members shall be insufficient to repay the whole of the Company’s issued share capital, such assets shall be distributed so that, as nearly as may be, the losses shall be borne by the Members in proportion to the par value of the Shares held by them; or
(b) if the assets available for distribution amongst the Members shall be more than sufficient to repay the whole of the Company’s issued share capital at the commencement of the winding up, the surplus shall be distributed amongst the Members in proportion to the par value of the Shares held by them at the commencement of the winding up subject to a deduction from those Shares in respect of which there are monies due, of all monies payable to the Company for unpaid calls or otherwise.
44.2 If the Company shall be wound up the liquidator may, subject to the rights attaching to any Shares and with the approval of a Special Resolution of the Company and any other approval required by the Statute, divide amongst the Members in kind the whole or any part of the assets of the Company (whether such assets shall consist of property of the same kind or not) and may for that purpose value any assets and determine how the division shall be carried out as between the Members or different classes of Members. The liquidator may, with the like approval, vest the whole or any part of such assets in trustees upon such trusts for the benefit of the Members as the liquidator, with the like approval, shall think fit, but so that no Member shall be compelled to accept any asset upon which there is a liability.
45 Indemnity and Insurance
45.1 Every Director and Officer (which for the avoidance of doubt, shall not include auditors of the Company), together with every former Director and former Officer (each an “Indemnified Person”) shall be indemnified out of the assets of the Company against any liability, action, proceeding, claim, demand, costs, damages or expenses, including legal expenses, whatsoever which they or any of them may incur as a result of any act or failure to act in carrying out their functions other than such liability (if any) that they may incur by reason of their own actual fraud,
wilful neglect or wilful default. No Indemnified Person shall be liable to the Company for any loss or damage incurred by the Company as a result (whether direct or indirect) of the carrying out of their functions unless that liability arises through the actual fraud, wilful neglect or wilful default of such Indemnified Person. No person shall be found to have committed actual fraud, wilful neglect or wilful default under this Article unless or until a court of competent jurisdiction shall have made a finding to that effect.
45.2 The Company shall advance to each Indemnified Person reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred in connection with the defence of any action, suit, proceeding or investigation involving such Indemnified Person for which indemnity will or could be sought. In connection with any advance of any expenses hereunder, the Indemnified Person shall execute an undertaking to repay the advanced amount to the Company if it shall be determined by final judgment or other final adjudication that such Indemnified Person was not entitled to indemnification pursuant to this Article. If it shall be determined by a final judgment or other final adjudication that such Indemnified Person was not entitled to indemnification with respect to such judgment, costs or expenses, then such party shall not be indemnified with respect to such judgment, costs or expenses and any advancement shall be returned to the Company (without interest) by the Indemnified Person.
45.3 The Directors, on behalf of the Company, may purchase and maintain insurance for the benefit of any Director or Officer against any liability which, by virtue of any rule of law, would otherwise attach to such person in respect of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust of which such person may be guilty in relation to the Company.
46 Financial Year
Unless the Directors otherwise prescribe, the financial year of the Company shall end on 31st December in each year and, following the year of incorporation, shall begin on 1st January in each year.
47 Transfer by Way of Continuation
If the Company is exempted as defined in the Statute, it shall, subject to the provisions of the Statute and with the approval of a Special Resolution, have the power to register by way of continuation as a body corporate under the laws of any jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands and to be deregistered in the Cayman Islands.
48 Mergers and Consolidations
The Company shall have the power to merge or consolidate with one or more other constituent companies (as defined in the Statute) upon such terms as the Directors may determine and (to the extent required by the Statute) with the approval of a Special Resolution.
49 Business Combination
49.1 Notwithstanding any other provision of the Articles, this Article shall apply during the period commencing upon the adoption of the Articles and terminating upon the first to occur of the completion of a Business Combination and the full distribution of the Trust Account pursuant to this Article. In the event of a conflict between this Article and any other Articles, the provisions of this Article shall prevail.
49.2 Prior to the completion of a Business Combination, the Company shall either:
(a) submit such Business Combination to its Members for approval; or
(b) provide Members with the opportunity to have their Shares repurchased by means of a tender offer for a per-Share repurchase 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 completion of such Business Combination, including interest earned on the Trust Account ((net of taxes paid or payable, if any), divided by the number of then issued Public Shares, provided that the Company shall not repurchase Public Shares in an amount that would cause the Company’s net tangible assets to be less than US$5,000,001 upon completion of such Business Combination.
49.3 If the Company initiates any tender offer in accordance with Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act in connection with a Business Combination, it shall file tender offer documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to completing such Business Combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about such Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act. If, alternatively, the Company holds general meeting to approve a Business Combination, the Company will conduct any redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and file proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
49.4 At a general meeting called for the purposes of approving a Business Combination pursuant to this Article, in the event that such Business Combination is approved by Ordinary Resolution, the Company shall be authorised to complete such Business Combination.
49.5 Any Member holding Public Shares who is not a Sponsor, a Founder, Officer or Director may, at least two business days’ prior to the initially scheduled vote on a Business Combination, elect to have their Public Shares redeemed for cash (the “IPO Redemption”), provided that no such Member acting together with any Affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a partnership, limited partnership, syndicate, or other group for the purposes of acquiring, holding, or disposing of Shares may exercise this redemption right with respect to more than 15 per cent of the Public Shares in the aggregate without the prior consent of the Company, and provided further that any beneficial holder of Public Shares on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself to the Company in connection with any redemption election in order to validly redeem such Public Shares. If so demanded, the Company shall pay
any such redeeming Member, regardless of whether he is voting for or against such proposed Business Combination, a per-Share redemption 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 completion of the Business Combination, including interest earned on the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, divided by the number of then issued Public Shares (such redemption price being referred to herein as the “Redemption Price”), only in the event that the applicable proposed Business Combination is approved and completed. The Company shall not redeem Public Shares that would cause the Company’s net tangible assets to be less than US$5,000,001 following such redemptions (the “Redemption Limitation”).
49.6 A Member may not withdraw a Redemption Notice once submitted to the Company unless the Directors determine (in their sole discretion) to permit the withdrawal of such redemption request (which they may do in whole or in part).
49.7 In the event that the Company does not complete a Business Combination by 24 months from the consummation of the IPO, or such later time as the Members may approve in accordance with the Articles, the Company shall:
(a) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up;
(b) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, 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 the Company (less taxes payable and up to US$100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then Public Shares in issue, which redemption will completely extinguish public Members’ rights as Members (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and
(c) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining Members and the Directors, liquidate and dissolve,
subject in the case of (b) and (c) above to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of Applicable Law.
49.8 In the event that any amendment is made to this Article that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to:
(a) provide for the redemption of the Public Shares in connection with a Business Combination; or
(b) redeem 100 per cent of the Public Shares if the Company has not completed a Business Combination within 24 months from the consummation of the IPO, or such later time as the Members may approve in accordance with the Articles,
each holder of Public Shares who is not a Sponsor, a Founder, Officer or Director shall be provided with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares upon the 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 the Company to pay its taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares. The Company’s ability to provide such redemption in this Article is subject to the Redemption Limitation.
49.9 A holder of Public Shares shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account only in the event of an IPO Redemption, a repurchase of Shares by means of a tender offer pursuant to this Article, or a distribution of the Trust Account pursuant to this Article. In no other circumstance shall a holder of Public Shares have any right or interest of any kind in the Trust Account.
49.10 After the issue of Public Shares, and prior to the completion of a Business Combination, the Directors shall not issue additional Shares or any other securities that would entitle the holders thereof to:
(a) receive funds from the Trust Account; or
(b) vote as a class with Public Shares on a Business Combination.
49.11 A Director may vote in respect of a Business Combination in which such Director has a conflict of interest with respect to the evaluation of such Business Combination. Such Director must disclose such interest or conflict to the other Directors.
49.12 The Company must complete one or more Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80 per cent of the assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts previously disbursed to the Company’s management for taxes and excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in the Trust Account) at the time of the Company’s signing a definitive agreement in connection with a Business Combination. A Business Combination must not be effectuated with another blank cheque company or a similar company with nominal operations.
49.13 The Company may enter into a Business Combination with a target business that is Affiliated with a Sponsor, a Founder, a Director or an Officer. In the event the Company seeks to complete a Business Combination with a target that is Affiliated with a Sponsor, a Founder, a Director or an Officer, the Company, or a committee of Independent Directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another valuation or appraisal firm that regularly renders fairness opinions on the type of target business the Company is seeking to acquire that such a Business Combination is fair to the Company from a financial point of view.
50 Business Opportunities
50.1 To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, no individual serving as a Director or an Officer (“Management”) 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 the Company. To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, the Company renounces any interest or expectancy of the Company in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for Management, on the one hand, and the Company, on the other. Except to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, Management shall have no duty to communicate or offer any such corporate opportunity to the Company and shall not be liable to the Company or its Members for breach of any fiduciary duty as a Member, Director and/or Officer solely by reason of the fact that such party pursues or acquires such corporate opportunity for itself, himself or herself, directs such corporate opportunity to another person, or does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to the Company.
50.2 Except as provided elsewhere in this Article, the Company hereby renounces any interest or expectancy of the Company in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for both the Company and Management, about which a Director and/or Officer who is also a member of Management acquires knowledge.
50.3 To the extent a court might hold that the conduct of any activity related to a corporate opportunity that is renounced in this Article to be a breach of duty to the Company or its Members, the Company hereby waives, to the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, any and all claims and causes of action that the Company may have for such activities. To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, the provisions of this Article apply equally to activities conducted in the future and that have been conducted in the past.
Our ref LMY/769165-000001/62140582v2
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
PO Box 309, Ugland House
Grand Cayman
KY1-1104
Cayman Islands
June 11, 2020
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
We have acted as counsel as to Cayman Islands law to Trebia Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) in connection with the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1, including all amendments or supplements thereto, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”) (including its exhibits, the “Registration Statement”) for the purposes of, registering with the Commission under the Act, the offering and sale to the public of:
(a) up to 43,125,000 units (including 5,625,000 units, which the several underwriters, for whom Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. are acting as representatives (“Representatives”), will have a 45-day option to purchase from the Company to cover over-allotments, if any) (“Units”) at an offering price of US$10 per Unit, each Unit consisting of:
(i) one Class A ordinary share of a par value of US$0.0001 of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”); and
(ii) one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Ordinary Share, each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one Ordinary Share at a price of US$11.50 per Ordinary Share (“Warrants”); and
(b) all Ordinary Shares and Warrants issued as part of the Units.
This opinion letter is given in accordance with the terms of the Legal Matters section of the Registration Statement.
1 Documents Reviewed
We have reviewed originals, copies, drafts or conformed copies of the following documents:
1.1 The certificate of incorporation dated 11 February 2020 and the memorandum and articles of association of the Company as registered or adopted on 11 February 2020 (the “Memorandum and Articles”).
1.2 The written resolutions of the sole director of the Company dated 18 February 2020 (the “Resolutions”) and the corporate records of the Company maintained at its registered office in the Cayman Islands.
1.3 A certificate of good standing with respect to the Company issued by the Registrar of Companies (the “Certificate of Good Standing”).
1.4 A certificate from a director of the Company a copy of which is attached to this opinion letter (the “Director’s Certificate”).
1.5 The Registration Statement.
1.6 A draft of the form of the unit certificate representing the Units (the “Unit Certificate”).
1.7 A draft of the form of the warrant agreement and the warrant certificate constituting the Warrants (the “Warrant Documents”).
1.8 A draft of the underwriting agreement between the Company and the Representatives (the “Underwriting Agreement”).
The documents listed in paragraphs 1.6 to 1.8 inclusive above shall be referred to collectively herein as the “Documents”.
2 Assumptions
The following opinions are given only as to, and based on, circumstances and matters of fact existing and known to us on the date of this opinion letter. These opinions only relate to the laws of the Cayman Islands which are in force on the date of this opinion letter. In giving the following opinions, we have relied (without further verification) upon the completeness and accuracy, as at the date of this opinion letter, of the Director’s Certificate and the Certificate of Good Standing. We have also relied upon the following assumptions, which we have not independently verified:
2.1 The Documents have been or will be authorised and duly executed and unconditionally delivered by or on behalf of all relevant parties in accordance with all relevant laws (other than, with respect to the Company, the laws of the Cayman Islands).
2.2 The Documents are, or will be, legal, valid, binding and enforceable against all relevant parties in accordance with their terms under the laws of the State of New York (the “Relevant Law”) and all other relevant laws (other than, with respect to the Company, the laws of the Cayman Islands).
2.3 The choice of the Relevant Law as the governing law of the Documents has been made in good faith and would be regarded as a valid and binding selection which will be upheld by the courts of the State of New York and any other relevant jurisdiction (other than the Cayman Islands) as a matter of the Relevant Law and all other relevant laws (other than the laws of the Cayman Islands).
2.4 Copies of documents, conformed copies or drafts of documents provided to us are true and complete copies of, or in the final forms of, the originals.
2.5 All signatures, initials and seals are genuine.
2.6 The capacity, power, authority and legal right of all parties under all relevant laws and regulations (other than, with respect to the Company, the laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands) to enter into, execute, unconditionally deliver and perform their respective obligations under the Documents.
2.7 No invitation has been or will be made by or on behalf of the Company to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for any of the Units, the Warrants or the Ordinary Shares.
2.8 There is no contractual or other prohibition or restriction (other than as arising under Cayman Islands law) binding on the Company prohibiting or restricting it from entering into and performing its obligations under the Documents.
2.9 No monies paid to or for the account of any party under the Documents or any property received or disposed of by any party to the Documents in each case in connection with the Documents or the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby represent or will represent proceeds of criminal conduct or criminal property or terrorist property (as defined in the Proceeds of Crime Law (2020 Revision) and the Terrorism Law (2018 Revision), respectively).
2.10 There is nothing under any law (other than the laws of the Cayman Islands) which would or might affect the opinions set out below. Specifically, we have made no independent investigation of the Relevant Law.
2.11 The Company will receive money or money’s worth in consideration for the issue of the Ordinary Shares and none of the Ordinary Shares were or will be issued for less than par value.
Save as aforesaid we have not been instructed to undertake and have not undertaken any further enquiry or due diligence in relation to the transaction the subject of this opinion letter.
3 Opinions
Based upon, and subject to, the foregoing assumptions and the qualifications set out below, and having regard to such legal considerations as we deem relevant, we are of the opinion that:
3.1 The Company has been duly incorporated as an exempted company with limited liability and is validly existing and in good standing with the Registrar of Companies under the laws of the Cayman Islands.
3.2 The Ordinary Shares to be offered and issued by the Company as contemplated by the Registration Statement have been duly authorised for issue, and when issued by the Company against payment in full of the consideration as set out in the Registration Statement and in accordance with the terms set out in the Registration Statement, such Ordinary Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a share is only issued when it has been entered in the register of members (shareholders).
3.3 The execution, delivery and performance of the Unit Certificates and the Warrant Documents have been authorised by and on behalf of the Company and, once the Unit Certificates and the Warrant Documents have been executed and delivered by any director or officer of the Company, the Unit Certificates and the Warrant Documents will be duly executed and delivered on behalf of the Company and will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company enforceable in accordance with their terms.
4 Qualifications
The opinions expressed above are subject to the following qualifications:
4.1 The term “enforceable” as used above means that the obligations assumed by the Company under the Documents are of a type which the courts of the Cayman Islands will enforce. It does not mean that those obligations will necessarily be enforced in all circumstances in accordance with their terms. In particular:
(a) enforcement may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, reorganisation, readjustment of debts or moratorium or other laws of general application relating to or affecting the rights of creditors;
(b) enforcement may be limited by general principles of equity. For example, equitable remedies such as specific performance may not be available, inter alia, where damages are considered to be an adequate remedy;
(c) where obligations are to be performed in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands, they may not be enforceable in the Cayman Islands to the extent that performance would be illegal under the laws of that jurisdiction; and
(d) some claims may become barred under relevant statutes of limitation or may be or become subject to defences of set off, counterclaim, estoppel and similar defences.
4.2 To maintain the Company in good standing with the Registrar of Companies under the laws of the Cayman Islands, annual filing fees must be paid and returns made to the Registrar of Companies within the time frame prescribed by law.
4.3 Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members (shareholders) is prima facie evidence of title to shares and this register would not record a third party interest in such shares. 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. As far as we are aware, such applications are rarely made in the Cayman Islands and for the purposes of the opinion given in paragraph 3.2, there are no circumstances or matters of fact known to us on the date of this opinion letter which would properly form the basis for an application for an order for rectification of the register of members of the Company, but if such an application were made in respect of the Ordinary Shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
4.4 Except as specifically stated herein, we make no comment with respect to any representations and warranties which may be made by or with respect to the Company in any of the documents or instruments cited in this opinion letter or otherwise with respect to the commercial terms of the transactions the subject of this opinion letter.
4.5 In this opinion letter, the phrase “non-assessable” means, with respect to the issuance of shares, that a shareholder shall not, in respect of the relevant shares and in the absence of a contractual arrangement, or an obligation pursuant to the memorandum and articles of association, to the contrary, have any obligation to make further contributions to the Company’s assets (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).
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference to our firm under the heading “Legal Matters” in the prospectus included in the Registration Statement. In providing our consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the Rules and Regulations of the Commission thereunder.
This opinion letter is addressed to you and may be relied upon by you, your counsel and purchasers of Units pursuant to the Registration Statement. This opinion letter is limited to the matters detailed herein and is not to be read as an opinion with respect to any other matter.
Yours faithfully
/s/ Maples and Calder
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
PO Box 309, Ugland House
Grand Cayman
KY1-1104
Cayman Islands
June 11, 2020
To: Maples and Calder
PO Box 309, Ugland House
Grand Cayman
KY1-1104
Cayman Islands
Trebia Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”)
I, the undersigned, being a director of the Company, am aware that you are being asked to provide an opinion letter (the “Opinion”) in relation to certain aspects of Cayman Islands law. Unless otherwise defined herein, capitalised terms used in this certificate have the respective meanings given to them in the Opinion. I hereby certify that:
1 The Memorandum and Articles remain in full force and effect and are unamended.
2 The Company has not entered into any mortgages or charges over its property or assets other than those entered in the register of mortgages and charges of the Company.
3 The Resolutions were duly passed in the manner prescribed in the Memorandum and Articles (including, without limitation, with respect to the disclosure of interests (if any) by directors of the Company) and have not been amended, varied or revoked in any respect.
4 The authorised share capital of the Company is US$44,100 divided into 400,000,000 Class A ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each, 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each and 1,000,000 preference shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each. The issued share capital of the Company is 10,781,250 Class B ordinary shares, which have been have been duly authorised and are validly issued as fully-paid and non-assessable.
5 The shareholders of the Company (the “Shareholders”) have not restricted the powers of the directors of the Company in any way.
6 The sole director of the Company at the date of the Resolutions was as follows: Frank Martire III. The directors of the Company at the date of this certificate are follows: William P. Foley, II and Frank R. Martire, Jr.
7 The minute book and corporate records of the Company as maintained at its registered office in the Cayman Islands and made available to you are complete and accurate in all material respects, and all minutes and resolutions filed therein represent a complete and accurate record of all meetings of the Shareholders and directors (or any committee thereof) of the Company (duly convened in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles) and all resolutions passed at the meetings or passed by written resolution or consent, as the case may be.
8 Prior to, at the time of, and immediately following the approval of the transactions the subject of the Registration Statement the Company was, or will be, able to pay its debts as they fell, or fall, due and has entered, or will enter, into the transactions the subject of the Registration Statement for proper value and not with an intention to defraud or wilfully defeat an obligation owed to any creditor or with a view to giving a creditor a preference.
9 Each director of the Company considers the transactions contemplated by the Registration Statement to be of commercial benefit to the Company and has acted in good faith in the best interests of the Company, and for a proper purpose of the Company, in relation to the transactions which are the subject of the Opinion.
10 To the best of my knowledge and belief, having made due inquiry, the Company is not the subject of legal, arbitral, administrative or other proceedings in any jurisdiction. Nor have the directors or Shareholders taken any steps to have the Company struck off or placed in liquidation, nor have any steps been taken to wind up the Company. Nor has any receiver been appointed over any of the Company’s property or assets.
11 To the best of my knowledge and belief, having made due inquiry, there are no circumstances or matters of fact existing which may properly form the basis for an application for an order for rectification of the register of members of the Company.
12 The Registration Statement has been, or will be, authorised and duly executed and delivered by or on behalf of all relevant parties in accordance with all relevant laws.
13 No invitation has been made or will be made by or on behalf of the Company to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for any of the Ordinary Shares.
14 The Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Registration Statement have been, or will be, duly registered, and will continue to be registered, in the Company’s register of members (shareholders).
15 The Company is not a central bank, monetary authority or other sovereign entity of any state and is not a subsidiary, direct or indirect, of any sovereign entity or state.
16 There is no contractual or other prohibition or restriction (other than as arising under Cayman Islands law) binding on the Company prohibiting or restricting it from entering into and performing its obligations under the Documents.
(Signature Page follows)
I confirm that you may continue to rely on this certificate as being true and correct on the day that you issue the Opinion unless I shall have previously notified you in writing personally to the contrary.
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/s/ Frank R. Martire, Jr. |
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Name: |
Frank R. Martire, Jr. |
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Director |
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FORWARD PURCHASE AGREEMENT
This Forward Purchase Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into as of June 5, 2020, by and between Trebia Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted limited company (the “Company”) and Cannae Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Purchaser”).
WHEREAS, the Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”);
WHEREAS, the Company has confidentially submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a draft registration statement on Form S-1 (the “Registration Statement”) for its initial public offering (“IPO”) of units (the “Public Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Public Unit, each comprised of one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Share(s)”), and one-third of one redeemable warrant, where each whole redeemable warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A Share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share (the “Warrant(s)”). Only whole Warrants are exercisable. A holder of Warrants will not be able to exercise any fraction of a Warrant. The Company shall not issue fractional Warrants other than as part of the Public Units. If, upon the detachment of the Warrants from the Public Units or otherwise, a holder of Warrants would be entitled to receive a fractional Warrant, the Company shall round down to the nearest whole number the number of Warrants to be issued to such holder;
WHEREAS, following the closing of the IPO (the “IPO Closing”), the Company will seek to identify and complete a Business Combination; and
WHEREAS, the parties wish to enter into this Agreement, pursuant to which immediately prior to the closing of the Company’s initial Business Combination (the “Business Combination Closing”), the Company shall issue and sell, and the Purchaser shall purchase, on a private placement basis, 7,500,000 Class A Shares (the “Forward Purchase Shares”) and 2,500,000 Warrants (the “Forward Purchase Warrants” and together with the Forward Purchase Shares, the “Forward Purchase Securities”) on the terms and conditions set forth herein.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises, representations, warranties and the mutual covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt, sufficiency and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Sale and Purchase.
(a) Forward Purchase Securities.
(i) The Company shall issue and sell to the Purchaser, and the Purchaser shall purchase from the Company, the Forward Purchase Shares and the Forward Purchase Warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $75,000,000 (the “FPS Purchase Price”).
(ii) Each Forward Purchase Warrant will have the same terms as each Warrant sold as part of the Public Units in the IPO (“Public Warrants”), and will be subject to the
terms and conditions of the Warrant Agreement to be entered into between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as Warrant Agent, in connection with the IPO (the “Warrant Agreement”). Each Forward Purchase Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Class A Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in the Warrant Agreement, and only whole Forward Purchase Warrants will be exercisable. The Forward Purchase Warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the Business Combination Closing and 12 months from the closing of the IPO, and will expire five years after the Business Combination Closing or earlier upon redemption or the liquidation of the Company, as described in the Warrant Agreement.
(iii) The Company shall require the Purchaser to purchase the Forward Purchase Securities by delivering notice to the Purchaser, at least ten (10) Business Days before the funding of the FPS Purchase Price to the Escrow Account (defined below), specifying the anticipated date of the Business Combination Closing and instructions for wiring the FPS Purchase Price to an account of a third-party escrow agent (the “Escrow Account”) which shall be the Company’s transfer agent (the “Escrow Agent”) pursuant to an escrow agreement between the Company and the Escrow Agent (the “Escrow Agreement”). At least two (2) Business Days before the anticipated date of the Business Combination Closing specified in such notice, the Purchaser shall deliver the FPS Purchase Price in cash via wire transfer to the account specified in such notice, to be held in escrow pending the Business Combination Closing. If the Business Combination Closing does not occur within thirty (30) days after the Purchaser delivers the FPS Purchase Price to the Escrow Agent, the Escrow Agreement will provide that the Escrow Agent shall automatically return to the Purchaser the FPS Purchase Price, provided that the return of the FPS Purchase Price placed in escrow shall not terminate the Agreement or otherwise relieve either party of any of its obligations hereunder. For the purposes of this Agreement, “Business Day” means any day, other than a Saturday or a Sunday, that is neither a legal holiday nor a day on which banking institutions are generally authorized or required by law or regulation to close in the City of New York, New York.
(iv) The closing of the sale of the Forward Purchase Securities (the “FPS Closing”) shall be held on the same date and immediately prior to the Business Combination Closing (such date being referred to as the “Closing Date”). At the FPS Closing, the Company will issue to the Purchaser the Forward Purchase Securities, each registered in the name of the Purchaser, against (and concurrently with) release of the FPS Purchase Price by the Escrow Agent to the Company.
(b) Delivery of Forward Purchase Securities.
(i) The Company shall register the Purchaser as the owner of the Forward Purchase Securities purchased by the Purchaser hereunder (individually or collectively, the “Securities”) in the register of members of the Company and with the Company’s transfer agent by book entry on or promptly after (but in no event more than two (2) Business Days after) the date of the FPS Closing.
(ii) Each register and book entry for the Securities shall contain a notation, and each certificate (if any) evidencing the Securities shall be stamped or otherwise imprinted with a legend, in substantially the following form:
“THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION, AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED IN VIOLATION OF SUCH ACT AND LAWS.”
(c) Legend Removal. If the Securities are eligible to be sold without restriction under, and without the Company being in compliance with the current public information requirements of, Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), then at the Purchaser’s request, the Company will cause the Company’s transfer agent to remove the legend set forth in Section 1(b)(ii). In connection therewith, if required by the Company’s transfer agent, the Company will promptly cause an opinion of counsel to be delivered to and maintained with its transfer agent, together with any other authorizations, certificates and directions required by the transfer agent that authorize and direct the transfer agent to transfer such Securities without any such legend; provided, however, that the Company will not be required to deliver any such opinion, authorization or certificate or direction if it reasonably believes that removal of the legend could result in or facilitate transfers of Securities in violation of applicable law.
(d) Registration Rights. The Purchaser shall have registration rights with respect to the Forward Purchase Securities as set forth on Exhibit A (the “Registration Rights”).
2. Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser. The Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company as follows, as of the date hereof:
(a) Organization and Power. The Purchaser is duly organized, validly existing, and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its formation and has all requisite power and authority to carry on its business as presently conducted and as proposed to be conducted.
(b) Authorization. The Purchaser has full power and authority to enter into this Agreement. This Agreement, when executed and delivered by the Purchaser, will constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of the Purchaser, enforceable in accordance with its terms, except (a) as limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, fraudulent conveyance and any other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (b) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies, or (c) to the extent the indemnification provisions contained in the Registration Rights may be limited by applicable federal or state securities laws.
(c) Governmental Consents and Filings. No consent, approval, order or authorization of, or registration, qualification, designation, declaration or filing with, any federal, state or local governmental authority is required on the part of the Purchaser in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(d) Compliance with Other Instruments. The execution, delivery and performance by the Purchaser of this Agreement and the consummation by the Purchaser of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in any violation or default (i) of any provisions of its organizational documents, (ii) of any instrument, judgment, order, writ or decree
to which it is a party or by which it is bound, (iii) under any note, indenture or mortgage to which it is a party or by which it is bound, (iv) under any lease, agreement, contract or purchase order to which it is a party or by which it is bound or (v) of any provision of federal or state statute, rule or regulation applicable to the Purchaser, in each case (other than clause (i)), which would have a material adverse effect on the Purchaser or its ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(e) Purchase Entirely for Own Account. This Agreement is made with the Purchaser in reliance upon the Purchaser’s representation to the Company, which by the Purchaser’s execution of this Agreement, the Purchaser hereby confirms, that the Forward Purchase Securities to be acquired by the Purchaser will be acquired for investment for the Purchaser’s own account, not as a nominee or agent, and not with a view to the resale or distribution of any part thereof, and that the Purchaser has no present intention of selling, granting any participation in, or otherwise distributing the same in violation of law. By executing this Agreement, the Purchaser further represents that the Purchaser does not presently have any contract, undertaking, agreement or arrangement with any Person to sell, transfer or grant participations to such Person or to any third Person, with respect to any of the Forward Purchase Securities. For purposes of this Agreement, “Person” means an individual, a limited liability company, a partnership, a joint venture, a corporation, a trust, an unincorporated organization, any other entity or any government or any department or agency thereof.
(f) Disclosure of Information. The Purchaser has had an opportunity to discuss the Company’s business, management, financial affairs and the terms and conditions of the offering of the Forward Purchase Securities, as well as the terms of the Company’s proposed IPO, with the Company’s management.
(g) Restricted Securities. The Purchaser understands that the offer and sale of the Forward Purchase Securities to the Purchaser has not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act, by reason of a specific exemption from the registration provisions of the Securities Act which depends upon, among other things, the bona fide nature of the investment intent and the accuracy of the Purchaser’s representations as expressed herein. The Purchaser understands that the Forward Purchase Securities are “restricted securities” under applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws and that, pursuant to these laws, the Purchaser must hold the Forward Purchase Securities indefinitely unless they are registered with the SEC and qualified by state authorities, or an exemption from such registration and qualification requirements is available. The Purchaser acknowledges that the Company has no obligation to register or qualify the Forward Purchase Securities, or any Class A Shares into which the Forward Purchase Securities may be converted into or exercised for, for resale, except for the Registration Rights. The Purchaser further acknowledges that if an exemption from registration or qualification is available, it may be conditioned on various requirements including, but not limited to, the time and manner of sale, the holding period for the Forward Purchase Securities, and on requirements relating to the Company which are outside of the Purchaser’s control, and which the Company is under no obligation and may not be able to satisfy. The Purchaser acknowledges that the Company confidentially submitted the Registration Statement for its proposed IPO to the SEC for review. The Purchaser understands that the offering of the Forward Purchase Securities is not, and is not intended to be, part of the IPO, and that the Purchaser will not be able to rely on the protection of Section 11 of the Securities Act with respect to such Forward Purchase Securities.
(h) No Public Market. The Purchaser understands that no public market now exists for the Securities, and that the Company has made no assurances that a public market will ever exist for the Securities.
(i) High Degree of Risk. The Purchaser understands that its agreement to purchase the Securities involves a high degree of risk which could cause the Purchaser to lose all or part of its investment.
(j) Accredited Investor. The Purchaser is an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.
(k) No General Solicitation. Neither the Purchaser, nor any of its officers, directors, employees, agents, stockholders or partners has either directly or indirectly, including, through a broker or finder (i) to its knowledge, engaged in any general solicitation, or (ii) published any advertisement in connection with the offer and sale of the Forward Purchase Securities.
(l) Non-Public Information. The Purchaser acknowledges its obligations under applicable securities laws with respect to the treatment of material non-public information relating to the Company.
(m) Adequacy of Financing. The Purchaser has available to it sufficient funds to satisfy its obligations under this Agreement.
(n) Affiliation of Certain FINRA Members. The Purchaser is neither a person associated nor affiliated with Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, BofA Securities, Inc. or, to its actual knowledge, any other member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) that is participating in the IPO.
(o) No Other Representations and Warranties; Non-Reliance. Except for the specific representations and warranties contained in this Section 2 and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, none of the Purchaser nor any person acting on behalf of the Purchaser nor any of the Purchaser’s affiliates (the “Purchaser Parties”) has made, makes or shall be deemed to make any other express or implied representation or warranty with respect to the Purchaser and this offering, and the Purchaser Parties disclaim any such representation or warranty. Except for the specific representations and warranties expressly made by the Company in Section 3 of this Agreement and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, the Purchaser Parties specifically disclaim that they are relying upon any other representations or warranties that may have been made by the Company, any person on behalf of the Company or any of the Company’s affiliates (collectively, the “Company Parties”).
3. Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company represents and warrants to the Purchaser as follows:
(a) Incorporation and Corporate Power. The Company is an exempted company duly incorporated and validly existing and in good standing as an exempted company
under the laws of the Cayman Islands and has all requisite corporate power and authority to carry on its business as presently conducted and as proposed to be conducted. The Company has no subsidiaries.
(b) Capitalization. The authorized share capital of the Company consists, as of the date hereof, of:
(i) 400,000,000 Class A Shares, par value $0.0001 per share, none of which are issued and outstanding.
(ii) 40,000,000 Class B ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (“Class B Shares”), 10,781,250 of which are issued and outstanding and held by BGPT Trebia LP, a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership and Trasimene Trebia LP, a Delaware limited partnership (together, the “Sponsors”). All of the issued and outstanding Class B Shares have been duly authorized, are fully paid and nonassessable and were issued in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws.
(iii) 1,000,000 preferred shares, par value $0.0001 per share, none of which are issued and outstanding.
(c) Authorization. All corporate action required to be taken by the Company’s Board of Directors and shareholders in order to authorize the Company to enter into this Agreement, and to issue the Forward Purchase Securities at the FPS Closing, and the securities issuable upon conversion or exercise of the Forward Purchase Securities, has been taken or will be taken prior to the FPS Closing, as applicable. All action on the part of the shareholders, directors and officers of the Company necessary for the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the performance of all obligations of the Company under this Agreement to be performed as of the FPS Closing, and the issuance and delivery of the Forward Purchase Securities and the securities issuable upon conversion or exercise of the Forward Purchase Securities has been taken or will be taken prior to the FPS Closing. This Agreement, when executed and delivered by the Company, shall constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except (i) as limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, fraudulent conveyance, or other laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief, or other equitable remedies, or (iii) to the extent the indemnification provisions contained in the Registration Rights may be limited by applicable federal or state securities laws.
(d) Valid Issuance of Securities.
(i) The Forward Purchase Securities, when issued, sold and delivered in accordance with the terms and for the consideration set forth in this Agreement, the Company’s memorandum and articles of association, as they may be amended from time to time (the “Charter”), and registered in the register of members of the Company, and the securities issuable upon conversion or exercise of the Forward Purchase Securities, when issued in accordance with the terms of the Forward Purchase Securities and this Agreement, and registered in the register of members of the Company, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free of all preemptive or similar rights, taxes, liens, encumbrances and charges with respect to the issue thereof and restrictions on transfer other than restrictions on transfer specified under this Agreement, applicable state and federal securities laws and liens or encumbrances created by or imposed by the Purchaser. Assuming the accuracy of the representations of the Purchaser in this
Agreement and subject to the filings described in Section 3(e) below, the Forward Purchase Securities and the securities issuable upon conversion of the Forward Purchase Securities will be issued in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws.
(ii) No “bad actor” disqualifying event described in Rule 506(d)(1)(i)-(viii) of the Securities Act (a “Disqualification Event”) is applicable to the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any Company Covered Person (as defined below), except for a Disqualification Event as to which Rule 506(d)(2)(ii—iv) or (d)(3), is applicable. “Company Covered Person” means, with respect to the Company as an “issuer” for purposes of Rule 506 promulgated under the Securities Act, any Person listed in the first paragraph of Rule 506(d)(1).
(e) Governmental Consents and Filings. Assuming the accuracy of the representations and warranties made by the Purchaser in this Agreement, no consent, approval, order or authorization of, or registration, qualification, designation, declaration or filing with, any federal, state or local governmental authority is required on the part of the Company in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except for filings pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act, and applicable state securities laws.
(f) Compliance with Other Instruments. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in any violation or default (i) of any provisions of the Company’s Charter or its other governing documents, (ii) of any instrument, judgment, order, writ or decree to which it is a party or by which it is bound, (iii) under any note, indenture or mortgage to which it is a party or by which it is bound, (iv) under any lease, agreement, contract or purchase order to which it is a party or by which it is bound or (v) of any provision of federal or state statute, rule or regulation applicable to the Company, in each case (other than clause (i)) which would have a material adverse effect on the Company or its ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(g) Operations. As of the date hereof, the Company has not conducted, and prior to the IPO Closing the Company will not conduct, any operations other than organizational activities and activities in connection with offerings of the Securities and securities in the IPO.
(h) Foreign Corrupt Practices. Neither the Company, nor any director, officer, agent, employee or other Person acting on behalf of the Company has, in the course of its actions for, or on behalf of, the Company (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expenses relating to political activity; (ii) made any direct or indirect unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee from corporate funds; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended; or (iv) made any unlawful bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee.
(i) Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements and all other applicable U.S. and non-U.S. anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, those of the Currency and Foreign
Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the applicable money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(j) Absence of Litigation. There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company or any of the Company’s officers or directors, whether of a civil or criminal nature or otherwise, in their capacities as such.
(k) No General Solicitation. Neither the Company, nor any of its officers, directors, employees, agents or shareholders has either directly or indirectly, including, through a broker or finder (i) engaged in any general solicitation, or (ii) published any advertisement in connection with the offer and sale of the Securities.
(l) No Other Representations and Warranties; Non-Reliance. Except for the specific representations and warranties contained in this Section 3 and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, none of the Company Parties has made, makes or shall be deemed to make any other express or implied representation or warranty with respect to the Company, this offering, the proposed IPO or a potential Business Combination, and the Company Parties disclaim any such representation or warranty. Except for the specific representations and warranties expressly made by the Purchaser in Section 2 of this Agreement and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, the Company Parties specifically disclaim that they are relying upon any other representations or warranties that may have been made by the Purchaser Parties.
4. Right of First Offer. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Section 4, if, in connection with or prior to the Business Combination Closing, the Company proposes to raise additional capital by issuing any equity securities, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities, other than the Public Units (and their component Class A Shares (the “Public Shares”) and Public Warrants) and Excluded Securities (as defined below) (“New Equity Securities”), the Company shall first make an offer of the New Equity Securities to the Purchaser in accordance with the following provisions of this Section 4:
(a) Offer Notice.
(i) The Company shall give written notice (the “Offering Notice”) to the Purchaser stating its bona fide intention to offer the New Equity Securities and specifying the number of New Equity Securities and the material terms and conditions, including the price, pursuant to which the Company proposes to offer the New Equity Securities.
(ii) The Offering Notice shall constitute the Company’s offer to sell the New Equity Securities to the Purchaser, which offer shall be irrevocable for a period of ten (10) Business Days (the “ROFO Notice Period”).
(b) Exercise of Right of First Offer.
(i) Upon receipt of the Offering Notice, the Purchaser shall have until the end of the ROFO Notice Period to offer to purchase all (but not less than all) of the New Equity Securities, by delivering a written notice (a “ROFO Offer Notice”) to the Company stating that it offers to purchase such New Equity Securities on the terms specified in the Offering Notice. Any ROFO Offer Notice so delivered shall be binding upon delivery and irrevocable by the Purchaser.
(ii) If the Purchaser does not deliver a ROFO Offer Notice during the ROFO Notice Period, the Purchaser shall be deemed to have waived all of the Purchaser’s rights to purchase the New Equity Securities offered pursuant to the Offering Notice under this Section 4, and the Company shall thereafter be free to sell or enter into an agreement to sell the Purchaser’s New Equity Securities to any third party without any further obligation to the Purchaser pursuant to this Section 4 within the ninety (90) day period thereafter (and with respect to an agreement to sell, consummate such sale at any time thereafter) on terms and conditions not more favorable to the third party than those set forth in the Offering Notice. If the Company does not sell or enter into an agreement to sell the Purchaser’s New Equity Securities within such ninety (90) day period, the rights provided hereunder shall be deemed to be revived and the New Equity Securities shall not be offered to any third party unless first re-offered to the Purchaser in accordance with this Section 4.
(c) Excluded Securities. For purposes hereof, the term “Excluded Securities” means Class B Shares (and Class A Shares for which such Class B Shares are convertible) issued to the Sponsors prior to the IPO, private placement warrants issued by the Company to the Sponsors or an affiliate thereof in connection with the IPO and which have the same exercise price as the Warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”), warrants issued upon the conversion of working capital loans to the Company to be made by the Sponsors or an affiliate thereof to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial Business Combination (up to $1,500,000 of which may be convertible at the option of the lender into warrants of the post-Business Combination entity having the same terms as the Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant (the “Working Capital Loans”)), any securities issued by the Company as consideration to any seller in the Business Combination, any Warrants or Class A Shares, Class B Shares (and Class A Shares for which such Class B Shares are convertible or Class A Shares issuable upon exercise of such Warrants) issued pursuant to forward purchase contracts entered into prior to the IPO Closing with the Purchaser.
(d) Additional Private Placements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, prior to the IPO, the Company will not issue or agree to issue any securities (other than Forward Purchase Securities in the amounts set forth in this Agreement, Private Placement Warrants and the securities to be issued in the IPO) without the Purchaser’s prior written consent.
5. Additional Agreements, Acknowledgements and Waivers of the Purchaser.
(a) Trust Account.
(i) The Purchaser hereby acknowledges that it is aware that the Company will establish a trust account (the “Trust Account”) for the benefit of its public shareholders upon the closing of the IPO. The Purchaser, for itself and its affiliates, hereby agrees that it has no right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account, or any other asset of the Company as a result of any liquidation of the Company, except for redemption and liquidation rights, if any, the Purchaser may have in respect of any Class A Shares held by it.
(ii) The Purchaser hereby agrees that it shall have no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind (“Claim”) to, or to any monies in, the Trust Account, and hereby irrevocably waives any Claim to, or to any monies in, the Trust Account that it may have now or in the future, except for redemption and liquidation rights, if any, the Purchaser may have in respect of any Class A Shares held by it. In the event the Purchaser has any Claim against the Company under this Agreement, the Purchaser shall pursue such Claim solely against the Company and its assets outside the Trust Account and not against the property or any monies in the Trust Account, except for redemption and liquidation rights, if any, the Purchaser may have in respect of any Class A Shares held by it.
(b) No Short Sales. The Purchaser hereby agrees that neither it, nor any person or entity acting on its behalf or pursuant to any understanding with it, will engage in any Short Sales with respect to securities of the Company prior to the Business Combination Closing. For purposes of this Section 5, “Short Sales” shall include, without limitation, all “short sales” as defined in Rule 200 promulgated under Regulation SHO under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and all types of direct and indirect stock pledges (other than pledges in the ordinary course of business as part of prime brokerage arrangements), forward sale contracts, options, puts, calls, swaps and similar arrangements (including on a total return basis), and sales and other transactions through non-U.S. broker dealers or foreign regulated brokers.
(c) Voting. The Purchaser hereby agrees that if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a proposed Business Combination, then in connection with such proposed Business Combination, the Purchaser shall vote any Class A Shares owned by it in favor of any proposed Business Combination. If the Purchaser fails to vote any Class A Shares it is required to vote hereunder in favor of a Proposed Business Combination, the Purchaser hereby grants hereunder to the Company and any representative designated by the Company without further action by the Purchaser a limited irrevocable power of attorney to effect such vote on behalf of the Purchaser, which power of attorney shall be deemed to be coupled with an interest.
(d) NYSE Listing. The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect and maintain the listing of the Class A Shares on the New York Stock Exchange (or another national securities exchange).
6. QEF Election Information. The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to determine whether, in any year, the Company or any subsidiary of the Company is deemed to be a “passive foreign investment company” (a “PFIC”) within the meaning of U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder (collectively, the “Code”) . If the Company determines that the Company or any subsidiary of the
Company is a PFIC in any year, for the year of determination and for each year thereafter during which the Purchaser holds an equity interest in the Company, including Warrants, the Company or its subsidiary shall use commercially reasonable efforts to (i) make available to the Purchaser the information that may be required to make or maintain a “qualified electing fund” election under the Code with respect to the Company and (ii) furnish the information required to be reported under Section 1298(f) of the Code.
7. FPS Closing Conditions.
(a) The obligation of the Purchaser to purchase the Forward Purchase Securities at the FPS Closing under this Agreement shall be subject to the fulfillment, at or prior to the FPS Closing of each of the following conditions, any of which, to the extent permitted by applicable laws, may be waived by the Purchaser:
(i) The Business Combination shall be completed substantially concurrent with, and immediately following, the purchase of Forward Purchase Securities;
(ii) The Company shall have delivered to such Purchaser a certificate evidencing the Company’s good standing as a Cayman Islands exempted company, as of a date within ten (10) Business Days of the FPS Closing;
(iii) The representations and warranties of the Company set forth in Section 3 of this Agreement shall have been true and correct as of the date hereof and shall be true and correct as of the FPS Closing, as applicable, with the same effect as though such representations and warranties had been made on and as of such date (other than any such representation or warranty that is made by its terms as of a specified date, which shall be true and correct as of such specified date), except where the failure to be so true and correct would not have a material adverse effect on the Company or its ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;
(iv) The Company shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all material respects with the covenants, agreements and conditions required by this Agreement to be performed, satisfied or complied with by the Company at or prior to the FPS Closing; and
(v) No order, writ, judgment, injunction, decree, determination, or award shall have been entered by or with any governmental, regulatory, or administrative authority or any court, tribunal, or judicial, or arbitral body, and no other legal restraint or prohibition shall be in effect, preventing the purchase by the Purchaser of the Forward Purchase Securities.
(b) The obligation of the Company to sell the Forward Purchase Securities at the FPS Closing under this Agreement shall be subject to the fulfillment, at or prior to the FPS Closing of each of the following conditions, any of which, to the extent permitted by applicable laws, may be waived by the Company:
(i) The Business Combination shall be completed substantially concurrent with, and immediately following, the purchase of Forward Purchase Securities;
(ii) The representations and warranties of the Purchaser set forth in Section 2 of this Agreement shall have been true and correct as of the date hereof and shall be true and correct as of the FPS Closing, as applicable, with the same effect as though such representations and warranties had been made on and as of such date (other than any such representation or warranty that is made by its terms as of a specified date, which shall be true and correct as of such specified date), except where the failure to be so true and correct would not have a material adverse effect on the Purchaser or its ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;
(iii) The Purchaser shall have performed, satisfied and complied in all material respects with the covenants, agreements and conditions required by this Agreement to be performed, satisfied or complied with by the Purchaser at or prior to the FPS Closing; and
(iv) No order, writ, judgment, injunction, decree, determination, or award shall have been entered by or with any governmental, regulatory, or administrative authority or any court, tribunal, or judicial, or arbitral body, and no other legal restraint or prohibition shall be in effect, preventing the purchase by the Purchaser of the Forward Purchase Securities.
8. Termination. This Agreement may be terminated at any time prior to the FPS Closing:
(a) by mutual written consent of the Company and the Purchaser; or
(b) automatically
(i) if the IPO is not consummated on or prior to twenty-four months from the date of this Agreement; or
(ii) if the Business Combination is not completed within 24 months from the closing of the IPO, or such later date as may be approved by the Company’s shareholders.
(iii) upon the death of both of Frank R. Martire, Jr. and William P. Foley, II;
(iv) if Frank R. Martire, Jr. and William P. Foley, II, the Sponsors or the Company becomes subject to any voluntary or involuntary petition under the United States federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law, in each case which is not withdrawn within sixty (60) days after being filed, or a receiver, fiscal agent or similar officer is appointed by a court for business or property of Frank R. Martire, Jr. and William P. Foley, II, the Sponsors or the Company, in each case which is not removed, withdrawn or terminated within sixty (60) days after such appointment; or
(v) if either of Frank R. Martire, Jr. or William P. Foley, II is convicted in a criminal proceeding for a crime involving fraud or dishonesty.
In the event of any termination of this Agreement pursuant to this Section 8, the FPS Purchase Price (and interest thereon, if any), if previously paid, and all Purchaser’s funds paid in connection herewith shall be promptly returned to the Purchaser, and thereafter this Agreement
shall forthwith become null and void and have no effect, without any liability on the part of the Purchaser or the Company and their respective directors, officers, employees, partners, managers, members, or shareholders and all rights and obligations of each party shall cease; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 8 shall relieve either party from liabilities or damages arising out of any fraud or willful breach by such party of any of its representations, warranties, covenants or agreements contained in this Agreement.
9. General Provisions.
(a) Notices. All notices and other communications given or made pursuant to this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed effectively given upon the earlier of actual receipt, or (a) personal delivery to the party to be notified, (b) when sent, if sent by electronic mail or facsimile (if any) during normal business hours of the recipient, and if not sent during normal business hours, then on the recipient’s next Business Day, (c) five (5) Business Days after having been sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, or (d) one (1) Business Day after deposit with a nationally recognized overnight courier, freight prepaid, specifying next Business Day delivery, with written verification of receipt. All communications sent to the Company shall be sent to:
Trebia Acquisition Corp.
41 Madison Avenue, Suite 2020
New York, New York 10010
Attn: Tanmay Kumar, Chief Financial Officer
email: tanmay@bgptpartners.com
with a copy to the Company’s counsel at:
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Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP | |
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Alexander D. Lynch, Esq. |
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Alex.Lynch@weil.com |
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(212) 310-8007 |
All communications to the Purchaser shall be sent to the Purchaser’s address as set forth on the signature page hereof, or to such e-mail address, facsimile number (if any) or address as subsequently modified by written notice given in accordance with this Section 9(a).
(b) No Finder’s Fees. Other than fees payable to Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC or BofA Securities, Inc., which shall be the responsibility of the Company, each party represents that it neither is nor will be obligated for any finder’s fee or commission in connection with this transaction. The Purchaser agrees to indemnify and to hold harmless the Company from any liability for any commission or compensation in the nature of a finder’s or broker’s fee arising out of this transaction (and the costs and expenses of defending against such liability or asserted liability) for which the Purchaser or any of its officers, employees or representatives is responsible.
The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Purchaser from any liability for any commission or compensation in the nature of a finder’s or broker’s fee arising out of this transaction (and the costs and expenses of defending against such liability or asserted liability) for which the Company or any of its officers, employees or representatives is responsible.
(c) Survival of Representations and Warranties. All of the representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the FPS Closing.
(d) Entire Agreement. This Agreement, together with any documents, instruments and writings that are delivered pursuant hereto or referenced herein, constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto in respect of its subject matter and supersedes all prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the parties hereto, written or oral, to the extent they relate in any way to the subject matter hereof or the transactions contemplated hereby.
(e) Successors. All of the terms, agreements, covenants, representations, warranties, and conditions of this Agreement are binding upon, and inure to the benefit of and are enforceable by, the parties hereto and their respective successors. Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon any party other than the parties hereto or their respective successors and assigns any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities under or by reason of this Agreement, except as expressly provided in this Agreement.
(f) Assignments. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, no party hereto may assign either this Agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written approval of the other parties except that the Purchaser may assign its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder to any of its affiliates.
(g) Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.
(h) Headings. The section headings contained in this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and will not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.
(i) Governing Law. This Agreement, the entire relationship of the parties hereto, and any dispute between the parties (whether grounded in contract, tort, statute, law or equity) shall be governed by, construed in accordance with, and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to its choice of laws principles.
(j) Jurisdiction. The parties (i) hereby irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the jurisdiction of the state courts of New York and to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for the purpose of any suit, action or other proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement, (b) agree not to commence any suit, action or other proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement except in state courts of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (c) hereby waive, and agree not to assert, by way of motion, as a defense, or otherwise, in any such suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not subject personally to the jurisdiction of the above-named courts, that its property is exempt or immune from attachment or execution, that the suit, action or
proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum, that the venue of the suit, action or proceeding is improper or that this Agreement or the subject matter hereof may not be enforced in or by such court.
(k) Waiver of Jury Trial. The parties hereto hereby waive any right to a jury trial in connection with any litigation pursuant to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby.
(l) Amendments. This Agreement may not be amended, modified or waived as to any particular provision, except with the prior written consent of the Company and the Purchaser, except for an amendment, modification or waiver that (i) modifies the amount or price of the Forward Purchase Securities to be sold hereunder, or (ii) inserts or modifies any material economic or non-economic provision of this Agreement applicable to the Purchaser, which shall in each case also require the written consent of the Purchaser.
(m) Severability. The provisions of this Agreement will be deemed severable and the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision will not affect the validity or enforceability of the other provisions hereof; provided that if any provision of this Agreement, as applied to any party hereto or to any circumstance, is adjudged by a governmental authority, arbitrator, or mediator not to be enforceable in accordance with its terms, the parties hereto agree that the governmental authority, arbitrator, or mediator making such determination will have the power to modify the provision in a manner consistent with its objectives such that it is enforceable, and/or to delete specific words or phrases, and in its reduced form, such provision will then be enforceable and will be enforced.
(n) Expenses. Each of the Company and the Purchaser will bear its own costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation, execution and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, including all fees and expenses of agents, representatives, financial advisors, legal counsel and accountants. The Company shall be responsible for the fees of its transfer agent; stamp taxes and all of The Depository Trust Company’s fees associated with the issuance of the Forward Purchase Securities and the securities issuable upon conversion or exercise of the Forward Purchase Securities.
(o) Construction. The parties hereto have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Agreement. If an ambiguity or question of intent or interpretation arises, this Agreement will be construed as if drafted jointly by the parties hereto and no presumption or burden of proof will arise favoring or disfavoring any party hereto because of the authorship of any provision of this Agreement. Any reference to any federal, state, local, or foreign law will be deemed also to refer to law as amended and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, unless the context requires otherwise. The words “include,” “includes,” and “including” will be deemed to be followed by “without limitation.” Pronouns in masculine, feminine, and neuter genders will be construed to include any other gender, and words in the singular form will be construed to include the plural and vice versa, unless the context otherwise requires. The words “this Agreement,” “herein,” “hereof,” “hereby,” “hereunder,” and words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular subdivision unless expressly so limited. The parties hereto intend that each representation, warranty, and covenant contained herein will have independent significance. If any party hereto has breached any representation, warranty, or
covenant contained herein in any respect, the fact that there exists another representation, warranty or covenant relating to the same subject matter (regardless of the relative levels of specificity) which such party hereto has not breached will not detract from or mitigate the fact that such party hereto is in breach of the first representation, warranty, or covenant.
(p) Waiver. No waiver by any party hereto of any default, misrepresentation, or breach of warranty or covenant hereunder, whether intentional or not, may be deemed to extend to any prior or subsequent default, misrepresentation, or breach of warranty or covenant hereunder or affect in any way any rights arising because of any prior or subsequent occurrence.
(q) Confidentiality. Except as may be required by law, regulation or applicable stock exchange listing requirements, unless and until the transactions contemplated hereby and the terms hereof are publicly announced or otherwise publicly disclosed by the Company, the parties hereto shall keep confidential and shall not publicly disclose the existence or terms of this Agreement.
(r) Specific Performance. The Purchaser agrees that irreparable damage may occur in the event any provision of this Agreement was not performed by the Purchaser in accordance with the terms hereof and that the Company shall be entitled to specific performance of the terms hereof, in addition to any other remedy at law or equity.
(s) Most Favored Nations. The Company hereby represents and warrants that as of the date hereof, and covenants and agrees that after the date hereof, none of the agreements with any other Person for the purchase of Class A Shares or Warrants includes or will include terms, rights or other benefits that are more favorable, in any material respect, to such other Person than the terms, rights and benefits in favor of the Purchaser under this Agreement, and the Company will not amend any of the terms, rights or benefits in, or waive any material obligation under, any of the agreements with such other Person unless, in any such case, the Purchaser has been offered in writing the opportunity to concurrently receive the benefits of all such terms, rights and benefits or waiver. The Purchaser shall notify the Company in writing, within ten (10) days after the date it has been offered the opportunity to receive the benefit of such terms, rights, benefits or waiver, of its election to receive any such term, right, benefit or waiver so offered.
[Signature Page Follows]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed this Agreement to be effective as of the date first set forth above.
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CANNAE HOLDINGS, INC. | ||
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Name: Michael L. Gravelle | |
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Title: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | |
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TREBIA ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
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/s/ Tanmay Kumar | |
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Name: Tanmay Kumar | |
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Title: Chief Financial Officer | |
Exhibit A
Registration Rights
1. Within thirty (30) days after the Business Combination Closing, the Company shall use reasonable best efforts (i) to file a registration statement on Form S-1, to the extent the Company is required to use such form, for a secondary offering (including any successor registration statement covering the resale of the Registrable Securities a “Resale Shelf”) of (x) the Class A Shares and Warrants (and underlying Class A Shares) comprising the Forward Purchase Securities, (y) any other Class A Shares that may be acquired by the Purchaser after the date of this Agreement, including any time after the Business Combination Closing, and (z) any other equity security of the Company issued or issuable with respect to the securities referred to in clauses (x) and (y) by way of a share capitalization or share split or in connection with a combination of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation or reorganization (collectively, the “Registrable Securities”) pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act; provided that if Form S-3 is available for such a registration, the Company shall register the resale of the Registrable Securities on and such Form S-3 shall also be deemed to be a Resale Shelf, Form S-3 as soon as such form is available, (ii) to cause the Resale Shelf to be declared effective under the Securities Act promptly thereafter and (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such Resale Shelf with respect to the Purchaser’s Registrable Securities until the earliest of (A) the date on which the Purchaser or its assignee ceases to hold Registrable Securities covered by such Resale Shelf, (B) the date all of the Purchaser’s Registrable Securities covered by the Resale Shelf can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation (including without volume or manner of sale restrictions) under Rule 144 under the Securities Act.
2. In the event the Company is prohibited by applicable rule, regulation or interpretation by the staff (“Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) from registering all of the Registrable Securities on the Resale Shelf or the Staff requires that the Purchaser be specifically identified as an “underwriter” in order to permit such registration statement to become effective, and such Purchaser does not consent in writing to being so named as an underwriter in such registration statement, the number of Registrable Securities to be registered on the Resale Shelf will be reduced on a pro rata basis among all the holders of Registrable Securities to be so included, unless otherwise required by the Staff, so that the number of Registrable Securities to be registered is permitted by Staff and such Purchaser is not required to be named as an “underwriter”; provided, that any Registrable Securities not registered due to this paragraph 2 shall thereafter as soon as allowed by the SEC guidance be registered to the extent the prohibition no longer is applicable.
3. If at any time the Company proposes to file a registration statement (a “Registration Statement”) on its own behalf, or on behalf of any other Persons who have registration rights (“Other Holders”), relating to an underwritten offering of ordinary shares (a “Company Offering”), then the Company will provide the Purchaser (the “Piggyback Holder”) with notice in writing (an “Offer Notice”) at least five (5) Business Days prior to such filing, which Offer Notice will offer to include in the Registration Statement a minimum of 1,000,000 “Registrable Securities” (as defined under the Piggyback Holder’s agreement governing registration rights) of the Piggyback Holder (collectively “Piggyback Securities”). Within five (5) Business Days (or, in the case of an Offer Notice delivered to the Purchaser in connection with an Underwritten Shelf Takedown (as described below), within three (3) Business Days) after receiving the Offer Notice, the Piggyback Holder may make a
written request (a “Piggyback Request”) to the Company to include some or all of the Piggyback Holder’s Registrable Securities in the Registration Statement. If the underwriter(s) for any Company Offering advise the Company that marketing factors require a limitation on the number of securities that may be included in the Company Offering, the number of securities to be so included shall be allocated as follows: (i) first, to the Company and the Other Holders, if any; and (ii) second, to the Piggyback Holder based on the pro rata percentage of Piggyback Securities held by the Piggyback Holder and requested to be included in the Company Offering.
4. At any time during which the Company has an effective Resale Shelf with respect to the Purchaser’s Registrable Securities, the Purchaser may make a written request (which request shall specify the intended method of disposition thereof) (a “Shelf Takedown Request”) to the Company to effect a sale, of all or a portion of the Purchaser’s Registrable Securities that are covered by the Resale Shelf, and the Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to file a prospectus supplement (a “Shelf Takedown Prospectus Supplement”) for such purpose as soon as reasonably practicable following receipt of a Shelf Takedown Request. The Purchaser may request that any such sale be conducted as an underwritten public offering (an “Underwritten Shelf Takedown”). The Company shall not be obligated to effect more than two Underwritten Shelf Takedowns.
5. The determination of whether any offering of Registrable Securities pursuant to the Resale Shelf or a Shelf Takedown Prospectus Supplement will be an underwritten offering shall be made in the sole discretion of the Purchaser, after consultation with the Company, and the Purchaser shall have the right, after consultation with the Company, to determine the plan of distribution, including the price at which the Registrable Securities are to be sold and the underwriting commissions, discounts and fees (and the Requesting Holders shall not have the right to make any determinations other than whether they wish to include their Requesting Holder Securities in the prospectus supplement). The Purchaser shall select the investment banker or bankers and managers to administer the offering, including the lead managing underwriter (provided that such investment banker or bankers and managers shall be reasonably satisfactory to the Company).
6. In connection with any underwritten offering, the Company shall enter into such customary agreements and take all such other actions in connection therewith (including those requested by the Purchaser) in order to facilitate the disposition of such Registrable Securities as are reasonably necessary or required, and in such connection enter into a customary underwriting agreement that provides for customary opinions, comfort letters and officer’s certificates and other customary deliverables and make management and its own accountants available for any due diligence sessions and make management reasonably available for a road show.
7. The Company shall pay all fees and expenses incident to the performance of or compliance with its obligation to prepare, file and maintain the Resale Shelf (including the fees of its counsel and accountants). The Company shall also pay all Registration Expenses. For purposes of this paragraph 7, “Registration Expenses” shall mean the out-of-pocket expenses of a Company Offering or Underwritten Shelf Takedown, including, without limitation, the following: (i) all registration and filing fees (including fees with respect to filings required to be made with FINRA) and any securities exchange on which the Registrable Securities are then listed; (ii) fees and expenses of compliance with securities or blue sky laws (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the underwriters in connection with blue sky qualifications of the
Registrable Securities); (iii) printing, messenger, telephone and delivery expenses; (iv) reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company; (v) reasonable fees and disbursements of all independent registered public accountants of the Company incurred specifically in connection with such Underwritten Shelf Takedown; and (vi) reasonable fees and expenses of one legal counsel selected by the holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities, who will represent all the selling shareholders.
8. The Company may suspend the use of a prospectus included in the Resale Shelf by furnishing to the Purchaser a written notice (“Suspension Notice”) stating that in the good faith judgment of the Company, it would be either (i) prohibited by the Company’s insider trading policy (as if the Purchaser were covered by such policy) or (ii) materially detrimental to the Company and its shareholders for such prospectus to be used at such time. The Company’s right to suspend the use of such prospectus under clause (ii) of the preceding sentence may be exercised for a period of not more than sixty (60) days after the date of such notice to the Purchaser; provided such period may be extended for an additional thirty (30) days with the consent of a majority-in-interest of the holders of Registrable Securities covered by the Resale Shelf, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld; provided further, that such right to suspend the use of a prospectus shall be exercised by the Company not more than once in any twelve (12) month period. A holder of Registrable Securities shall not effect any sales of Registrable Securities pursuant to the Resale Shelf at any time after it has received a Suspension Notice from the Company and prior to receipt of an End of Suspension Notice (as defined below). The holders may recommence effecting sales of the Registrable Securities pursuant to the Resale Shelf following further written notice to such effect (an “End of Suspension Notice”) from the Company to the holders. The Company shall act in good faith to permit any suspension period contemplated by this paragraph to be concluded as promptly as reasonably practicable.
9. The Purchaser agrees that, except as required by applicable law, the Purchaser shall treat as confidential the receipt of any Suspension Notice (provided that in no event shall such notice contain any material nonpublic information of the Company) hereunder and shall not disclose or use the information contained in such Suspension Notice without the prior written consent of the Company until such time as the information contained therein is or becomes public, other than as a result of disclosure by a holder of Registrable Securities in breach of the terms of this Agreement.
10. The Company shall indemnify and hold harmless the Purchaser, its directors and officers, partners, members, managers, employees, agents, and representatives of such Purchaser and each person, if any, who controls the Purchaser within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and any agent thereof (collectively, “Indemnified Persons”), to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, from and against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities, joint or several, costs (including reasonable costs of preparation and reasonable attorneys’ fees) and expenses, judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts arising from any and all claims, demands, actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, in which any Indemnified Person may be involved, or is threatened to be involved, as a party or otherwise, under the Securities Act or otherwise (collectively, “Losses”), promptly as incurred, arising out of, based upon or resulting from any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in the Resale Shelf (or any amendment or supplement thereto), the related prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of, are based
upon or resulting from the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case or to any Indemnified Person to the extent that any such Loss arises out of, is based upon or results from an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission or so made in reliance upon or in conformity with information furnished by or on behalf of such Indemnified Person in writing specifically for use in the preparation of the Resale Shelf, the related prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto. Such indemnity shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of such Indemnified Person, and shall survive the transfer of such securities by the Purchaser.
11. The Company’s obligation under paragraph (1) of this Exhibit A is subject to the Purchaser’s furnishing to the Company in writing such information as the Company reasonably requests for use in connection with the Resale Shelf, the related prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto. The Purchaser shall indemnify the Company, its officers, directors, managers, employees, agents and representatives, and each person who controls the Company (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses resulting from any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of material fact contained in the Resale Shelf, the related prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto or any omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, but only to the extent that such untrue statement or omission is contained in any information so furnished in writing by such Purchaser expressly for inclusion in such document; provided that the obligation to indemnify shall be individual, not joint and several, for each Purchaser and shall be limited to the net amount of proceeds received by such Purchaser from the sale of Registrable Securities pursuant to the Resale Shelf.
12. The Company shall cooperate with the Purchaser, to the extent the Registrable Securities become freely tradable, to facilitate the timely preparation and delivery of certificates (not bearing any restrictive legend) representing the Registrable Securities to be offered pursuant to a Resale Shelf and enable such certificates to be in such denominations or amounts, as the case may be, as the Purchaser may reasonably request and registered in such names as the Purchaser may request.
13. If requested by the Purchaser, the Company shall as soon as practicable, subject to any Suspension Notice, (i) incorporate in a prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment such information as the Purchaser reasonably requests to be included therein relating to the sale and distribution of Registrable Securities, including, without limitation, information with respect to the number of Registrable Securities being offered or sold, the purchase price being paid therefor and any other terms of the offering of the Registrable Securities to be sold in such offering; (ii) make all required filings of such prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment after being notified of the matters to be incorporated in such prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment; and (iii) supplement or make amendments to any Registration Statement if reasonably requested by the Purchaser holding any Registrable Securities.
14. As long as the Purchaser shall own Registrable Securities, the Company, at all times while it shall be reporting under the Exchange Act, covenants to file timely (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the
Company after the date hereof pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, and to promptly furnish the Purchaser with true and complete copies of all such filings, unless filed through the SEC’s EDGAR system. The Company further covenants that it shall take such further action as the Purchaser may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time, to enable the Purchaser to sell the Class A Shares and Warrants held by the Purchaser without registration under the Securities Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, including providing any legal opinions. Upon the request of the Purchaser, the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser a written certification of a duly authorized officer as to whether it has complied with such requirements.
15. The rights, duties and obligations of the Purchaser under this Exhibit A may be assigned or delegated by the Purchaser in conjunction with and to the extent of any permitted transfer or assignment of Registrable Securities by the Purchaser to any permitted transferee or assignee.
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM’S CONSENT
We consent to the inclusion in this Registration Statement of Trebia Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) Amendment No. 1 on Form S-1, File No. 333-238824, of our report dated March 23, 2020, which includes an explanatory paragraph as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, with respect to our audit of the financial statements of Trebia Acquisition Corp. as of March 12, 2020 and for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through March 12, 2020, which report appears in the Prospectus, which is part of this Registration Statement. We also consent to the reference to our Firm under the heading “Experts” in such Prospectus.
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/s/ Marcum LLP |
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Marcum LLP |
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New York, NY |
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June 11, 2020 |
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Audit Committee Charter
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I. |
Committee Purpose and Responsibilities |
The Audit Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Trebia Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”) is primarily established for the purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the Company and audits of the financial statements of the Company, and the internal audit function. The responsibilities and powers of the Committee as delegated by the Board are set forth in this charter.
The Committee is responsible for assisting the Board’s oversight of (1) the quality and integrity of the Company’s financial statements and related disclosure, (2) the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) the independent auditor’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of the Company’s internal audit function, including with respect to audits of the Company’s information technology environment, and the independent auditor.
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II. |
Committee Membership |
Subject to the applicable phase-in periods permitted by the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), the Committee shall consist of three or more members of the Board, each of whom the Board has determined has no material relationship with the Company and each of whom shall meet all applicable independence, financial literacy and other requirements of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). At least one member shall be an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by the applicable rules of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The members of the Committee shall be appointed by and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board for such term or terms as the Board may determine.
No member of the Committee may serve on the audit committee of more than three public companies, including the Company, unless the Board has determined that such simultaneous service would not impair the ability of such member to effectively serve on the Committee.
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III. |
Authority and Duties |
The following list of duties is not exhaustive, and the Committee may, in addition, perform such other functions as may be necessary or appropriate for the performance of its oversight function.
Independent Auditor’s Qualifications and Independence
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A. |
The Committee shall be solely responsible for the appointment, retention, compensation and oversight of the work of the independent auditor employed by the Company (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or permitted related audit, review or attest services. The independent auditor shall report directly to the Committee. | |
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B. |
The Committee shall have the sole authority to preapprove any audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditor, and to adopt policies and procedures in connection therewith. The Committee shall review with the lead audit partner whether any of the audit team members receive any discretionary compensation from the audit firm with respect to non-audit services performed by the independent auditor. | |
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C. |
The Committee shall obtain and review, annually or more frequently as the Committee considers appropriate, a report by the independent auditor describing: the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures; any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the independent auditor, or by any inquiry, review or investigation by governmental, professional or other regulatory authorities, within the preceding five years, respecting independent audits carried out by the independent auditor, and any steps taken to address any such issues; and (to assess the independent auditor’s independence) all relationships between the independent auditor and the Company. The Committee shall, in addition to assuring the regular rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit, consider whether there should be regular rotation of the audit firm in the interest of assuring continuing independence of an independent auditor, and report its conclusions to the Board. | |
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D. |
The Committee shall review the experience, qualifications and performance of the senior members of the independent auditor team. |
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E. |
The Committee shall preapprove the hiring of any employee or former employee of the independent auditor who was a member of the Company’s audit team during the preceding three fiscal years. In addition, the Committee shall preapprove the hiring of any employee or former employee of the independent auditor (within the preceding three fiscal years) for the following positions within the Company, regardless of whether that person was a member of the Company’s audit team: Officer or Executive Officer, each as defined under applicable federal securities laws (other than secretary or treasurer), or any person who has direct responsibility for oversight over those who prepare the Company’s financial statements and related information (e.g., Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, or “MD&A”). |
Financial Statements and Related Disclosure
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The Committee shall review the annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including the Company’s disclosures under MD&A before the filing of the Company’s Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. | |
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G. |
The Committee shall review with management earnings press releases before they are issued. The Committee shall review generally with management the nature of the financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies. | |
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H. |
The Committee shall review with the independent auditor: (a) all critical accounting policies and practices to be used by the Company in preparing its financial statements, (b) all alternative treatments of financial information within United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) that have been discussed with management, ramifications of the use of these alternative disclosures and treatments, and the treatment preferred by the independent auditor, and (c) other material communications between the independent auditor and management, such as any management letter or schedule of unadjusted differences. In addition, the Committee shall review with the independent auditor any audit problems or difficulties and management’s response, and any significant disagreements with management. | |
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I. |
The Committee shall review with management, and any outside professionals as the Committee considers appropriate, the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures. | |
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J. |
The Committee shall review with management, the principal internal auditor and the independent auditor the quality, adequacy and effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting. | |
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K. |
The Committee shall prepare the report of the audit committee required by the SEC to be included in the Company’s annual proxy statement. |
Performance of the Internal Audit Function
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L. |
The Committee shall review with management, the principal internal auditor and the independent auditor the scope, planning and staffing of the proposed audit plan for the current year, and shall approve the audit plan for the current year and any significant changes thereto. The Committee shall also review the internal audit function’s organization, responsibilities, plans, results, budget and staffing. The Committee shall receive quarterly communications from the principal internal auditor on the results of and internal audit function’s performance relative to its audit plan, including with respect to audits of the Company’s information technology environment, and other matters. | |
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M. |
The Committee shall review and approve annually the internal audit function’s charter, which shall set forth the organization and responsibilities of the internal audit function, as well as the budget and staffing of the internal audit function. | |
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Management shall consult with the Committee on, and the Committee shall approve, the appointment, replacement, reassignment or dismissal of the principal internal auditor. The Committee’s Chairperson shall evaluate the principal internal auditor’s compensation and conduct a periodic performance appraisal. |
Enterprise Risk Management
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O. |
The Committee shall review with management the Company’s policies and practices with respect to risk assessment and risk management, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk, except with respect to those risks for which oversight has been assigned to other committees of the Board or retained by the Board. |
Compliance with Legal and Regulatory Requirements
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The Committee shall review with management, and any internal or external counsel as the Committee considers appropriate, any legal matters (including the status of pending litigation) that may have a material impact on the Company and any material reports or inquiries from regulatory or governmental agencies. | |
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The Committee shall review with management the adequacy and effectiveness of the Company’s procedures to ensure compliance with its legal and regulatory responsibilities. The Committee shall oversee the administration of the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and any other appropriate compliance policies over which the Audit Committee has authority, and will review requests for waivers under the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics sought with respect to any executive officer or director, as applicable. | |
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The Committee shall establish procedures for (a) the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by the Company regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, auditing matters or potential violations of law, and (b) the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters or potential violations of law. | |
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The Committee shall review any material transaction between the Company and the Chief Financial Officer in accordance with the Company’s Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers, and shall review and provide prior written approval of any such transaction between the Company and the President. | |
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The Committee shall also review and approve all transactions involving an amount in excess of $120,000 in which the Company is to be a participant and in which any related person (as defined in Item 404(a) under the Exchange Act) has a direct or indirect material interest. |
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Clarification of Audit Committee’s Role |
The Committee’s responsibility is one of oversight. It is the responsibility of the Company’s management to prepare consolidated financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations and of the Company’s independent auditor to audit those financial statements. It is not the responsibility of the Committee to duplicate the activities of management or the independent auditor or to provide expert or special assurance as to, or otherwise certify, the Company’s financial statements or internal control over financial reporting, the independent auditor’s work or compliance of the financial statements with GAAP. The Committee fulfills its oversight role on the basis of the information it receives from management and the independent auditor. Therefore, in carrying out its oversight responsibilities, each member of the Committee shall be entitled to rely, to the fullest extent permitted by law, on the integrity of those persons and organizations within and outside the Company from whom he or she receives information, and the accuracy of the financial and other information provided to the Committee by such persons or organizations.
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Committee Structure and Operations |
The Board shall designate one member of the Committee as its chairperson. The Committee shall meet at least four times per year at a time and place determined by the Committee chairperson, with further meetings to occur, or actions to be taken by unanimous written resolutions of all the members, when deemed necessary or desirable by the Committee or its chairperson. Members of the Committee may participate in a meeting of the Committee by means of conference call or similar communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other.
The Committee shall meet separately, periodically, with management, the internal auditors and the independent auditor. The Committee shall report regularly to the entire Board on Committee findings and recommendations and any other matters the Committee deems appropriate or the Board requests, and maintain minutes or other records of Committee meetings and activities.
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Delegation to Subcommittee |
The Committee may, in its discretion, delegate all or a portion of its duties and responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Committee. The Committee shall not delegate to any subcommittee any power or authority required by law, regulation or listing standard to be exercised by the Committee as a whole.
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Performance Evaluation |
The Committee shall conduct an annual performance evaluation of the Committee, which evaluation shall compare the performance of the Committee with the requirements of this charter. The performance evaluation by the
Committee shall be conducted in such manner as the Committee deems appropriate. The Committee shall also review its charter annually and approve any improvements necessary or desirable to the Committee.
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Resources and Authority |
In discharging its oversight role, the Committee shall have full access to all Company books, records, facilities and personnel of the Company. The Committee may retain counsel, auditors or other advisors, in its sole discretion and agree to such fees and other retention terms with any provider of services to the Committee as the Committee may deem necessary. The Company shall provide appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of the independent auditor, any independent counsel or other advisors retained by the Committee, and any ordinary administrative expenses of the Committee.
Compensation Committee Charter
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Committee Membership |
The Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Trebia Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”) shall consist of two or more members of the Board, each of whom the Board has determined has no material relationship with the Company and each of whom is otherwise “independent” under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) applicable to Compensation Committee members, subject to the applicable phase-in periods permitted by the rules of the NYSE. In addition, in determining whether a director is eligible to serve on the Committee, the Board may consider whether such person is a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Any action duly taken by the Committee shall be valid and effective, whether or not the members of the Committee at the time of such action are later determined not to have satisfied the requirements for membership provided herein.
Members shall be appointed by the Board based on the recommendation of the Company’s Nominating Committee. Members shall serve at the pleasure of the Board and for such term or terms as the Board may determine.
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Committee Purpose and Responsibilities |
The following shall be the purpose and responsibilities of the Committee, as applicable:
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The Committee shall review and approve the corporate goals and objectives relevant to compensation of the Company’s President, evaluate the President’s performance in light of those goals and objectives and, either as a committee or together with other independent directors (as directed by the Board), determine and approve the President’s compensation level based on this evaluation. In determining the long-term incentive component of the President’s compensation, the Committee shall consider, among other factors, the Company’s performance and relative shareholder return, the value of similar incentive awards to executives at comparable companies, and the awards given to such persons in prior years. |
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The Committee shall set salaries and approve incentive compensation awards and equity compensation plan awards, as well as compensation policies for all Section 16 Officers as designated by the Board (other than the President, whose compensation is determined in accordance with paragraph A above). |
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The Committee shall make recommendations to the Board with respect to all equity based compensation plans that are subject to Board approval and any modification to any such plans. |
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The Committee shall oversee the Company’s compliance with the requirement under the applicable stock exchange rules that, with limited exceptions, shareholders approve equity compensation plans. |
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Subject to applicable law and the terms of applicable plan documents, the Committee shall have the power to establish, administer, amend, manage, periodically review and, where appropriate, terminate all annual bonus, long-term incentive compensation, stock option, employee pension and welfare benefit plans, including 401(k) plans, employee stock purchase plans, long-term incentive plans, management incentive plans and other plans. Specifically with respect to cash or equity incentive compensation plans, the Committee shall be responsible for granting any awards under equity compensation plans and annual bonus plans to the President and Section 16 Officers as designated by the Board. |
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The Committee shall authorize and approve any employment or severance agreements and amendments with all designated Section 16 Officers. |
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The Committee shall review and discuss with management of the Company the Compensation Discussion and Analysis (“CD&A”), and based on such discussions, determine whether to recommend to the Board that the CD&A be included in the Company’s proxy statement or annual report on Form 10-K, as applicable. |
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The Committee shall review and approve the annual compensation risk assessment conducted by management to be included in the Company’s proxy statement or annual report on Form 10-K, as applicable. |
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In coordination with management, the Committee shall produce the annual report of the Committee to be included in the Company’s proxy statement or annual report on Form 10-K, as applicable. |
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The Committee shall consider the results of the most recent shareholder advisory vote on executive compensation (“say-on-pay” vote) and make recommendations to the Board regarding any change to the frequency with which the Company will conduct a say-on-pay vote. |
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The Committee shall periodically review and approve the form and amount of compensation of the Board’s non-management directors. |
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The Committee shall report to the Board on a regular basis, and not less than once per year. |
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The Committee shall perform any other duties or responsibilities expressly delegated to the Committee by the Board from time to time relating to the Company’s compensation programs. |
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Committee Structure and Operations |
The Board shall designate one member of the Committee as its chairperson. The Committee shall set its schedule of meetings at a date, time and place determined by the Committee chairperson, with further meetings to occur, or actions to be taken by unanimous written resolutions of all the members, when deemed necessary or desirable by the Committee or its chairperson. Members of the Committee may participate in a meeting of the Committee by means of conference call or similar communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other.
The Committee may invite such members of management to its meetings as it deems appropriate, consistent with the maintenance of the confidentiality of compensation discussions. Unless specifically invited by the Committee, the President should not attend any meeting where his performance or compensation is discussed.
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Delegation to Subcommittee |
The Committee may, in its discretion, delegate all or a portion of its duties and responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Committee, so long as such subcommittee is solely comprised of one or more members of the Committee and such delegation is not otherwise inconsistent with law and applicable rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and NYSE. In particular, the Committee may delegate the approval of certain decisions to a subcommittee consisting solely of members of the Committee who are “Non-Employee Directors” for the purposes of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act.
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Performance Evaluation |
The Committee shall conduct an annual performance evaluation of the Committee, which evaluation shall compare the performance of the Committee with the requirements of this charter. The performance evaluation by the Committee shall be conducted in such manner as the Committee deems appropriate. The Committee shall also review its charter annually and approve any improvements necessary or desireable to the Committee.
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Resources and Authority of the Committee |
The Committee shall have the resources and authority appropriate to discharge its duties and responsibilities, including the authority, in its sole discretion, to retain or obtain the advice of compensation consultants, independent legal counsel or other advisers. The Committee shall be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser retained by it, and the Company shall provide for appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of compensation to any such compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser retained by the Committee.
With respect to any compensation consultant who has been engaged to make determinations or recommendations on the amount or form of executive or director compensation annually, or from time to time as the Committee deems appropriate, assess whether the work of any such compensation consultant (whether retained by the compensation committee or management) has raised any conflicts of interest in accordance with Item 407(e) of Regulation S-K.
The Committee may select a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser to the Committee only after taking into consideration all factors relevant to that person’s independence from management, including, without limitation:
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The provision of other services to the Company by the person that employs the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser; |
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The amount of fees received from the Company by the person that employs the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser, as a percentage of the total revenue of the person that employs the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser; |
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The policies and procedures of the person that employs the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser that are designed to prevent conflicts of interest; |
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Any business or personal relationship of the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser with a member of the Committee; |
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Any stock of the Company owned by the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser; and |
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Any business or personal relationship of the compensation consultant, legal counsel, other adviser or the person employing the adviser with an executive officer of the Company. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing contained in this Section VI (a) shall be construed: (i) to require the Committee to implement or act consistently with the advice or recommendations of any compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser to the Committee; or (ii) to affect the ability or obligation of the Committee to exercise its own judgment in fulfillment of the duties of the Committee or (b) shall require a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other compensation adviser to be independent, provided that the Committee considers the independence factors listed in clauses (a) through (f) above before selecting or receiving advice from a compensation adviser. The Committee may select or receive advice from any adviser they prefer including ones that are not independent, after considering the independence factors outlined in clauses (a) through (f) above.
Nominating Committee Charter
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Committee Membership |
The Nominating Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Trebia Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”) shall consist of two or more members of the Board, each of whom the Board has determined has no material relationship with the Company and each of whom is otherwise “independent” under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), subject to the applicable phase-in periods permitted by the rules of the NYSE. Any action duly taken by the Committee shall be valid and effective, whether or not the members of the Committee at the time of such action are later determined not to have satisfied the requirements for membership provided herein.
Members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board. Members shall serve at the pleasure of the Board and for such term or terms as the Board may determine.
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Committee Purpose and Responsibilities |
The following shall be the purpose and responsibilities of the Committee, as applicable:
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Make recommendations to the Board from time to time as to changes to the size of the Board or any committee thereof that the Committee believes to be advisable. |
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Identify individuals qualified to become Board members, consistent with criteria approved by the Board, and to recommend to the Board, the nominees to stand for election as directors at the annual meeting of shareholders or, if applicable, at a special meeting of shareholders. In the event of a Board vacancy (including a vacancy created by an increase in the size of the Board), the Committee shall recommend to the Board an individual to fill such vacancy either through appointment by the Board or through election by shareholders. In selecting or recommending candidates, the Committee shall take into consideration the criteria approved by the Board, as described in the Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines, and such other factors as it deems appropriate. The Committee shall consider all candidates recommended by the Company’s shareholders in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Company’s annual proxy statement. |
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In the event any incumbent director who is nominated for election by the shareholders does not receive a majority of the votes cast and tenders his resignation to the Board, the Committee will consider and recommend to the Board whether to accept or reject the tendered resignation, or whether other action should be taken. |
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Review the independence of each director in light of the independence criteria of the NYSE and any other independence standards applicable to directors, and make a recommendation to the Board with respect to each director’s independence. |
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In the case of a director nominee to fill a Board vacancy created by an increase in the size of the Board, make a recommendation to the Board as to the class of directors in which the individual should serve. |
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Identify Board members qualified to fill vacancies on any committee of the Board (including the Committee) and make recommendations to the Board with respect thereto. In nominating a candidate for committee membership, the Committee should consider any responsibilities and any qualifications set forth in the applicable committee’s charter, as well as any other factors it deems appropriate, including without limitation the consistency of the candidate’s experience with the goals of the committee and the interplay of the candidate’s experience with the experience of other committee members. |
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Develop and recommend to the Board the corporate governance principles applicable to the Company, and to review the Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines at least once per year and recommend to the Board any changes to such Guidelines. |
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Oversee the evaluation of the performance of the Board and its committees on a continuing basis, and assist the Board in conducting an annual self-evaluation. The Committee shall also oversee the Board’s continuing evaluation of management. |
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Review the overall corporate governance of the Company and report to the Board on a regular basis, and not less than once per year, on Committee findings, recommendations and any other matters the Committee deems appropriate or the Board requests. |
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Perform any other duties or responsibilities expressly delegated to the Committee by the Board from time to time. |
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Committee Structure and Operations |
The Board shall designate one member of the Committee as its chairperson. The Committee shall meet at least once per year at a time and place determined by the Committee chairperson, with further meetings to occur, or actions to be taken by unanimous written resolutions of all the members, when deemed necessary or desirable by the Committee or its chairperson.
Members of the Committee may participate in a meeting of the Committee by means of conference call or similar communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other.
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Delegation to Subcommittee |
The Committee may, in its discretion, delegate all or a portion of its duties and responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Committee, so long as such subcommittee is solely comprised of one or more members of the Committee and such delegation is not otherwise inconsistent with law and applicable rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the NYSE.
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Performance Evaluation |
The Committee shall conduct an annual performance evaluation of the Committee, which evaluation shall compare the performance of the Committee with the requirements of this charter. The performance evaluation by the Committee shall be conducted in such manner as the Committee deems appropriate. The Committee shall also review its charter annually and approve any improvements necessary or desirable to the Committee.
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Resources and Authority of the Committee |
The Committee shall have the resources and authority appropriate to discharge its duties and responsibilities, including the authority to select, retain, terminate, and approve the fees and other retention terms of any search firm to identify director candidates, or any special counsel or other experts or consultants, as it deems appropriate, without seeking approval of the Board or management. With respect to consultants or search firms used to identify director candidates, this authority shall be vested solely in the Committee.