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CERTAIN
TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this
Report, references to:
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“amended and restated certificate of incorporation” are to the
amended and restated certificate of incorporation that the company
adopted in connection with the consummation of our initial public
offering;
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“DGCL” refers to the Delaware General Corporation Law as the
same may be amended from time to time;
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“founder shares” are to shares of Class B common stock
initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to
our initial public offering and the shares of Class A common stock
that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the shares of
Class B common stock at the time of our initial business
combination;
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“initial public offering units” are to our initial public offering
units, consisting of one Class A common stock and one-half of one
redeemable warrant;
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“initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares
prior to our initial public
offering;
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“management” or our “management team” are to our executive
officers and directors;
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“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B
common stock;
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“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our
sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of
our initial public offering and upon conversion of working capital
loans, if any;
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“public shares” are to our Class A common stock sold as part
of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were
purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open
market);
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“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares,
including our sponsor and management team, to the extent our
sponsor and/or members of our management team purchase public
shares, provided that our sponsor’s and each member of our
management team’s status as a “public stockholder” will only exist
with respect to such public shares;
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“sponsor” are to Arrowroot Acquisition LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company;
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“trust account” is to the trust account located in the United
States in which, following the completion of our initial public
offering, an amount of $287,500,000 from the net proceeds of the
sale of the units in the initial public offering and the sale of
the private placement warrants was placed; and
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“we,” “us,” “our,” “company,” “our company,” “Company” or “our
Company” are to Arrowroot Acquisition Corp., a Delaware
Corporation.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE
REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
This annual report on Form 10-K
(this “Report”), including, without limitation, statements under
“Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”).
These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,”
“estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,”
“will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or
“should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or
comparable terminology.
The
forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on
our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments
and their potential effects on us. 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, the following risks, uncertainties (some of
which are beyond our control) or other factors:
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we have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no
basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business
objective;
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our ability to select an appropriate target business or
businesses;
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our ability to complete our initial business
combination;
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our expectations around the performance of a prospective
target business or businesses;
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our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required
in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial
business combination;
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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;
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the lack of a market for our public securities;
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our potential ability to obtain additional financing to
complete our initial business combination;
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our pool of prospective target businesses;
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our ability to consummate an initial business combination due
to the uncertainty resulting from the recent COVID-19
pandemic;
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the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number
of potential business combination opportunities;
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our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
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the use of proceeds not held in the trust account (as
described below) or available to us from interest income on the
trust account balance;
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the trust account not being subject to claims of third
parties;
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our financial performance; or
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the other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors”
and elsewhere in this Report.
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The
forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on
our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments
and their potential effects on us. 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 Report 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.
Summary
General
We are a blank check company incorporated in 2020 as a Delaware
corporation and formed 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 Report as our initial business
combination. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we
do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we
consummate our initial business combination. We are a “shell
company” as defined under the Exchange Act because we have no
operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities
and activities related to our initial public offering as well as
the search for a prospective business combination target.
On March 4, 2021, the Company consummated its initial public
offering (the “initial public offering”) of 28,750,000 Units (the
“IPO Units”), including 3,750,000 units as a result of the
underwriter’s full exercise of their over-allotment option at an
offering price of $10.00 per unit (the “Overallotment Units” and
together with the IPO Units, the “Units”) and a private placement
with Arrowroot Acquisition LLC of 8,250,000 private placement
warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant (the “Private Placement”).
The net proceeds from our Units together with certain of the
proceeds from the Private Placement, $287,500,000 in the aggregate,
were placed in a trust account established for the benefit of the
Company’s public stockholders and the underwriter of the initial
public offering with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company
acting as trustee.
Our Sponsor
Our sponsor,
Arrowroot Acquisition LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company
formed by Arrowroot Capital Management, LLC (“Arrowroot Capital”)
and our management team. Our sponsor is managed by entrepreneurs,
seasoned operators and technology-oriented investors with a shared
vision of identifying and investing in innovative and agile
technology and technology-enabled businesses, primarily in the
enterprise software sector, that are public company-ready and
focused on accessing liquidity through the capital markets. We
believe that our management team’s relationships with founders of
leading technology companies, executives of private and public
companies, fund managers at top venture capital and growth equity
funds, and investment bankers, in addition to the extensive
industry and geographical reach of our partners’ networks, will
give us a competitive advantage in pursuing a broad range of
opportunities. Our management team believes that its ability to
identify and implement value creation initiatives will remain
central to its differentiated acquisition strategy.
Business Strategy
Our
acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify,
acquire and build a company that complements the experience of our
executive team, and can benefit from its strategic and operational
expertise. After our initial business combination, we envision our
strategy may include additional mergers and acquisitions and the
application of new technologies and/or other operational
improvements with a focus on generating attractive long-term risk
adjusted returns for our stockholders. We will leverage our deep
experience and broad network and focus on potential investments
where we believe a combination of our relationships, knowledge and
experience could catalyze a positive transformation or augmentation
of existing businesses to enhance their overall value.
We plan to continue to utilize the network and industry experience
of our executive team, as well as our affiliation with Arrowroot
Capital, in seeking an initial business combination and
implementing our acquisition strategy. Arrowroot Capital has an
exceptional sourcing team with a proprietary data base of 15,000+
software companies and the team evaluates 2,000+ new opportunities
annually. Additionally, over the course of their careers, the
members of our executive team and their affiliates have developed a
broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we
believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities
and competitive strength. This network has been developed through
our executive team’s:
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extensive experience in sourcing, structuring, acquiring,
operating, integrating, developing, growing, financing and selling
businesses;
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experience managing mergers and acquisitions for technology
companies, including portfolio companies of leading venture capital
and financial sponsor firms;
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significant experience in both investing in and operating
companies across the technology sector, with particular expertise
focusing on business-to-business software companies implementing
Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS:) business models, setting and
changing strategies, optimizing SaaS metrics and other
best-in-class business tactics, and identifying, monitoring and
recruiting world-class talent;
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deep relationships with sellers, financing providers and
target management teams; and
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experience negotiating transactions favorable to
investors.
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We expect
these global networks will provide our executive team with a robust
flow of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that
target business candidates will be brought to our attention from
various unaffiliated sources, which may include investment market
participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms,
consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Since
the completion of our initial public offering, members of our
executive team and advisors have been communicating with their
networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our
search for a target company and a potential initial business
combination, and begin the disciplined process of pursuing and
reviewing potentially interesting leads.
Investment
Criteria
While we may
pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business or industry, we
intend to focus on target companies in an industry that complements
our executive team, board, and sponsor’s expertise and that will
benefit from our strategic and operational value add. In
particular, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our executive
team to identify and acquire a business focusing on the enterprise
software sector.
We are focused on identifying companies that are ready to be and
would benefit from becoming a publicly traded entity. Allowing
these private companies to access the public markets without
requiring a traditional initial public offering creates a
compelling alternative for these businesses to gain liquidity,
diversify funding sources and benefit from public market exposure.
The introduction of a special purpose acquisition company allows
for a familiar process to drive transformation into a public
company through a structured negotiation with a trusted party
appropriately incorporating the context for such companies.
We have
developed the following high level, non-exclusive investment
criteria that we will use to screen for and evaluate 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.
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Compelling
growth prospects. We view growth as an important
driver of value and will seek companies whose growth potential can
generate meaningful upside.
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Large and
growing markets. We will focus on investments in
rapidly growing companies in industry segments that we believe
demonstrate attractive long-term growth prospects and reasonable
overall size or potential.
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Businesses
with attractive unit economics and high operating
leverage. We
will seek to invest in companies that we believe possess not only
established business models and sustainable competitive advantages,
but also inherently attractive unit economics and other relevant
SaaS operating metrics.
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Strong
management teams. We will spend significant time
assessing a company’s leadership and personnel and evaluating what
we can do to augment and/or upgrade the team over time if
needed.
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Opportunity
for operational improvements. We will seek to identify
businesses that are capital efficient and would benefit from our
ability to drive improvements in the company’s processes,
go-to-market strategy, product or service offering, sales and
marketing efforts, geographical presence and/or leadership
team.
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Differentiated
products or services. We will evaluate metrics such as
recurring revenues, product life cycle, cohort consistency, pricing
per product or customer, cross-sell success and churn rates to
focus on businesses whose products or services are differentiated
or where we see an opportunity to create value by implementing best
practices.
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Limited
technology risk. We will seek to invest in
companies that have established market-tested product or service
offerings.
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Appropriate
valuations. We
will seek to be a disciplined and valuation-centric investor that
will invest on terms that we believe provide significant upside
potential with limited downside risk.
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These criteria
and guidelines 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
stockholder communications related to our initial business
combination, which would be in the form of tender offer documents
or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, that we would file
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
Our Acquisition
Process
In evaluating
a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due
diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings
with incumbent management and employees, document reviews,
inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and
other information that will be made available to us. We will also
utilize our operational, strategy and capital allocation
experience, and leverage our relationship with Arrowroot
Capital.
Most of the
members of our executive team and our most of our non-employee
directors directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private
placement warrants 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 was included by a target business as a
condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business
combination.
Each of our
officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future
may have, additional fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to
other entities or to clients of affiliates of our sponsor pursuant
to which such officer or director is or will be required to present
a business combination opportunity. Certain of the members of our
management team are officers and directors of Arrowroot Capital.
Our Chief Executive Officer is a controlling stockholder of
Arrowroot Capital. Arrowroot Capital is continuously made aware of
potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may
desire to pursue for a business combination. Most of our officers
and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may
have, additional fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to
other entities or other affiliates of our sponsor 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, contractual or other
obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary, contractual
or other obligations to present such opportunity to such entity and
only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity and he
or she determines to present the opportunity to us (including as
described above). 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. However, we do not believe that
the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or
directors will materially affect our ability to complete our
initial business combination.
In the event
we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company
that is affiliated with, or which there is a fiduciary, contractual
or other obligation by, our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or
a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from
an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or an
independent accounting firm that the consideration to be paid by us
in the initial business combination is fair to our company from a
financial point of view. Any such entity affiliated with, or which
there is a fiduciary, contractual or other obligation by, our
sponsor, officers or directors, may co-invest with us in the target
business at the time of our initial business combination, or we
could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by
making a specified future issuance to any such entity.
Our executive
officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to
our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in
allocating management time among various business activities.
However, we do not expect either potential conflicts of interest or
the time taken by our executive team’s other duties to present a
significant constraint in our ability to identify, diligence and
execute potential business combinations.
Our officers
and directors 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. Any such companies may present
additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target,
particularly in the event there is overlap among investment
mandates and the director and officer teams. However, we do not
expect that any such other blank check company would materially
affect our ability to complete our initial business
combination.
Initial
Business Combination
Nasdaq rules
require that we must complete one or more business combinations
having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value
of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred
underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned
on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive
agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our
board of directors will make the determination as to the fair
market value of our initial business combination. If our board of
directors is not able to independently determine the fair market
value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an
opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a
member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to
the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely
that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent
determination of the fair market value of our initial business
combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or
experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is
a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s
assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any
initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our
independent directors.
We anticipate
structuring our initial business combination so that the
post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own
shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets
of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure
our initial business combination such that the post-transaction
company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets
of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the
target management team or stockholders 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 (“Investment Company Act”). Even if
the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the
voting securities of the target, our stockholders 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 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
stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination
could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent
to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the
equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are
owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of
such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will
be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test
described above. If the business combination involves more than one
target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the
aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
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.
Financial
Position
As of December
31, 2021, we had approximately $287,523,634 (including $23,634 of
interest) held in the trust account and available for a business
combination (assuming no redemptions). After consideration of
$10,062,500 of deferred underwriting fees payable upon consummation
of a business combination, we offer a target business a variety of
options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners,
providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its
operations or strengthening its consolidated balance sheet by
reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our
initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity
securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the
flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow
us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to
fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to
secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will
be available to us.
Lack of
Business Diversification
For an
indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial
business combination, the prospects for our success may depend
entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike
other entities that have the resources to complete business
combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries,
it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our
operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of
business. By completing our initial business combination with only
a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
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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.
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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.
Stockholders
May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business
Combination
We may conduct
redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer
rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and
restated certificate of incorporation. However, we will seek
stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock
exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for
business or other legal reasons.
Presented in
the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial
business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder
approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such
transaction.
Type of Transaction
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Whether
Stockholder Approval Is Required
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Purchase of assets
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No
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Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the
company
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No
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Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company
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No
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Merger of the company with a target
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Yes
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Under Nasdaq’s
listing rules, stockholder approval would typically be required for
our initial business combination if, for example:
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we issue shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to
or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common
stock then outstanding;
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any of our officers, directors or substantial security holders
(as defined by the Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest,
directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be
acquired or otherwise, and the present or potential issuance of
ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and
outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or
more if the related party involved is classified as such solely
because such person is a substantial security holder); or
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the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result
in our undergoing a change of control.
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Permitted
Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to of Our
Securities
If we seek
stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do
not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business
combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor,
initial stockholders, 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. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial
stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may
purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with
applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current
commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and
have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such
transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used
to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they
engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making
any such purchases when they are in possession of any material
non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such
purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange
Act.
In the event
that our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers,
advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately
negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already
elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to
vote against our initial business combination, such selling
stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to
redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial
business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such
purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the
tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private
transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange
Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such
purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the
purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of
any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in
favor of the business combination and thereby increase the
likelihood of obtaining stockholder 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
common stock or public warrants may be reduced and the number of
beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make
it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or
trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor,
initial stockholders, officers, directors and/or their affiliates
anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our
initial stockholders, officers, directors or their affiliates may
pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders
contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests
submitted by stockholders (in the case of Class A common stock)
following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in
connection with our initial business combination. To the extent
that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates
enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only
potential selling stockholders 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
stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our
initial business combination but only if such shares have not
already been voted at the stockholder meeting related to our
initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers,
directors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders
to purchase shares from based on a 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. Our
sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates are
restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would
violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We
expect any such purchases would be reported by such person pursuant
to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such
purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption
Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of Our Initial
Business Combination
We will
provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all
or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the
completion of our initial business combination at a per-share
price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on
deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days
prior to the consummation of the initial business combination,
including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account
(which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the
number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the
limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in
the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public
share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who
properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred
underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter of our
initial public offering. Our initial stockholders, sponsor,
officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with
us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption
rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they
may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business
combination.
Limitations on
Redemptions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that
in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that
would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In
addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a
minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be
paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working
capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the
retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the
aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all
shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for
redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions
pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination
exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not
complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in
connection with such initial business combination, and all shares
of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be
returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds
through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans,
advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial
business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase
agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into, in order to,
among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum
cash requirements.
Manner of
Conducting Redemptions
We will
provide our public stockholders 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
stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business
combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender
offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval
of a proposed initial business combination or conduct a tender
offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be
based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction
and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek
stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing
requirements. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not
typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with
our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we
issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to
amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would
require stockholder approval. So long as we maintain a listing for
our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with
Nasdaq’s stockholder approval rules.
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If we hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business
combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation: 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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In the event
that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business
combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection
therewith, provide our public stockholder with the redemption
rights described above upon completion of the initial business
combination.
If we seek
stockholder approval, unless otherwise required by applicable law,
regulation or stock exchange rules, we will complete our initial
business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares
of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business
combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders
present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital
stock of the Company representing a majority of the voting power of
all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to
vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards
this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor,
officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares they
hold and any public shares purchased during or after
our initial public
offering (including in open market
and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial
business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the
majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes
will have no effect on the approval of our initial business
combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to
our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only
10,781,250, or 37.5%, of the public shares sold in connection
with our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial
business combination in order to have our initial business
combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted).
These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of
our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will
consummate our initial business combination. Each public
stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of
whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or
whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the
stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed
transaction.
If a
stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a
stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we
will:
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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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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 stockholders not tendering more
than a specified number of public shares, which number will be
based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an
amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than
$5,000,001. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have
offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not
complete the initial business combination.
Upon the
public announcement of our initial business combination, if we
elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we
or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance
with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in
the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the
Exchange Act.
We intend to
require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their
redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their
shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver
their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their
shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository
Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system,
prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer
documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date
may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to
approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we
conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we
intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its
public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to
our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the
name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy
materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will
furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our
initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring
public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We
believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently
process any redemptions without the need for further communication
or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay
redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the
proposed initial business combination is not approved and we
continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return
any certificates or shares delivered by public stockholders who
elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event
will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our
net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our
proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash
requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or
its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general
corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other
conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would
be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are
validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to
satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed
initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash
available to us, we will not complete the initial business
combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial
business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock
submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked
securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in
connection with our initial business combination, including
pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we
may enter into, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net
tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business
Combination if We Seek Stockholder Approval
If we seek
stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation provides that a public
stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any
other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as
a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will
be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more
than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public
offering, which we refer to as “Excess Shares”, without our prior
consent. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders
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 stockholder holding more
than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public
offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such
holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our
management at a premium to the then current market price or on
other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to
redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public
offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the
ability of a small group of stockholders 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 stockholders’ ability to vote all of
their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial
business combination.
Delivering
Stock Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption
Rights
As described
above, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to
exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders
or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option,
either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or
deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The
Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian)
system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or
tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy
materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the
vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination.
In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a
stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking
redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request
for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the
vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is
included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as
applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in
connection with our initial business combination will indicate
whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such
delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have
up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial business
combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we
send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender
offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it
wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that
a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures
disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable,
its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise
period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery
of their public shares.
There is a
nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the
act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC
system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker
submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $80.00 and it
would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to
the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred
regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise
redemption rights to submit or tender their shares. The need to
deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights
regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be
effectuated.
Any request to
redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to
the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer
documents, as applicable. 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 stockholders who elected to exercise their
redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for
the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case,
we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public
holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our
proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may
continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a
different target until March 4, 2023.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business
Combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that
we have only 24 months from the closing of our initial public
offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are
unable to complete our initial business combination within such
24-month 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 (which
interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of
interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of
then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely
extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including
the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any),
and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such
redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders
and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each
case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of
creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will
be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect
to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete
our initial business combination within the 24-month time
period.
Our
initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered
into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived
their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account
with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete
our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing
of our initial public offering
or any extended period of time that we may have to consummate an
initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, if our
initial stockholders, sponsor or management team acquired public
shares in or our initial public offering
or in the open market afterwards, they will be entitled to
liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to
such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business
combination within the allotted 24-month time period.
Our initial
stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant
to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any
amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100%
of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business
combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public
offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating
to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination
activity, unless we provide our public stockholders 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 (which
interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of
then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our
public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets
to be less than $5,000,001. If this optional redemption right is
exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such
that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would
not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our
public shares at such time.
We expect that
all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of
dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded
from amounts remaining in working capital held outside the trust
account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account
available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot
assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such
purpose.
If we were to
expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and
the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds
deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account
interest, if any, earned on the trust account and any tax payments
or expenses for the dissolution of the trust, the per-share
redemption amount received by stockholders 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 stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share
redemption amount received by stockholders will not be
substantially less than $10.00. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL,
our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to
be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full,
as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be
paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our
remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such
amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds
sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we
will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our
independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target
businesses and other entities with which we do business execute
agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of
any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the
benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they
will execute such agreements or even if they execute such
agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims
against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent
inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar
claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the
waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to
a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust
account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving
such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management
will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably
available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such
third party if management believes that such third party’s
engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the
circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a
third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement
of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills
are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of
other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases
where management is unable to find a service provider willing to
execute a waiver. The underwriter of our initial public offering
and our independent registered public accounting firm will not
execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held
in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such
entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future
as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or
agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust
account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the
trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us
if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services
rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business
with which we have entered into a written letter of intent,
confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination
agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below
the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual
amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of
the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per
public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets,
less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to
any claims by a third party or prospective target business who
executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the
trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will
it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of
our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including
liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked
our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor
have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient
funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our
sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we
cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those
obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made
against the trust account, the funds available for our initial
business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than
$10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to
complete our initial business combination, and you would receive
such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of
your public shares. None of our officers or directors will
indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without
limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target
businesses.
In the event
that the 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 less
taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy
its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification
obligations related to a particular claim, our independent
directors would determine whether to take legal action against our
sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we
currently expect that our independent directors would take legal
action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its
indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our
independent directors in exercising their business judgment may
choose not to do so in any particular instance. 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 sponsor will have to indemnify
the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have
all vendors, service providers (other than our independent
registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses
or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with
us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to
monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be
liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of
our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including
liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to
$262,671 of proceeds held outside of the trust account (as of
December 31, 2021), 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, stockholder who received funds from our trust account
could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such
liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our
trust account received by any such stockholder.
Under the
DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties
against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by
them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account
distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our
public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business
combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public
offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under
Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures
set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it
makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a
60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be
brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the
corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional
150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are
made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to
a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such
stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed
to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be
barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
Furthermore,
if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our
public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the
event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24
months from the closing of our initial public offering, is not
considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such
redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due
to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or
due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then
pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for
claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful
redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of
a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our
initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of
our initial public 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
(which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of
interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of
then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely
extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including
the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any) and
(iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption,
subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board
of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our
obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors
and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is
our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably
possible following our 24th
month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those
procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable
for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but
no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well
beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we
will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL
requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such
time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending
claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within
the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check
company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will
be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to
acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors
(such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target
businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation
contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all
vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered
public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other
entities with which we do business execute agreements with us
waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to
any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this
obligation, the claims that could be made against us are
significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would
result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote.
Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to
ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below
(i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public
share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation
of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust
assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay
taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity
of the underwriter of our initial public offering against certain
liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the
event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against
a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of
any liability for such third-party claims.
If we file a
bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed
against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust
account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be
included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of
third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. 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 stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition
or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is
not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be
viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as
either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a
result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all
amounts received by our stockholders. 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 stockholders 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
stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust
account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public
shares if we do not complete our initial business combination
within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering,
(ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and
restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or
timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we
do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months
from the closing of our initial public offering or with respect to
any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or
pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem
their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial
business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder
have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our
initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection
with the business combination alone will not result in a
stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata
share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also
exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions
of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all
provisions of our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.
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 special purpose acquisition 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 stockholders 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
Our executive
offices are located at 4553 Glencoe Ave, Suite 200, Marina Del Rey,
CA 90292. We retain this space from an affiliate of our sponsor. We
have agreed to pay our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for
office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to
members of our management team. We consider our current office
space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently
have two executive officers: Matthew Safaii and Thomas Olivier. 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 our 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 have
registered our units, Class A common stock 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 contain financial statements audited and
reported on by our independent registered public accountants
We will
provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the
prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or
tender offer documents sent to stockholders to assist them in
assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial
statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or
reconciled to, generally accepted accounting principles 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) (the
“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool
of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business
combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such
statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance
with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business
combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you
that any particular target business identified by us as a potential
business combination 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 business combination candidates, we do
not believe that this limitation will be
material.
We will be
required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal
year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Only in the
event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an
accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth
company, will we be required to have our internal control
procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with
the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of
their internal controls. The development of the internal controls
of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such
business combination.
We have filed a registration statement on Form 8-A (the
“Registration Statement”) with the SEC to voluntarily register our
securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we
are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the
Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to
suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act
prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business
combination.
We are 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 stockholder approval of any golden parachute
payments not previously approved. If some investors find our
securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active
trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities
may be more volatile.
In addition,
Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth
company” can take advantage of the extended transition period
provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying
with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an
“emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain
accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to
private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of
this extended transition period.
We will remain
an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of
the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the
completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have
total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in
which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means
the market value of our shares of Class A common stock that are
held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June
30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0
billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior
three-year period.
Additionally,
we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of
Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of
certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other
things, providing only two years of audited financial statements.
We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of
the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary
shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior
June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during
such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary
shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior
June 30.
Legal Proceedings
There is no
material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding
currently pending against us or any members of our management team
in their capacity as such.
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 Report, before making a
decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following
events occur, our business, financial condition and operating
results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the
trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose
all or part of your investment.
Summary of Risk Factors
The risk
factors summarized below could materially harm our business,
operating results and/or financial condition, impair our future
prospects and/or cause the price of our common stock to decline.
These risks are discussed more fully following this summary.
Material risks that may affect our business, operating results and
financial condition include, but are not necessarily limited to,
the following:
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We have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no
basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business
objective.
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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, since we will cease all
operations except for the purpose of liquidating if we are unable
to complete an initial business combination by March 4, 2023;
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Past performance by our management team or their respective
affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an
investment in us.
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Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to
vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we
hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such
vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination
even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support
such a combination.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business
combination, our sponsor and members of our management team have
agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination,
regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
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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.
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Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange,
which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our
securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
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The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares
for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential
business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to
enter into a business combination with a target.
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The ability of our public stockholders 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.
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The ability of our public stockholders 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.
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The requirement that we consummate an initial business
combination within 24 months after the closing of our initial
public 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, in particular as we approach our dissolution
deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial
business combination on terms that would produce value for our
stockholders.
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Our search for a business combination, and any target business
with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be
materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19)
outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
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We may effect our initial business combination with a company
located outside of the United States.
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We may not be able to consummate an initial business
combination within 24 months after the closing of our initial
public offering, in which case we would cease all operations except
for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares
and liquidate.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business
combination, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors,
executive officers and their affiliates may elect to purchase
shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may
influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the
public “float” of our Class A common stock.
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If a stockholder 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.
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Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability
to Consummate, a Business Combination
We
have 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 formed company, incorporated under the laws of Delaware
with no operating results. 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 current arrangements
or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a
business combination and may be unable to complete our initial
business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business
combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
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, since we will cease all
operations except for the purpose of liquidating if we are unable
to complete an initial business combination by March 4, 2023.
As of December 31, 2021, we had $262,671 in cash held outside the
trust account to fund our working capital requirements. 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 are discussed in the section of
this Report titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure
you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate 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
report do not include any adjustments that might result from our
inability to continue as a going concern.
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern
considerations in accordance with FASB’s Accounting Standards
Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an
Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has
determined that if the Company is unable to raise additional funds
to alleviate liquidity needs, obtain approval for an extension of
the deadline or complete a Business Combination by March 4, 2023,
then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose
of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory
liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt
about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No
adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or
liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after March
4, 2023. The Company intends to complete a Business Combination
before the mandatory liquidation date or obtain approval for an
extension.
Past performance by our management
team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future
performance of an investment in us.
Information
regarding past performance is presented for informational purposes
only. Any past experience or performance of our management team and
their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our
ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii)
success with respect to any business combination that we may
consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our
management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of the
future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will,
or are likely to, generate going forward. Our management has no
past experience in operating special purpose acquisition
companies.
Our public stockholders may not be
afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business
combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder
shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete
our initial business combination even though a majority of our
public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose
not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business
combination unless the initial business combination would require
stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing
requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for
business or other legal reasons. Except as required by law or the
rules of Nasdaq, the decision as to whether we will seek
stockholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or
will allow stockholders 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 stockholder approval. Even if we seek
stockholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will
participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may
complete our initial business combination even if holders of a
majority of our public shares do not approve of the initial
business combination we complete.
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 our initial business
combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business
combination without seeking stockholder approval, public
stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the
business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote.
Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment
decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited
to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time
(which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender
offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we
describe our initial business combination.
If we seek
stockholder approval of our
initial business combination, our sponsor and members of our
management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial
business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders
vote.
Our initial
stockholders own approximately 20% of our outstanding common stock.
Our initial stockholders and management team also may from
time-to-time purchase Class A common stock prior to our initial
business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder 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 stockholders’ founder
shares, we would need 10,781,250 , or 37.5%, of the 28,750,000
public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in
favor of an initial business combination in order to have our
initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek
stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the
agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote
in favor of our initial business combination will increase the
likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval
for such initial business combination.
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
stockholders 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 shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly
elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein,
(ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in
connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and
restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or
timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we
do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months
from the closing of our initial public offering or with respect to
any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or
pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption
of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial
business combination within 24 months from the closing of our
initial public offering, subject to applicable law and as further
described herein. In addition, if our plan to redeem our public
shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination
within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering is
not completed for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may
require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing
stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds
held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be
forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of our initial
public offering before they receive funds from our trust account.
In no other circumstances will a public stockholder 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.
Nasdaq may delist our securities
from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability
to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional
trading restrictions.
We cannot
assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq
in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In
order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our
initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial,
distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a
minimum average global market capitalization and a minimum number
of holders of our securities.
If Nasdaq delists any of our
securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list
our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect
such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If
this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse
consequences, including:
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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 common stock are a “penny
stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common
stock 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.
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The National
Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, as amended, which is a
federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating
the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered
securities.” Our units, Class A common stock 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 Nasdaq, 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.
The ability of our public
stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial
condition unattractive to potential business combination targets,
which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business
combination with a target.
We
may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement
with minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid
to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other
general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to
satisfy other conditions. If too many public stockholders 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, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to
be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly
submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets
to be less than $5,000,001 or make us unable to satisfy a minimum
cash 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 stockholders 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 stockholders may exercise their redemption
rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based
on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be
submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted
for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to
reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or
arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional
third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the
incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The
above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most
desirable business combination available to us or optimize our
capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting
commissions payable to the underwriter 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 stockholders 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
stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large
number of our shares could increase the probability that our
initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you
would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your
shares.
If our initial
business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the
cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us
to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that
our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is
increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you
would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust
account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of
immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the
open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a
discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In
either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment
or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our
redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares
in the open market.
The requirement that we consummate
an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing
of our initial public 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, in particular as we
approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our
ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that
would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential
target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a
business combination will be aware that we must consummate an
initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of
our initial public 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 time frame described
above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due
diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on
terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive
investigation.
Our search for a business
combination, and any target business with which we ultimately
consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely
affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of
debt and equity markets.
The ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in, and a significant outbreak of
other infectious diseases could result in, a widespread health
crisis that has, and in the future could, adversely affected the
economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any
potential target business with which we consummate a business
combination could be materially and adversely affected.
Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if
concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit
the ability to have meetings with potential investors, limit the
ability to conduct due diligence, or the target company’s
personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to
negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The
extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business
combination will depend on future developments, which are highly
uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which
may emerge concerning the severity of and perceptions to COVID-19
and the actions to contain COVID-19 and its variants or treat its
impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other
matters of global concern continue, our ability to consummate a
business combination, or the operations of a target business with
which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be
materially adversely affected.
In addition,
our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the
ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted
by COVID-19
and other events, including as a result of increased market
volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing
being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19
may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks
described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to
the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
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:
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costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border
business operations;
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rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
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complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
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laws governing the manner in which future business
combinations may be effected;
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exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
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tariffs and trade barriers;
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regulations related to customs and import/export
matters;
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local or regional economic policies and market
conditions;
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unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
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tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws
as compared to the United States;
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currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
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challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
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cultural and language differences;
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employment regulations;
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underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory
systems;
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protection of intellectual property;
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social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil
disturbances;
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regime changes and political upheaval;
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terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and
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deterioration of political relations with the United
States.
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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.
We may not be
able to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months
after the closing of our initial public offering, in which case we
would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and
we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not
be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an
initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of
our initial public offering. Our ability to complete our initial
business combination may be negatively impacted by general market
conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the
other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of
COVID-19 continues to
grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the
impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it
could limit our ability to complete our initial business
combination, including as a result of increased market volatility,
decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being
unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the
outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek
to acquire. If we have not consummated an initial business
combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease
all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as
promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days
thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable
in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust
account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust
account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to
$100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the
number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will
completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders
(including the right to receive further liquidating distributions,
if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following
such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining
stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve,
subject in each case, to our obligations under Delaware law to
provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other
applicable law.
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination,
our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers
and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public
warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a
proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our
Class A common stock.
If we seek
stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do
not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business
combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor,
initial stockholders, directors, executive officers 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,
although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit
on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors,
officers or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions,
subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules.
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 purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such
stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no
longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to
exercise its redemption rights.
In the event
that our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive
officers or their affiliates purchase shares in privately
negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already
elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling
stockholders 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 stockholder
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. We expect
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.
In addition,
if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A
common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial
holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it
difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading
of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If
a
stockholder 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
stockholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer
documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of
the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials
or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to
holders of our public shares in connection with our initial
business combination will describe the various procedures that must
be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares
for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public
stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether
they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to,
at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to
our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer
agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy
materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of
proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to
the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business
combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection
with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder
seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written
request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days
prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such
shares is included. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply
with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender
offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be
redeemed.
As the number
of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets
increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be
more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the
cost of our initial business combination and could even result in
our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business
combination.
In recent
years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that
have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential
targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already
entered into an initial business combination, and there are still
many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for
their initial business combination, as well as many such companies
currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive
targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort
and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate
an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more
special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an
initial business combination with available targets, the
competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or
business models may increase, which could cause target companies to
demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become
scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector
downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of
additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate
targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of,
delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and
consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our
inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms
favorable to our investors altogether.
Changes in the
market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it
more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete
an initial business combination.
Recently, the
market for directors and officers liability insurance for special
purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and
our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes
for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged
for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such
policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may
continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased
availability of directors and officers liability insurance could
make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an
initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and
officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of
becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity
might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or
both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and
officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the
post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified
officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to
complete an initial business combination, our directors and
officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims
arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial
business combination. As a result, in order to protect our
directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may
need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such
claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would
be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and
could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an
initial business combination on terms favorable to our
investors.
If we seek
stockholder 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
stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A
common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares
in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder
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
certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder,
together with any affiliate of such stockholder
or any other person with whom such stockholder
is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13
of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares
with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in
our initial public offering without our prior consent, which we
refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent.
However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ 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 hares, 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 are unable to
complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders
may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust
account that are available for distribution to public stockholders,
and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition
from other entities having a business objective similar to ours,
including private investors (which may be individuals or investment
partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities,
domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses
we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are
well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and
effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies
operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of
these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and
other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do
and our financial resources will be relatively limited when
contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we
believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially
acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and
the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete
with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that
are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources.
This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in
pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore,
we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to
redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business
combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender
offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the
resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any
of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in
successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable
to complete our initial business combination, our public
stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds
in the trust account that are available for distribution to public
stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. 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 stockholder vote or via a tender
offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the
resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any
of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in
successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable
to complete our initial business combination, our public
stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds
in the trust account that are available for distribution to public
stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net
proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private
placement warrants not being held in the trust account are
insufficient to allow us to operate for the 24 months following the
closing of our initial public offering, it could limit the amount
available to fund our search for a target business or businesses
and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and
we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members
of our management team to fund our search and to complete our
initial business combination.
As of
December 31, 2021, we had $262,671 in cash held outside the trust
account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that
the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together
with funds available from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or
members of our management team will be sufficient to allow us to
operate until March 4, 2023; however, we cannot assure you that our
estimate is accurate, and our sponsor, its affiliates or members of
our management team are under no obligation to advance funds to us
in such circumstances. 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 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 are required to seek
additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor,
its affiliates, members of our management team or other third
parties to operate or we may be forced to liquidate. None of our
sponsor, members of our management team nor their affiliates is
under any obligation to us in such circumstances. Any such advances
may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or
from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business
combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into
warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of
$1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would
be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the
completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to
seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or
members of our management team 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
have not consummated our initial business combination within the
required time period because we do not have sufficient funds
available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and
liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders
may only receive an estimated $10.00 per public share, or possibly
less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will
expire worthless. See “—If third parties bring claims against us,
the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the
per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less
than $10.00 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
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 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.
Our
stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against
us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption
of their shares.
Under the
DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties
against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by
them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account
distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our
public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business
combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public
offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under
Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set
forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes
reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day
notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought
against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the
corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional
150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are
made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to
a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such
stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed
to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be
barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it
is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably
possible following the 24th month from the closing of our initial
public offering in the event we do not complete our initial
business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply
with the foregoing procedures.
Because we
will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL
requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such
time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending
claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within
the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a
blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our
operations will be limited to searching for prospective target
businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be
from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or
prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies
with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with
respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of
such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount
distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the
stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of
the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess
all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our
stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the
extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any
liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third
anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of
our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the
redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our
initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of
our initial public offering is not considered a liquidating
distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is
deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal
proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances
that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the
DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then
be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of
three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
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 target 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 target, we cannot assure you that we will adequately
ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also
cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not
ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our
securities than a direct investment, if an opportunity were
available, in a business combination target. 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 Report regarding the areas of our management’s
expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business
that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be
able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk
factors. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their
securities following the business combination could suffer a
reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are
unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they
are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the
breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other
fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully
bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy
solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to
the business combination contained an actionable material
misstatement or material omission.
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 stockholders or warrant holders do not agree.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation does 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. In addition, our
proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash
requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or
its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general
corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other
conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial
business combination even though a substantial majority of our
public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have
redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our
initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in
connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the
tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated
agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors
or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash
consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A
common stock 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 in connection with such initial business
combination, all shares of Class A common stock 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, special purpose
acquisition 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 certificate of
incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make
it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that
our stockholders may not support.
In order to
effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition
companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of
their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant
agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have
amended the definition of business combination, increased
redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an
initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants,
amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be
exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval
of holders of 65% of our common stock, and amending our warrant
agreement will require a vote of holders of at least a majority of
the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to
the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the
warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants,
50% of the number of then outstanding private placement warrants.
In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
requires us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity
to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment
to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify
the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our
public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination
within 24 months of the closing of our initial public offering or with respect to any other material
provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business
combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be
deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered
through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an
exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot
assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing
instruments or extend the time t
You will not be
entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many
other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our
initial public offering and the sale of the private placement
warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business
combination with a target business that has not been selected, we
may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States
securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets
in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of our initial public
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 we 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.
Subsequent to
our completion of our initial business combination, we may be
required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and
impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative
effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the
price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all
of your investment.
Even if we
conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we
combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all
material issues that may be present with a particular target
business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues
through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors
outside of the target business and outside of our control will not
later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to
later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations,
or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our
reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies
certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known
risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our
preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be
non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity,
the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to
negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In
addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth
or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of
assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue
of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial
business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders
or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant
holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction
in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant
holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value
unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was
due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or
other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to
successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the
proxy materials or tender offer documents, 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of
funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third
party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors,
service providers (other than our independent registered public
accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities
with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any
right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies
held in the trust account for the benefit of our public
stockholders, 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 consider whether
competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will
only enter into an agreement with such third party if management
believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best
interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriter
of our initial public offering as well as our registered
independent public accounting firm will not execute agreements with
us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust
account.
Examples of
possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses
to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party
consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by
management to be significantly superior to those of other
consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where
management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute
a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities
will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a
result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or
agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust
account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we
are unable to complete our initial business combination within the
prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in
connection with our initial business combination, we will be
required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were
not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years
following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount
received by public stockholders 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, our sponsor,
officers and directors have entered into, our sponsor has agreed
that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a
third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a
prospective target business with which we have entered into a
written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar
agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of
funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per
public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in
the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust
account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in
the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that
such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or
prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all
rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such
waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our
indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering
against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the
Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve
for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently
verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its
indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets
are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that
our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a
result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust
account, the funds available for our initial business combination
and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public
share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial
business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per
share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None
of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third
parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and
prospective target businesses.
Our directors
may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our
sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the
trust account available for distribution to our public
stockholders.
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 public share
held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the
trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to
reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less
taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy
its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations
related to a particular claim, our independent directors would
determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to
enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect
that our independent directors would take legal action on our
behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification
obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in
exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary
duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our
independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification
obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for
distribution to our public stockholders 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 consummate
an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our
officers and directors may discourage stockholders 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 stockholders. Furthermore, a
stockholder 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
stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a
bankruptcy 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
stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any
distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under
applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a
“preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result,
a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts
received by our stockholders. 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, by paying public
stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims
of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive
damages.
If, before
distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public
stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the
claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the
claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would
otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our
liquidation may be reduced.
If, before
distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public
stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the
proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable
bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and
subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the
claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims
deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would
otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our
liquidation may be reduced.
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.
Our efforts to
identify a prospective initial business combination target are not
limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region.
While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in
any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of
our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or
businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established
global relationships and operating experience. Our management team
has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic
investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of
sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another
blank check company or similar company with nominal operations.
Because we have not yet selected 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 stockholders or warrant holders who choose to
remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business
combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their
securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to
have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to
successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our
officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty
owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private
claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender
offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business
combination contained an actionable material misstatement or
material omission.
Although we
have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are
important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter
into our initial business combination with a target that does not
meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target
business with which we enter into our initial business combination
may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general
criteria and guidelines.
Although we
have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating
prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target
business with which we enter into our initial business combination
will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our
initial business combination with a target that does not meet some
or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as
successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of
our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a
prospective business combination with a target that does not meet
our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of
stockholders 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 stockholder approval of the
transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder
approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more
difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial
business combination if the target business does not meet our
general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our
initial business combination, our public stockholders may only
receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account
that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our
warrants will expire worthless.
We may issue
additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of preferred
stock to complete our initial business combination or under an
employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business
combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock 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 certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would
dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other
risks.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance
of up to 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value
$0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par
value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock,
par value $0.0001 per share. As of the date of this Report, there
were be 171,250,000 and 12,812,500 authorized but unissued shares
of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively,
available for issuance which amount does not take into account
shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants
or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B common stock. The
Class B common stock is automatically convertible into Class A
common stock upon the consummation of our initial business
combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to
adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation. As of December 31, 2021, there were
no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a
substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock or
shares of preferred stock to complete our initial business
combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of
our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class
A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a
ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business
combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set
forth therein. However, our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to 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 as a class with our public shares
(a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an
amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination
beyond 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or
(y) amend the foregoing provisions. These provisions of our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of
our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be
amended with a stockholder vote. The issuance of additional shares
of common stock or shares of preferred stock:
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may significantly dilute the equity interest of our investors,
which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in
the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A common
stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the
Class B common stock;
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may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock
if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those
afforded our Class A common stock;
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could cause a change in control if a substantial number of
Class A common stock 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 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;
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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units,
Class A common stock and/or warrants; and
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may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our
warrants.
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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 have not consummated
our initial business combination within the required time period,
our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per
public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation
of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We 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 have not consummated our initial business
combination within the required time period, our public
stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public
share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our
trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 this Report
for the year ending
December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large
accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as
an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the
independent registered public accounting firm attestation
requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The
fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the
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 with the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to
complete any such acquisition.
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 holders who choose to retain their
securities following the business combination could suffer a
reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are
unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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 stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we
have no commitments as of the date of this Report to issue any
notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding
debt following our initial public offering, we may choose to incur
substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We
and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any
indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of
any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies
held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect
the per-share
amount available for redemption from the trust account.
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 is payable on demand;
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our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the
debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such
financing while the debt is outstanding;
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our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common
stock;
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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 common stock if declared, expenses,
capital expenditures, acquisitions and 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, execution of our strategy and other purposes and
other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less
debt.
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We may only be
able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our
initial public offering and the sale of the private placement
warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single
business which may have a limited number of products or services.
This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations
and profitability.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and marketable securities held
in the trust account of $287,523,634 (including $23,634 of
interest) available to consummate an initial business combination
after payment of the estimated expenses of our initial public
offering and $10,062,500 of deferred underwriting fees.
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.
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This lack of
diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive
and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial
adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate
subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt
to 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
into a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately
address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability
and results of operations.
We may attempt
to complete our initial business combination with a private company
about which little information is available, which may result in a
business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we
suspected, if at all.
In pursuing
our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial
business combination with a privately held company. Very little
public information generally exists about private companies, and we
could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a
potential initial business combination on the basis of limited
information, which may result in a business combination with a
company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Because we must
furnish our stockholders 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, or GAAP, or
international financial reporting standards as issued by the
International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the
circumstances and the historical financial statements may be
required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the
PCAOB, or 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.
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 restrictions on
the nature of our investments and restrictions on the issuance of
securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete
our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed
upon us burdensome requirements, including registration as an
investment company, adoption of a specific form of corporate
structure and reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and
disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. 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 consummate our initial business combination.
The provisions
of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that
relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding
provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our
trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of 65%
of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that
of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be
easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an
initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not
support.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation provide that any of its
provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including
the requirement to deposit proceeds of our initial public offering
and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and
not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to
provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described
herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common
stock entitled to vote thereon and corresponding provisions of the
trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust
account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common
stock entitled to vote thereon. If we amend such provisions of our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation, provide our
public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public
shares in connection with a stockholder meeting. In all other
instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common
stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of
the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial
stockholders, who collectively beneficially own 20% of our common
stock as of the date of this Report, may participate in any vote to
amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation 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 certificate of incorporation which govern
our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other
special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our
ability to complete a business combination with which you do not
agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any
breach of our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation.
Our sponsor,
executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to written
agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the
substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public
shares if we do not complete our initial business combination
within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or
with respect to any other material provisions relating to
stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity,
unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to
redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such
amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the
aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including
interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which
interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of
then outstanding public shares. Our stockholders are not parties
to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a
result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our
sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees for any
breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach,
our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative
action, subject to applicable law.
We may be
unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial
business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a
target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a
particular business combination.
We have not
selected any specific business combination target but intend to
target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we
could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering
and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the
cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available
from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any
redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek
additional financing to complete such proposed initial business
combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be
available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that
additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to
complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to
either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular
business combination and seek an alternative target business
candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional
financing in connection with the closing of our initial business
combination for general corporate purposes, including for
maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction
businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on
indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business
combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are
unable to complete our initial business combination, our public
stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds
in the trust account that are available for distribution to public
stockholders, 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 stockholders is required to provide any
financing to us in connection with or after our initial business
combination.
Risks Relating to Our
Securities
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 a majority of the then outstanding public warrants. As a
result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the
exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of
Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could
be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants
will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between
Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent,
and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the
warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure
any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the
approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then
outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely
affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a
manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least a majority of the
then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment.
Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with
the consent of at least a majority of the then outstanding public
warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be
amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of
the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio
different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or
decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable
upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrant
agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and
proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which
could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable
judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant
agreement provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action,
proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any
way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act,
will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York
or the United States District Court for the Southern District of
New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction,
which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such
action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such
exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an
inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant
agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability
or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which
the federal district courts of the United States of America are the
sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or
otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be
deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum
provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject
matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the
warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the
State of New York or the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of
any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have
consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and
federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with
any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum
provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of
process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement
action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign
action as agent for such warrant holder.
This
choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to
bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for
disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits.
Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our
warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one
or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may
incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in
other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect
our business, financial condition and results of operations and
result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management
and board of directors.
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 outstanding warrants at any time after they
become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of
$0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A
common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for
stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations,
recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30
trading-day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable
and ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such
redemption provided that on the date we give notice of redemption.
We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration
statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A
common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective
and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common
stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except
if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such
cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities
Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may
exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or
qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable
state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants 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, is likely to 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 their initial purchasers or their permitted
transferees.
Our
warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our
Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our
initial business combination.
In connection
with our initial public offering and the full over-allotment option
exercised by our underwriter, we issued warrants to purchase
14,375,000 of our Class A common stock as part of the units offered
in our initial public offering, and we issued in a private
placement an aggregate of 8,250,000 private placement
warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A common stock at
$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Our initial stockholders
currently own an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares.
In addition,
if our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our
officers and directors makes any working capital loans, such lender
may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private
placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. To the
extent we issue common stock to effectuate a business transaction,
the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of
additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these
warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a
target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the
number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and
reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the
business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more
difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost
of acquiring the target business.
Because each Unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole
warrant may be exercised, the Units may be worth less than units of
other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each Unit contains one-half 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 shares of Class A common
stock to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from
other offerings similar to ours whose units include one common
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-half 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.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the
consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay
the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are
not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year
after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq.
Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold
an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing
directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is
made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold
an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to
the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we
may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which
requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us
to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial
business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by
submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in
accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
Provisions in
our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware
law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price
investors might be willing to pay in the future for our shares of
Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation contain provisions that
may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may
consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a
staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of
directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of
preferred stock, 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.
We are also
subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could
delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may
make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage
transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over
prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to
the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions
brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other
employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and certain
other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the
State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the
stockholder bringing the suit will, subject to certain exceptions,
be deemed to have consented to service of process on such
stockholder’s counsel, which may have the effect of discouraging
lawsuits against our directors, officers, other employees or
stockholders.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest
extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our
name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or
stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions
may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of
Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder
bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of
process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to
which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines
that there is an indispensable party not subject to the
jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party
does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of
Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which
is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other
than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery
does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity
purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our
capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to
the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit or make
more costly a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial
forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our
directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may
discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if
a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be
inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional
costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions,
which could harm our business, operating results and financial
condition.
Our amended
and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the
exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent
permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section
27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over
all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the
Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result,
the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to
enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any
other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive
jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the
selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of
the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted
by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint
asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, or
the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however,
that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this
provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the
federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction
for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any
duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and
regulations thereunder.
The grant of
registration rights to our initial stockholders and holders of our
private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete
our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such
rights may adversely affect the market price of our shares of Class
A common stock.
Pursuant to an
agreement to be entered into concurrently with our initial public
offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees
can demand that we register the shares of Class A common stock into
which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private
placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that
we register the private placement warrants and the Class A common
stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and
holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working
capital loans may demand that we register such warrants or the
Class A common stock 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 common
stock issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. We
will bear the cost of registering these securities. The
registration and availability of such a significant number of
securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse
effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In
addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our
initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude.
This is because the stockholders 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 common stock that is expected when the
shares of common stock owned by our initial stockholders, holders
of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital
loans or their respective permitted transferees are
registered.
Unlike some
other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies,
our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A
common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial
business combination.
The founder
shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common
stock upon the consummation of our initial business combination on
a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock
dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and
subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that
additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked
securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our
initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A
common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will
equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total
number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such
conversion, including the total number of shares of Class A common
stock 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
consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any
shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or
rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common
stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial
business combination and any private placement warrants issued to
our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working
capital loans, provided that such conversion of founder shares will
never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. This is different
than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition
companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an
aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding
prior to our initial business combination.
Our sponsor
controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a
substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner
that you do not support.
Our initial
stockholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock.
Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions
requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do
not support, including amendments to our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase
any additional Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in
privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their
control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional
purchases would include consideration of the current trading price
of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors,
whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided
into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms
for three years with only one class of directors being elected in
each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to
elect 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 meeting, as a consequence of our
“staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of
directors will be considered for election and our initial
stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have
considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our
initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until
the completion of our initial business combination.
Risks Relating to Our Management
Team
We are
dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss
could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our
operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of
individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and
directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued
service of our officers and directors, at least until we have
completed our initial business combination. In addition, our
executive officers and directors are not required to commit any
specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have
conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various
business activities, including identifying potential business
combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not
have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of,
any of our directors or executive officers.
The unexpected loss of the services
of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a
detrimental effect on us.
Neither
Arrowroot Capital nor any of its affiliates has an obligation to
provide us with potential investment opportunities or to devote any
specified amount of time or support to our company’s
business.
Although we
expect we may benefit from Arrowroot Capital and its affiliates’
networks of relationships and processes for sourcing and evaluating
potential acquisition targets, neither it nor any of its affiliates
has any legal or contractual obligation to seek on our behalf or
present to us investment opportunities that might be suitable for
our business, and they may allocate any such opportunities at their
discretion to us or other parties. We have no investment
management, advisory, consulting or other agreement in place with
Arrowroot Capital or any of its affiliates that obligates them to
undertake efforts on our behalf or that govern the manner in which
they will allocate investment opportunities. Moreover, even if
Arrowroot Capital or one of its affiliates refers an opportunity to
us, there can be no assurance that such an opportunity will result
in an acquisition agreement or a business combination.
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 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 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. In
addition, pursuant to an agreement t, our sponsor, upon and
following consummation of an initial business combination, will be
entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of
directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by
the registration and stockholder rights agreement.
We may have a
limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target
business and, as a result, may effect our initial business
combination with a target business whose management may not have
the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public
company.
When
evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business
combination with a prospective target business, our ability to
assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a
lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the
capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may
prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills,
qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target
business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or
abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and
profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively
impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who
choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the
business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their
securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to
have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to
successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our
officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty
owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private
claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender
offer materials, as applicable, relating
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 per
week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as
officers and board members for other entities. If our executive
officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to
devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of
their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to
devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our
ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers
and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may
have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to
other entities and clients of other entities and, accordingly, may
have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a
particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we
consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in
the business of identifying and combining with one or more
businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and
any of them in the future may have additional fiduciary,
contractual or other obligations to other entities or to clients of
Arrowroot Capital or other affiliates of our sponsor 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, contractual or other obligations, he or she
will honor his or her fiduciary, contractual or other obligations
to present such opportunity to such entity and only present it to
us if such entity rejects the opportunity and he or she determines
to present the opportunity to us (including as described above).
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. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary
duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will
materially affect our ability to complete our business
combination.
In addition,
our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form
other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may
pursue other business or investment ventures, even prior to us
entering into a definitive agreement for our initial business
combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may
present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial
business combination. However, we do not believe that any such
potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete
our initial business combination.
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
sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not
intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits
any such persons from engaging for their own account in business
activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons
or entities may have a conflict between their interests and
ours.
The personal and financial
interests of our directors and officers may influence their
motivation in timely identifying and selecting a 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
stockholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a
breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law
and we or our stockholders might have a claim against such
individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. 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
sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial stockholders
which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and
directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more
businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers,
directors or initial stockholders. Our directors also serve as
officers and board members for other entities. Our founders,
sponsor, officers and directors 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
founders, sponsor, 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 and guidelines for a business combination and such
transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and
disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion
from an independent investment banking firm or another independent
entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the
fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a
business combination with one or more domestic or international
businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers,
directors or initial stockholders, 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 stockholders
as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our
sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire
investment in us if our initial business combination is not
completed (other than with respect to public shares they may
acquire during or after our initial
public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in
determining whether a particular business combination target is
appropriate for our initial business combination.
In November
2020 our sponsor paid $30,000 in exchange for 5,750,000 founder
shares. On December 31, 2020, we effectuated a 5-for-4 stock split,
resulting in 7,187,500 founder shares outstanding and held by our
sponsor. In addition, in January 2021, our sponsor transferred
40,000 founder shares to each of Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Gaurav
Dhillon, our non-employee directors at the time of our initial
public offering. Prior to the initial investment in the company of
$30,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or
intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined
by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the
number of founder shares issued.
The founder
shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business
combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an
aggregate of 8,250,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable
to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share,
at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $8,250,000, that will also be
worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination.
These personal and financial interests of our executive officers,
directors and members of our sponsor 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 our initial public offering nears,
which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business
combination.
Our management
may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our
initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that,
upon loss of control of a target business, new management will
possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to
profitably operate such business.
We may
structure our initial business combination so that the
post-transaction company in which our public stockholders 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 stockholders prior to the business combination
may collectively own a minority interest in the post business
combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target
and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a
transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of
Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital
stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest
in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a
substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock, our
stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less
than a majority of our outstanding Class A common stock subsequent
to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders 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.
General Risk Factors
We have
identified a material weakness in our internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. If we are unable to
develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over
financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our
financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect
investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our
business and operating results.
Notwithstanding the advice on the
specific matter also obtained from professional third parties,
during our third fiscal quarter of this year, we identified a
material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting
related to the Company’s accounting and reporting of complex
financial instruments, including application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A
to its accounting classification of public shares. As a result of
this material weakness, our management has concluded that our
disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of
December 31, 2021. We have taken a number of measures to remediate
the material weaknesses described herein. However, if we are unable
to remediate our material weaknesses in a timely manner or we
identify additional material weaknesses, we may be unable to
provide required financial information in a timely and reliable
manner and we may incorrectly report financial information.
Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely
basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the
stock exchange on which our shares of Class A common stock are
listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. The existence of
material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting
could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of
us, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our
shares. We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken
and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness
identified or that any additional material weaknesses or
restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due
to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control
over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. Even
if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures,
in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to
prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the
fair presentation of our financial statements.
A material weakness is a
deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control
over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable
possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim
financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and
corrected on a timely basis.
Effective internal controls are
necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent
fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material
weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and
costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will
ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material
weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material
weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a
misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a
material misstatement of our annual or interim financial
statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance
with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of
periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing
requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial
reporting and our share price may decline as a result. We cannot
assure you that any measures we may take in the future, will be
sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We can give no assurance that the
measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will
remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional
material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not
arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain
adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention
of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in
strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those
controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify
irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of
our consolidated financial statements.
We may face
litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in
our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of
such material weakness, the restatement, the change in accounting
for the temporary equity, the resulting material weakness and other
matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we
face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include,
among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities
laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the
restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over
financial reporting and the preparation of our financial
statements. As of the date of this Report, we have no knowledge of
any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no
assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the
future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not,
could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of
operations and financial condition or our ability to complete an
initial business combination.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in
value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial
results.
As a result of the SEC staff statement dated April 12, 2021, we
reevaluated the accounting treatment of our public warrants,
private placement warrants and forward purchase warrants, and
determined that our warrants should be reclassified as derivative
liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each
period reported in earnings.
Therefore, included on our balance
sheet as of December 31, 2021, contained elsewhere in this Report
are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained
within our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815-40,
“Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts on an Entity’s Own Equity”,
provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such
derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash
gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being
recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result
of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements
and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on
factors, which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring
fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash
gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the
amount of such gains or losses could be material.
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.
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 are 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.
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 stockholder
approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain
information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth
company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us
to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our
Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700
million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would
no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following
December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our
securities less attractive because we will rely on these
exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive
as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices
of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there
may be a less active trading market for our securities and the
trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further,
Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies
from being required to comply with new or revised financial
accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that
have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared
effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the
Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised
financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a
company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and
comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but
any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not
to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when
a standard is issued or revised and it has different application
dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth
company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private
companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make
comparison of our financial statements with those of another public
company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging
growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition
period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences
in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller
reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation
S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of
certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other
things, providing only two years of audited financial statements.
We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of
the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock
held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the
prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100
million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of
our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700
million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of
such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of
our financial statements with those of other public companies
difficult or impossible.
Global
economic, political and market conditions may adversely affect our
business and our ability an attractive target business with
which to consummate our initial business combination.
Various social
and political circumstances in the U.S. and around the world
(including wars and other forms of conflict, including rising trade
tensions between the United States and China, and other
uncertainties regarding actual and potential shifts in the U.S. and
foreign, trade, economic and other policies with other countries,
terrorist acts, security operations and catastrophic events such as
fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and global health
epidemics), may also contribute to increased market volatility and
economic uncertainties or deterioration in the U.S. and worldwide.
Specifically, the rising conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and
resulting market volatility, could adversely affect global
economic, political and market conditions and our ability to
attract target businesses with which to consummate our initial
business combination. In response to the conflict between Russia
and Ukraine, the U.S. and other countries have imposed sanctions or
other restrictive actions against Russia. Any of the above factors,
including sanctions, export controls, tariffs, trade wars and other
governmental actions, could have a material adverse effect on our
business, and could cause the market value of our securities to
decline. These market and economic disruptions could also
negatively impact our ability to identify and evaluate target
businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target
businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar
locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives
or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of
prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and
complete a business combination.
We are subject
to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters,
corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both
our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject
to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including,
for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of
investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are
publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under
applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws
and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to
result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a
diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business
combination target.
Moreover, because these laws,
regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations,
their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance
becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing
uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs
necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance
practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations
and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our
business may be harmed.
Item 1B. |
Unresolved Staff Comments
|
None.
Our executive
offices are located at 4553 Glencoe Ave, Suite 200, Marina Del Rey,
CA 90292. We retain this space from an affiliate of our sponsor. We
have agreed to pay our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for
office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to
members of our management team. We consider our current office
space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. |
Legal Proceedings
|
To the
knowledge of our management, there is no litigation currently
pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or
directors in their capacity as such or against any of our
property.
Item 4. |
Mine Safety Disclosures
|
Not applicable.
Item 5. |
Market for Registrant’s Common
Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity
Securities
|
(a) Market Information
Our units,
Class A ordinary and warrants are each traded on the Nasdaq under
the symbols “ARRWU,” “ARRW” and “ARRWW,” respectively.
(b) Holders
As
of December 31, 2021, there was 1 holder of record of our units, 1
holder of record of our Class A common stock, 4 holders of record
for our Class B common stock and were 2 holders of record for our
warrants.
(c)
Dividends
We have not
paid any cash dividends on our common stock 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.
Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business
combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by
restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection
therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for
Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None
(e) Performance Graph
Not applicable.
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered
Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings.
Unregistered Sales
In November
2020 our sponsor paid $30,000 in exchange for 5,750,000 founder
shares. On December 31, 2020, we effectuated a 5-for-4 stock split,
resulting in 7,187,500 founder shares outstanding and held by our
sponsor. In addition, in January 2021, our sponsor transferred
40,000 founder shares to each of Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Gaurav
Dhillon, our non-employee directors at the time of this transfer.
Such securities were issued in connection with our organization
pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section
4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited
investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D.
On March 4, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of
28,750,000 units, including 3,750,000 units as a result of the
underwriter’s full exercise of their over-allotment option, at an
offering price of $10.00 per unit and a private placement with our
sponsor of 8,250,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00
per warrant. The net proceeds from the initial public offering
together with certain of the proceeds from the Private Placement,
$287,500,000 in the aggregate (the “Offering Proceeds”), were
placed in a trust account established for the benefit of the
Company’s public stockholders and the underwriter of our initial
public offering with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company
acting as trustee. This Private Placement was made pursuant to the
exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the
Securities Act and no underwriting discounts or commissions were
paid with respect to such sale.
Use of Proceeds
On December
21, 2020, the sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the
Company (the “First Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the
Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000.
The outstanding balance under the First Promissory Note of $149,992
was repaid at the closing of the initial public offering on March
4, 2021.
Following the initial public
offering, the full exercise of the over-allotment option, and the
sale of the private placement warrants, a total of $287,500,000 was
placed in a segregated non-interest bearing trust account, located
in the United State. We incurred $16,392,714 in transaction costs
related to the initial public offering, consisting of $5,750,000 in
cash underwriting fees, $10,062,500 of deferred underwriting fees
and $580,214 of other offering costs. The net proceeds of the
initial public offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the
private placement warrants are invested 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.
We paid a total of $5,750,000 in
underwriting discounts and commissions and approximately $580,214
for other costs and expenses related to the initial public
offering. In addition, the underwriter agreed to defer $10,062,500
in underwriting discounts and commissions.
(g) Purchases of Equity Securities
by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Item 7. |
Management’s Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
|
The following discussion and
analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of
operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial
statements and the notes related thereto which are included in
“Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this
Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and
analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our
actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking
statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth
under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item
1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report.
Overview
We are a blank check company formed
under the laws of the State of Delaware on November 5, 2020 for the
purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset
acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business
combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate
our business combination using cash from the proceeds of the
initial public offering and the sale of the private placement
warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock
and debt.
We expect to continue to incur
significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We
cannot assure you that our plans to complete a business combination
will be successful.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any
operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities
through December 31, 2021 were organizational activities, those
necessary to prepare for the initial public offering, described
below, and identifying a target company for a business combination.
We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the
completion of our business combination. We generate non-operating
income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held
in the trust account. We incur expenses as a result of being a
public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and
auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had net income of
$4,844,863, which consists of income of $8,680,000 derived from
changes in fair value of the warrant liabilities and interest
income earned on investments held in the trust account of $23,634,
offset by general and administrative costs of $3,858,771.
For the period from November 5,
2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of
$1,724, which consisted of formation and operational costs.
Liquidity and Going Concern
On March 4, 2021, we consummated our initial public Offering of
28,750,000 Units which includes the full exercise by the
underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 3,750,000
Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of
$287,500,000. Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public
offering, we consummated the sale of 8,250,000 private placement
warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant in a
private placement to Arrowroot Acquisition LLC, generating gross
proceeds of $8,250,000.
Following our initial public offering, the full exercise of the
over-allotment option, and the sale of the private placement
warrants, a total of $287,500,000 was placed in the trust account.
We incurred $16,392,714 in transaction costs related to our initial
public offering, consisting of $5,750,000 in cash underwriting
fees, net of reimbursements, $10,062,500 of deferred underwriting
fees and $580,214 of other offering costs.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in operating
activities was $2,436,432. Net income of $4,844,863 was affected by
income related to the change in fair value of the warrant
liabilities of $8,680,000, transaction costs allocable to warrants
of $760,022 and interest earned on marketable securities held in
trust account of $23,634. Net changes in operating assets and
liabilities provided $662,317 of cash for operating
activities.
For the period from November 5,
2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, cash used in operating
activities was $683. Net loss of $1,724 was affected by the changes
in operating assets and liabilities, which provided $1,041 of cash
for operating activities.
As of December 31, 2021, we had
cash and marketable securities held in the trust account of
$287,523,634 (including $23,634 of interest) consisting of money
market funds which invest primarily in U.S. Treasury Bills with a
maturity of 185 days or less. Interest income on the balance in the
trust account may be used by us to pay taxes. Through December 31,
2021, we have not withdrawn any interest earned from the trust
account.
We intend to use substantially all
of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts
representing interest earned on the trust account (less income
taxes payable), to complete our business combination. To the extent
that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as
consideration to complete our business combination, the remaining
proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital
to finance the operations of the target business or businesses,
make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
As of December 31, 2021, we had
cash of $262,671. We intend to use the funds held outside the trust
account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses,
perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses,
travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of
prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners,
review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective
target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business
combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance
transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the
sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors or their
affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be
required. If we complete a business combination, we would repay
such loaned amounts. In the event that a business combination does
not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside
the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from
our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to
$1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into
warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of
$1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the private
placement warrants.
On December 29, 2021, the sponsor issued an unsecured promissory
note to the Company (the “Second Promissory Note”), pursuant to
which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of
$1,500,000, of which $750,000 was funded by the sponsor upon
execution of the Second Promissory Note. The Second
Promissory Note, which may be further drawn down from time to
time prior to the Maturity Date (as defined below) upon request by
the Company, is subject to the sponsor’s approval and does not bear
interest. The principal balance of the note will be payable on the
earliest to occur of (i) the date on which the Company consummates
its initial business combination or (ii) the date that the winding
up of the Company is effective (such date, the “Maturity Date”). In
the event the Company consummates its initial business combination,
the Sponsor has the option on the Maturity Date to convert all or
any portion of the principal outstanding under the Note into that
number of warrants (“Working Capital Warrants”) equal to the
portion of the principal amount of the Note being converted divided
by $1.00, rounded up to the nearest whole number. The terms of the
Working Capital Warrants, if any, would be identical to the terms
of the private placement warrants issued by the Company at the time
of its initial public offering, for the initial public offering
dated March 4, 2021 and filed with the SEC, including the transfer
restrictions applicable thereto. The Second Promissory is subject
to customary events of default, the occurrence of certain of which
automatically triggers the unpaid principal balance of the Second
Promissory and all other sums payable with regard to the Second
Promissory becoming immediately due and payable. As of December 31,
2021, there was $750,000 outstanding under this Second Promissory
Note. Funds drawn down from the Secondary Promissory Note were used
to fund working capital and to finance transaction costs in
connection with a business combination including paying our
advisors.
If our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business,
undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business
combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, 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 business combination or
because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our
public shares upon consummation of our business combination, in
which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in
connection with such business combination.
Going Concern
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern
considerations in accordance with FASB’s Accounting Standards
Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an
Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has
determined that if the Company is unable to raise additional funds
to alleviate liquidity needs, obtain approval for an extension of
the deadline or complete a Business Combination by March 4, 2023,
then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose
of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory
liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt
about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No
adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or
liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after March
4, 2023. The Company intends to complete a Business Combination
before the mandatory liquidation date or obtain approval for an
extension.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing
Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or
liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet
arrangements as of December 31, 2021. We do not participate in
transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities
or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest
entities, which would have been established for the purpose of
facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered
into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any
special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of
other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt,
capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term
liabilities, other than an agreement to pay the sponsor a monthly
fee of $20,000 for office space, utilities and secretarial and
administrative support services. We began incurring these fees on
March 4, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until
the earlier of the completion of the business combination and our
liquidation.
The underwriter is entitled to a
deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $10,062,500 in the aggregate.
The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriter 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.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial
statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America
requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect
the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of
contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial
statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported.
Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We
have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Warrant Liabilities
We account for the Warrants in
accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40 under which
the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must
be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the Warrants
as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the Warrants to fair
value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to
re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any
change in fair value is recognized in our statements of operations.
The Private Warrants and the Public Warrants for periods where no
observable traded price was available are valued using a Monte
Carlo simulation. For periods subsequent to the detachment of the
Public Warrants from the Units, the Public Warrant quoted market
price was used as the fair value as of each relevant date.
Class A Common Stock Subject to
Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A common
stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the
guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480
“Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common
stock subject to mandatory redemption are classified as a liability
instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable
common stock (including common stock that feature redemption rights
that is either within the control of the holder or subject to
redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely
within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other
times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our
Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are
considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence
of uncertain future events. Accordingly, shares of Class A common
stock subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary
equity, outside of the stockholders’ (deficit) equity section of
our balance sheets.
Net Income (Loss) Per Common
Share
The Company complies with accounting
and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per
Share”. The company has two classes of ordinary stock, which are
referred to as Class A common stock and Class B common stock.
Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of
common stock. Net income (loss) per common stock is computed by
dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common
stock outstanding for the period. Accretion associated with the
redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from income
(loss) per common share as the redemption value approximates fair
value.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU
No. 2020-06, “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic
470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own
Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments
and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” (“ASU 2020-06”), which
simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major
separation models required under current GAAP. ASU 2020-06 removes
certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked
contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and it also
simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain
areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after
December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal
years, with early adoption permitted. Management is currently
evaluating the new guidance but does not expect the adoption of
this guidance to have a material impact on our financial
statements.
Management does not believe that
any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting
standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on
our financial statements.
Item 7A. |
Quantitative and Qualitative
Disclosures About Market Risk
|
Not required
for smaller reporting companies.
Item 8. |
Financial Statements and
Supplementary Data
|
This
information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is
included herein by reference.
Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements with
Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
|
None.
Item 9A. |
Controls and Procedures.
|
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls
and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule
13a–15(e) and 15d-15(e))are designed to ensure that information
required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is
recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time
periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such
information is accumulated and communicated to our management,
including our principal executive officer and principal financial
officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to
allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules 13a-15 and
15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the
effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure
controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021. Based on this
evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not
effective, due solely to the material weakness in our internal
control over financial reporting related to the Company’s
accounting for complex financial instruments. As a result, we
performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that
our financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements
included in this Report present fairly in all material respects our
financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the
period presented.
Management intends to implement
remediation steps to improve our disclosure controls and procedures
and our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we
intend to expand and improve our review process for complex
securities and related accounting standards. We have improved this
process by enhancing access to accounting literature,
identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult
regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of
additional staff with the requisite experience and training to
supplement existing accounting professionals.
Management’s Report on Internal
Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Report does not include a
report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over
financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent
registered public accounting firm due to a transition period
established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over
Financial Reporting
During the most recently completed
fiscal year, there has been no change in our internal control over
financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a- 15(f) and 15d-15(f)
under the Exchange Act) that has materially affected, or is
reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over
financial reporting. However, in light of the material weakness
described above, we plan to continue to implement remediation steps
to improve our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal
control over financial reporting. Specifically, as discussed above,
we intend to expand and improve our review process for complex
securities and related accounting standards. Thus far we have
improved this process by enhancing access to accounting literature,
identifying third-party professionals with whom to consult
regarding complex accounting applications and we are considering
additional staff with the requisite experience and training to
supplement existing accounting professionals.
Item 9B. |
Other Information
|
Appointment of Peter Kuper to the Board of Directors
On October 26,
2021, Gaurav Dhillon informed the Company of his decision to resign
from the board of directors of the Company. Mr. Dhillon resignation
was effective as of October 29, 2021. Mr. Dhillon had served as a
member of the Company’s board of directors since March 2021. Mr.
Dhillon’s resignation was not the result of any disagreement with
the Company.
On March 4,
2022, the Company announced that, upon recommendation by the
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Company’s board
of directors appointed Peter Kuper to serve as a director of the
Company, effective March 4, 2022. The Company also announced that
the board of directors unanimously approved the appointment of Mr.
Kuper as the chairmen to the Audit Committee and as member of the
Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee. Mr. Kuper’s term will expire at the Company’s 2023
annual meeting of stockholders.
In connection
with Mr. Kuper’s appointment, he and the Company entered into (i)
an indemnification agreement and (ii) a joinder to each of the
letter agreement dated as of March 4, 2021, entered into by the
Company with its directors (and the other parties thereto) in
connection with the Company’s initial public offering. Each of the
director indemnification agreement, the letter agreement and the
registration rights agreement was described in, and the forms of
which were filed as exhibits to, the Company’s registration
statement relating to the Company’s initial public offering (File
No. 333-252997). Mr. Kuper is not receiving any compensation for
his services to the Company as a director.
On March 4, 2022,
Thomas Oliver announced his intention to resign as member and
chairman of the Audit Committee and Matthew Safaii announced his
intention to resign as member and chairman of the Compensation
Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee,
effective March 4, 2022. On the same day, upon recommendation by
the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the board of
directors appointed Will Semple as chairman of the Compensation
Committee and Dixon Doll as chairman of the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee effective March 4, 2022.
Secondary Promissory Note Drawdown
On March 17. 2022, we drew down an additional amount of $200,000
(the “Drawdown Amount”) pursuant to the terms of the Secondary
Promissory Note (as contemplated and governed by the Secondary
Promissory Note), after which $950,000 was outstanding under the
Secondary Promissory Note. There remains $550,000 available under
the Secondary Promissory Note for future drawdowns.
Item 9C.
|
Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent
Inspections
|
Not applicable.
Item 10. |
Directors, Executive Officers and
Corporate Governance
|
Directors and Executive
Officers
As of the date
of this Report, our directors and officers are as follows:
Name
|
|
Age
|
|
Position
|
Matthew Safaii
|
|
42
|
|
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
|
Thomas Olivier
|
|
54
|
|
President, Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman of the
Board
|
Dixon Doll
|
|
79
|
|
Director
|
Will Semple
|
|
44
|
|
Director
|
Peter Kuper
|
|
52
|
|
Director
|
Matthew
Safaii., has
served as our Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of our board
of directors since our inception in November 2020. Mr. Safaii is
the founder and Managing Partner of Arrowroot Capital, an
investment advisory firm, which he founded in January 2014. Mr.
Safaii serves as a Director at SnapLogic, Inc., a cloud connection
company, which he joined in September 2019. Previously, Mr. Safaii
served as a Managing Director and Head of the Acquisitions Team at
Actua Corp., a venture capital firm, from June 2009 to December
2013.
Thomas Olivier, has served as our President and Chief
Financial Officer and the Vice Chairman of our board of directors
since our inception in November 2020. Mr. Olivier is a managing
director at Arrowroot Capital and has held this position since
March 2021. Previously, Mr. Olivier was a Managing Director in
Houlihan Lokey’s Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Group form
May 2017 until April 2021. Prior to his time at Houlihan Lokey, Mr.
Olivier served as a Managing Director at Pacific Crest Securities,
Inc., an investment bank focused on the technology sector, from
April 2012 to May 2017. Mr. Olivier also joined the board of
directors of Board of Brain Scientific Inc., a neurology-focused
medical device and software company, in November 2021.
Dixon
Doll has
served on our board of directors since the completion of our
initial public offering. Mr. Doll currently serves on the Advisory
Board for the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Institute, a nonprofit research institution, which he joined in
2002. Mr. Doll is a Senior Director at Roman DBDR Tech Acquisition
Corp. (Nasdaq: DBDR), a special purpose acquisition company, which
he joined in October 2020. Mr. Doll is a Director at Prime Impact
Acquisition I (NYSE: PIAI), a special purpose acquisition company,
which he joined in September 2020. Previously, Mr. Doll served as
the Chairman of Network Equipment Technologies, Inc., a
communication equipment company, from 2005 to 2011 and as a
Director of DirecTV, Inc., a broadcast satellite services provider,
from 2010 to 2015. Mr. Doll was elected to the Board of the
National Venture Capital Association in 2005 and served on the
Executive Committee and as Chairman from 2008 to 2009. Mr. Doll led
DCM Ventures’ investments in About.com (acquired by The New York
Times Co.), @Motion (acquired by Openwave), Clearwire (Nasdaq:
CLWR), Coradiant (acquired by BMC), Force10 Networks (acquired by
Dell), Foundry Networks (Nasdaq: FDRY), Internap (Nasdaq: INAP),
Ipivot (acquired by Intel), and Neutral Tandem (Nasdaq:
TNDM).
Will
Semple has
served on our board of directors since the completion of our
initial public offering. Mr. Semple currently serves as a Director
and Board Member of eBAY SARL, the European division of eBay, Inc.
(Nasdaq: EBAY), a large multinational e-commerce company, which he
joined in September 2019. Previously, Mr. Semple served as EMEA
Lead of DevSecOps and Software Security & Assurance for
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a large consulting and accounting firm,
from January 2016 to September 2019.
Peter
Kuper as
served on our board of directors since March 4, 2022. Mr. Kuper is
currently a Managing Partner of HypAdvisor Consulting LLC, a
technology consulting firm, and has held this position since
September 2008. Mr. Kuper is also a Venture Partner at ClearSky, a
venture capital/growth equity group, and is the Senior Vice
President of Finance and Information Technology at jCyte, Inc., a
private biotechnology company dedicated to improving the lives of
patients with retinal degenerative diseases. He has held both of
these positions since November 2021. From January 2010 until
January 2017 Mr. Kuper was also a Partner on the investments team
at In-Q-Tel, a non-profit strategic investor that accelerates the
development and delivery of technologies to U.S. government
agencies.
Advisory
Board
From time to
time we may utilize the services of certain advisors and/or form an
advisory board consisting of individuals whom we believe will help
us execute our business strategy.
Number and Terms of Office of
Officers and Directors
Our board of
directors consists of five members and is divided into three
classes with only one class of directors being elected in each
year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed
prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a
three-year term. In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance
requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until
one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on
Nasdaq.
Our officers
are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion
of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of
office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as
it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation.
The term of
office of the first class of directors, consisting of Matthew
Safaii, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders.
The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of
Thomas Olivier and Peter Kuper, will expire at the second annual
meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of
directors, consisting of Dixon Doll and Will Semple, will expire at
the third annual meeting of stockholders.
Director Independence
Nasdaq 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 each of Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Peter Kuper is
an “independent director” as defined in the Nasdaq listing
standards and applicable SEC rules.
Committees of the Board of
Directors
Our board of
directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a
compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance
committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception,
Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the
audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of
independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited
exception, Nasdaq rules require that the compensation committee and
nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company
be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit
Committee
Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Peter Kuper serve as members of our
audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of
Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Peter Kuper are independent under
Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Peter Kuper
serves as the Chairman of the audit committee. Under Nasdaq listing
standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit
committee must be independent. Each member of the audit committee
is financially literate and our board of directors has determined
that Peter Kuper qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert”
as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit
committee is responsible for:
|
• |
the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and
oversight of the work of the independent registered public
accounting firm and any other independent registered public
accounting firm engaged by us;
|
|
• |
pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be
provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or
any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and
establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;
|
|
• |
reviewing and discussing with the independent registered
public accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us
in order to evaluate their continued independence;
|
|
• |
setting clear hiring policies for employees or former
employees of the independent registered public accounting
firm;
|
|
• |
setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in
compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
|
|
• |
obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the
independent registered public accounting firm describing (i) the
independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii)
any material issues raised by the most recent internal
quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by
any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional
authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more
independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to
deal with such issues;
|
|
• |
reviewing and approving any related party transaction required
to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated
by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and
|
|
• |
reviewing with management, the independent registered public
account firm and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal,
regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with
regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or
published reports that raise material issues regarding our
financial statements or accounting policies and any significant
changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the
Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory
authorities.
|
Compensation
Committee
Dixon Doll,
Will Semple and Peter Kuper serve as members of our compensation
committee and Will Semple serves as chair of the compensation
committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards, we are required to have
a compensation committee composed entirely of independent
directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Dixon
Doll, Will Semple and Peter Kuper are independent. We have adopted
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 making recommendations to our board of directors
with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation
and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of
our other officers;
|
|
• |
reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;
|
|
• |
implementing and administering our incentive compensation
equity-based remuneration plans;
|
|
• |
assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and
annual report disclosure requirements;
|
|
• |
approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and
other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our
officers and employees;
|
|
• |
producing a report on executive compensation to be included in
our annual proxy statement; and
|
|
• |
reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if
appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
|
The charter
also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole
discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation
consultant, independent legal counsel or other 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 Nasdaq 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.
Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee
Dixon Doll,
Will Semple and Peter Kuper serve as members of our nominating
committee and Dixon Doll serves as chairman of the nominating
committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards, we are required to have
a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors.
Our board of directors has determined that each of Dixon Doll, Will
Semple and Peter Kuper are independent.
The primary
purposes of our nominating and corporate governance committee is to
assist the board in:
|
• |
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 on an annual basis the compensation of
all of our other officers;
|
|
• |
reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation
policies and plans;
|
|
• |
assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and
annual report disclosure requirements;
|
|
• |
approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and
other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our
officers and employees;
|
|
• |
if required, producing a report on executive compensation to
be included in our annual proxy statement; and
|
|
• |
reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if
appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
|
Director
Nominations
Our nominating
and corporate governance committee will recommend to the board of
directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual
meeting of stockholders.
We have not
formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must
be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In
general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the
board of directors considers educational background, diversity of
professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity,
professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to
represent the best interests of our stockholders.
Code of Business Conduct and
Ethics
We have
adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and
employees. 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.
Conflicts of Interest
In general,
officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws
of the State of Delaware are required to present business
opportunities to a corporation if:
|
• |
the corporation could financially undertake the
opportunity;
|
|
• |
the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business;
and
|
|
• |
it would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for
the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the
corporation.
|
Each of our
officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future
may have additional fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to
other entities, including Arrowroot Capital, 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
director becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which
is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current
fiduciary, contractual or other obligations, he or she will honor
his or her fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to present
such opportunity to such entity and only present it to us if such
entity rejects the opportunity and he or she determines to present
the opportunity to us (including as described above). 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. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary
duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will
materially affect our ability to complete our initial business
combination.
In the event
we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company
that is affiliated with, or which there is a fiduciary, contractual
or other obligation by, our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or
a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from
an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or an
independent accounting firm that the consideration to be paid by us
in the initial business combination is fair to our company from a
financial point of view. Any such entity affiliated with, or which
there is a fiduciary, contractual or other obligation by, our
sponsor, officers or directors, may co-invest with us in the target
business at the time of our initial business combination, or we
could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by
making a specified future issuance to any such entity.
Our executive
officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to
our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in
allocating management time among various business activities.
However, we do not expect either potential conflicts of interest or
the time taken by our management team’s other duties to present a
significant constraint in our ability to identify, diligence and
execute potential business combinations.
Our officers
and directors 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. Any such companies may present
additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target,
particularly in the event there is overlap among investment
mandates and the director and officer teams. However, we do not
expect that any such other blank check company would materially
affect our ability to complete our initial business
combination.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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 the company and such opportunity is one we are
legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would
otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the
director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us
without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe,
however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of
our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to
complete our initial business combination.
Below is a
table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and
directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual or other
obligations:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Matthew Safaii
|
|
Arrowroot Capital Management, LLC
|
|
Investment Management
|
|
Managing Partner and Founder
|
|
|
SnapLogic, Inc.
|
|
Cloud Computing
|
|
Director
|
|
|
MedNet Solutions, Inc.
|
|
Healthcare Technology
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Cygilant, Inc.
|
|
Cybersecurity Software
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Zift Channel Solutions, Inc.
|
|
Marketing Software
|
|
Director
|
|
|
SponsorHouse, Inc. (d/b/a Hookit)
|
|
Sponsorship Analytics
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Leadspace Ltd.
|
|
Marketing Software
|
|
Director
|
|
|
BryterCX Holdings, Inc.
|
|
CRM Software
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Hammer Technologies Holdings Pty Limited
|
|
Risk Management Software
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Clickatell Corp
|
|
IT Services and Consulting
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Engage3, Inc.
|
|
IT Services and Consulting
|
|
Director
|
Thomas Olivier
|
|
Arrowroot Capital Management, LLC
|
|
Investment Management
|
|
Managing Director
|
|
|
Brain Scientific Inc.
|
|
Medical Device and Software
|
|
Director
|
Dixon Doll
|
|
Roman DBDR Tech Acquisition Corp.
|
|
Special Purpose Acquisition Company
|
|
Senior Director
|
|
|
Prime Impact Acquisition I
|
|
Special Purpose Acquisition Company
|
|
Director
|
|
|
The Papal Foundation, University of San Francisco
|
|
Philanthropy
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Asian Art Museum
|
|
Cultural Institution
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Catholic Investment Services
|
|
Non-Profit Investment Management
|
|
Director
|
|
|
San Francisco Opera Association
|
|
Cultural Institution
|
|
Director
|
|
|
University of San Francisco Investment Committee
|
|
Non-Profit Investment Management
|
|
Chairman of Investment Committee
|
|
|
Amadeus Capital
|
|
Venture Capital
|
|
Member, Investment Advisory Board
|
|
|
Airlinq Inc.
|
|
Software Solutions
|
|
Director
|
|
|
Playlist Media, Inc.
|
|
Music
|
|
Director
|
|
|
CHNL Holdings, Inc.
|
|
Music
|
|
Director
|
Will Semple
|
|
eBAY SARL
|
|
E-Commerce
|
|
Director and Board Member
|
|
|
Cygilant, Inc.
|
|
Cybersecurity Software
|
|
Advisor
|
Peter Kuper
|
|
HypAdvisor Consulting LLC
|
|
Technology Consulting
|
|
Managing Partner
|
|
|
ClearSky
|
|
Venture Capital
|
|
Venture Partner
|
|
|
jCyte, Inc.
|
|
Biotechnology
|
|
Senior Vice President of Finance and Information Technology
|
Potential
investors
should also be aware of the following
other potential conflicts of interest:
|
• |
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and
will not, commit any specified period of 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.
|
|
• |
In the course of their other business activities, our officers
and directors may become aware of investment and business
opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as
well as the other entities or clients of the other entities with
which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of
interest in determining to which entity a particular business
opportunity should be presented.
|
|
• |
Our initial stockholders and Peter Kuper have entered into
agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive
their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and
any public shares they hold in connection with the completion of
our initial business combination. The other members of our
management team have entered into agreements similar to the one
entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public
shares acquired by them in or after our initial public offering.
Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their
rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with
respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial
business combination within the prescribed time frame or any
extended period of time that we may have to consummate an initial
business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and
restated certificate of incorporation. If we do not complete our
initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the
private placement warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, our
initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell
any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one
year after the completion of our initial business combination and
(ii) the date following the completion of our initial business
combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital
stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of
our stockholders having the right to exchange their common stock
for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals
or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock
capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like)
for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing
at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the
founder shares will be released from the lockup. Subject to certain
limited exceptions, 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 common stock or warrants directly or
indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining
whether a particular target business is an appropriate business
with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
|
|
• |
Our officers and directors may
sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar
to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial
business combination.
|
|
• |
Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest
with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the
retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was
included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with
respect to our initial business combination.
|
We are not
prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a
business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor,
officers or directors or completing the business combination
through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or
directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business
combination with a business combination target that is affiliated
with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a
committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an
independent investment banking which is a member of FINRA or a
valuation or appraisal firm, that the consideration to be paid by
us in such initial business combination is fair to our company from
a financial point of view. Further, commencing on the date our
securities are first listed on Nasdaq, we reimburse our sponsor
$20,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative
services provided to members of our management
team.
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
stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to
vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our
management team have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold
and any shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of
our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and
Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that
our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest
extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the
future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not
be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders
for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they
violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in
bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized
unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or
unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from
their actions as directors.
We have
entered into agreements with our officers and directors to provide
contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification
provided for in our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to secure insurance on
behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability
arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware
law would permit such indemnification. Except with respect to any
public shares acquired in our initial public offering or thereafter
(in the event we do not consummate an initial business
combination), our officers and directors have agreed to waive (and
any other persons who may become an officer or director prior to
the initial business combination will also be required to waive)
any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies
in the trust account, and not to seek recourse against the trust
account for any reason whatsoever, including with respect to such
indemnification.
These
provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit
against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These
provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of
derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though
such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our
stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be
adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and
damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these
indemnification provisions.
We believe
that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability
insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and
retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Item 11.
|
Executive Compensation
|
Executive Officer and Director
Compensation
None of our
directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered
to us. However, in January 2021, our sponsor transferred 40,000
founder shares to each of Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Gaurav
Dhillon, our non-employee directors at the time of our initial
public offering. Peter Kuper has not received any compensation for
his services to the Company as a director. Commencing on March 2,
2021, through the earlier of consummation of our initial business
combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor $20,000
per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services
provided to members of our management team. In addition, our
sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their
respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket
expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such
as identifying potential target businesses and performing due
diligence on suitable business combinations.
Our audit
committee, on a quarterly basis, reviews all payments that were
made to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or
their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business
combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account.
Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements,
we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing
our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers
for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our
activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and
consummating an initial business combination. No compensation of
any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by
the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or
any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our
initial business combination except for these payments and
reimbursements.
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 stockholders, to the extent
then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer
materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a
proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on
the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to
our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount
of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed
business combination, because the directors of the post-combination
business will be responsible for determining executive officer and
director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive
officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of
directors for determination, either by a compensation committee
constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the
independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not
intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management
team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our
initial business combination, although it is possible that some or
all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate
employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our
initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such
employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions
with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or
selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability
of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our
initial business combination will be a determining factor in our
decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are
not party to any agreements with our executive officers and
directors that provide for benefits upon termination of
employment.
Item 12.
|
Security Ownership of Certain
Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder
Matters
|
The following
table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of
our common stock as of December 31, 2021 based on information
obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the
beneficial ownership of our common stock, by:
|
• |
each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more
than 5% of our issued and outstanding common stock;
|
|
• |
each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially
owns our common stock; and
|
|
• |
all our executive officers and directors as a group.
|
In the table
below, percentage ownership is based on 34,500,000 public shares
and 8,625,000 Class B common stock, issued and outstanding as of
December 31, 2020. All of the Class B common stock are convertible
into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, as described
herein.
|
|
Class B Common
stock
|
|
|
Class A Common
stock
|
|
Name of Beneficial
Owners(1)
|
|
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
|
|
|
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
|
|
|
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
|
|
|
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
|
|
|
Approximate
Percentage
of
Voting
Control
|
|
Arrowroot
Acquisition LLC (our sponsor) (our sponsor)(2)
|
|
|
7,067,500
|
|
|
|
98.33
|
%
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
19.67
|
%
|
Matthew Safaii(3)
|
|
|
7,067,500
|
|
|
|
98.33
|
%
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
19.67
|
%
|
Thomas Olivier(3)
|
|
|
7,067,500
|
|
|
|
98.33
|
%
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
19.67
|
%
|
Dixon
Doll
|
|
|
40,000
|
|
|
|
*
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
*
|
|
Will
Semple
|
|
|
40,000
|
|
|
|
*
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
*
|
|
Peter
Kuper
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
All officers and directors as a group
(four
individuals)
|
|
|
7,187,500
|
|
|
|
99.44
|
%
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
19.78
|
%
|
Five Percent Holders
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Linden
Capital L.P.(4)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,522,467
|
|
|
|
5.30
|
%
|
|
|
4.24
|
%
|
HGC
Investment Management Inc.(5)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,683,927
|
|
|
|
5.86
|
%
|
|
|
4.69
|
%
|
Periscope
Capital Inc.(6)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,558,288
|
|
|
|
5.42
|
%
|
|
|
4.34
|
%
|
(1) |
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of
officer and director beneficial stockholders is 4553 Glencoe Ave,
Suite 200 ,Marina Del Rey, CA 90292.
|
(2) |
The shares reported herein are held in the name of our
sponsor. Our sponsor is governed by two managers, Matthew Safaii
and Thomas Olivier. As such, Matthew Safaii and Thomas Olivier have
voting and investment discretion with respect to the Class B
ordinary shares held of record by our sponsor and may be deemed to
have shared beneficial ownership of the Class B ordinary shares
held directly by our sponsor. .
|
(3) |
Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this
individual as a result of his ownership interest in our
sponsor.
|
(4) |
Based solely on Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February
3, 2022 by Linden Capital L.P. (“Linden Capital”). Consists of (i)
1,522,467 shares of Class A common stock held by Linden Capital and
(ii) 99,130 shares of Class A common stock held by one or more
separately managed accounts (the “Managed Accounts”). Linden
GP LLC (“Linden GP”), is the general partner of Linden Capital and
may be deemed the beneficial owner of the shares held by Linden
Capital. Linden Advisors LP (“Linden Advisors”) is the investment
manager of Linden Capital and trading advisor or investment advisor
for the Managed Accounts. Siu Min Wong is the principal owner and
controlling person of Linden Advisors and Linden GP. Each of
Linden Advisors and Mr. Wong may be deemed the beneficial owner of
the shares held by each of Linden Capital and the Managed Accounts.
The address for Linden Capital is Victoria Place, 31 Victoria
Street, Hamilton HM10, Bermuda. The address for each of Linden
Advisors, Linden GP and Mr. Wong is 590 Madison Avenue, 15th Floor,
New York, New York 10022.
|
(5) |
Based solely on Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February
14, 2022 by HGC Investment Management Inc. (“HGC IM”). HGC IM
serves as the investment manager to and holds the shares of Class A
common stock on behalf of The HGC Fund LP. The address for HGC IM
is 1073 Yonge Street, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 2L2,
Canada.
|
(6) |
Based solely on Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February
14, 2022 by Periscope Capital Inc. (“Periscope”). Periscope is the
beneficial owner of 1,143,088 shares of Class A common stock and
acts as investment manager of, and exercises investment discretion
with respect to, certain private investment funds that collectively
directly own 415,200 shares of Class A common stock. The address
for Periscope is 333 Bay Street, Suite 1240, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M5H 2R2.
|
Changes in Control
None.
Item 13.
|
Certain Relationships and Related
Transactions, and Director Independence
|
Founder
Shares
In November
2020 our sponsor paid $30,000 in exchange for 5,750,000 founder
shares. On December 31, 2020, we effectuated a 5-for-4 stock split,
resulting in 7,187,500 founder shares outstanding and held by our
sponsor. In addition, in January 2021, our sponsor transferred
40,000 founder shares to each of Dixon Doll, Will Semple and Gaurav
Dhillon, our non-employee directors at the time of our initial
public offering. Prior to the initial investment in the company of
$30,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or
intangible.
Our initial stockholders have
agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares
until the earlier to occur of (i) one year after the completion of
our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we
complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other
similar transaction after our initial business combination that
results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange
their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property;
except to certain permitted transferees and under certain
circumstances pursuant to lock-up provisions in the agreements
entered into by our initial stockholders and management team.
Administrative
Services Agreement
The Company
entered into an agreement, commencing on March 4, 2021, through the
earlier of the Company’s consummation of a business combination and
its liquidation, to pay an affiliate of the sponsor a total of
$20,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative
services.
Promissory Note
— Related Party
On December 21, 2020, the sponsor issued an unsecured promissory
note to the Company (the “First Promissory Note”), pursuant to
which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of
$300,000. The First Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and
became payable upon the consummation of the Company’s initial
public offering. As of December 31, 2021, there were no amounts
outstanding under this First Promissory Note.
On December
29, 2021, the sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the
Company (the “Second Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the
Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of
$1,500,000, of which $750,000 was funded by the sponsor upon
execution of the Second Promissory Note. The Second
Promissory Note, which may be further drawn down from time to
time prior to the Maturity Date (as defined below) upon request by
the Company, is subject to the sponsor’s approval and does not bear
interest. The principal balance of the note will be payable on the
earliest to occur of (i) the date on which the Company consummates
its initial business combination or (ii) the date that the winding
up of the Company is effective (such date, the “Maturity Date”). In
the event the Company consummates its initial business combination,
the Sponsor has the option on the Maturity Date to convert all or
any portion of the principal outstanding under the Note into that
number of warrants (“Working Capital Warrants”) equal to the
portion of the principal amount of the Note being converted divided
by $1.00, rounded up to the nearest whole number. The terms of the
Working Capital Warrants, if any, would be identical to the terms
of the private placement warrants issued by the Company at the time
of its initial public offering, for the initial public offering
dated March 1, 2021 and filed with the SEC, including the transfer
restrictions applicable thereto. The Second Promissory is subject
to customary events of default, the occurrence of certain of which
automatically triggers the unpaid principal balance of the Second
Promissory and all other sums payable with regard to the Second
Promissory becoming immediately due and payable. As of December 31,
2021, there was $750,000 outstanding under this First
Promissory Note.
Related Party
Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business
combination, the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor, or certain
of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated
to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital
Loans”). If the Company completes a business combination, the
Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds
of the trust account released to the Company. Otherwise, the
Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held
outside the trust account. 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. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such
Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no
written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working
Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation
of a business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s
discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be
convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity
at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be
identical to the private placement warrants.
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 common stock
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
entered into in connection with our initial public offering,
requiring us to register such securities for resale. 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.
Policy for
Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit
committee of our board of directors have adopted a policy setting
forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or
ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party
transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series
of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a
participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably
expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of
the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed
fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction
(without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related
party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material
interest. “Related parties” under this policy includes: (i) our
directors, nominees for director or executive officers; (ii) any
record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our
voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the
foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any
other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of
Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the
audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and
circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the
transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained
in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the
extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii)
whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other
policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the
relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests
of the company and its stockholders and (v) the effect that the
transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent
member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the
board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee
each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant
facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may
consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee
approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the
guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy does not permit any
director or executive officer to participate in the discussion of,
or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or
she is the related party.
To further
minimize conflicts of interest, if we consummate an initial
business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of
our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of
independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent
investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly
renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is
fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore,
there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee,
non-cash payments, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or
other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or
directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or
in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate,
the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of
the type of transaction that it is) other than the following
payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of our
initial public offering held in the trust account prior to the
completion of our initial business combination:
|
• |
Payment to our sponsor of $20,000 per month for office space,
secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our
management team;
|
|
• |
Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to
identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial
business combination; and
|
|
• |
Repayment of non-interest bearing loans which may be made by
our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our
officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection
with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of
such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business
combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of
the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private
placement warrants. 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. Our audit committee will review
on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor,
officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
|
Director
Independence
Nasdaq listing
standards require that a majority of our board of directors be
independent. Our board of directors has determined that Dixon Doll,
Will Semple and Peter Kuper are “independent directors” as defined
in Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our
independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at
which only independent directors are present.
Item 14.
|
Principal Accountant Fees and
Services
|
The firm of
WithumSmith+Brown, PC, or Withum, acts as our independent
registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of
fees paid to Withum for services rendered.
Audit Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period
from November 5, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, fees
for our independent registered public accounting firm were
approximately $131,000 and $18,025, respectively, for the services
Withum performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering and
the audit of our December 31, 2020 financial statements included in
this Report and other required SEC filings.
Audit-Related
Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from
November 5, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, our
independent registered public accounting firm did not render
assurance and related services related to the performance of the
audit or review of financial statements.
Tax Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period
from November 5, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, fees
for our independent registered public accounting firm for services
to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning was
approximately $5,400.
All Other
Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from
November 5, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, there were
no fees billed for products and services provided by our
independent registered public accounting firm other than those set
forth above.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit
committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public
offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all
of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to
the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of
directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a
going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve
all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be
performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms
thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit
services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the
audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
Item 15. |
Exhibits, Financial Statement
Schedules
|
|
(a) |
The following documents are filed as part of this
Report:
|
|
(1) |
Financial Statements:
|
|
Page |
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
|
F-2
|
Balance Sheets
|
F-3
|
Statements of Operations
|
F-4
|
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity
|
F-5
|
Statements of Cash Flows
|
F-6
|
Notes to Financial Statements
|
F-7
|
|
(2) |
Financial Statement Schedules:
|
None.
We hereby file as part of this
Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits
which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and
copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC,
100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of
such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference
Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at
prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Item 16. |
Exhibits and Financial Statement
Schedules.
|
The following exhibits are filed as
part of this Report:
Exhibit
No.
|
|
Description
|
|
|
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.(1)
|
|
|
Bylaws.(2)
|
|
|
Specimen Unit Certificate.(2)
|
|
|
Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate.(2)
|
|
|
Specimen Warrant Certificate.(2)
|
|
|
Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer &
Trust Company and the Registrant.(1)
|
4.5*
|
|
Description of Registrant’s Securities
|
|
|
Letter Agreement among the Registrant, the Sponsor and each of
the executive officers and directors of the Registrant.
|
|
|
Investment Management Trust Agreement between the Sponsor and
the Registrant.(1)
|
|
|
Registration Rights Agreement among the Registrant, the
Sponsor and the Holders signatory thereto.(1)
|
|
|
Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the
Registrant and the Sponsor.(1)
|
|
|
Indemnity Agreement.(1)
|
|
|
First Promissory Note issued to the Sponsor, dated December
21, 2020.(2)
|
|
|
Second Promissory Note issued to the Sponsor, dated December
29, 2021.(3)
|
|
|
Securities Subscription Agreement between the Registrant and
the Sponsor.(2)
|
|
|
Form of Administrative Services Agreement between the
Registrant and the Sponsor.(2)
|
|
|
Code of Ethics(2)
|
|
|
Power of Attorney (Included under signatures)
|
|
|
Certification of the Principal Executive Officer pursuant to
Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.
|
|
|
Certification of the Principal Financial and Accounting
Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a) under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as adopted pursuant to
Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.
|
|
|
Certification of the Principal Executive Officer pursuant to
18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the
Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.
|
|
|
Certification of the Principal Financial and Accounting
Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to
Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.
|
101.INS*
|
|
Inline XBRL Instance Document
|
101.SCH*
|
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
|
101.CAL*
|
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase
Document
|
101.DEF*
|
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase
Document
|
101.LAB*
|
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
|
101.PRE*
|
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase
Document
|
104*
|
|
Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and
contained in Exhibit 101)
|
(1) |
Previously filed as an exhibit to our Current Report on Form
8-K filed on March 5, 2021 and incorporated by reference
herein.
|
(2) |
Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Form S-1, filed with
the SEC on February 24, 2021.
|
(3) |
Previously filed as an exhibit to our Current Report on Form
8-K filed on December 30, 2021 and incorporated by reference
herein.
|
Item 17. |
Form 10-K Summary
|
Not
applicable.
Pursuant to
the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, the
registrant has duly caused the Annual Report on Form
10-K to be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized.
March 31, 2022
|
|
|
ARROWROOT ACQUISITION CORP.
|
|
|
|
/s/ Matthew Safaii
|
|
Name: Matthew Safaii
|
|
Title: Chief Executive Officer
|
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose
signature appears below constitutes and appoints Matthew Safaii and
Thomas Olivier, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful
attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and
resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and
stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to
this report, and to file the same, with any and all exhibits
thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said
attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite
and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person,
hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and
agents or their substitute or substitutes may lawfully do or cause
to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Exchange Act, the Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed below
by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name
|
|
Position
|
|
Date
|
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Matthew Safaii |
|
Chief Executive Officer
|
|
March
31, 2022 |
Matthew Safaii
|
|
(Principal Executive
Officer)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Thomas Olivier. |
|
President and Chief Financial Officer
|
|
March
31, 2021 |
Thomas Olivier
|
|
(Principal Financial and
Accounting Officer)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Dixon Doll |
|
Director |
|
March
31, 2022 |
Dixon Doll
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Will Semple |
|
Director
|
|
March 31, 2022
|
Will Semple
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Peter Kuper |
|
Director |
|
March 31, 2022
|
Peter Kuper
|
|
|
|
|