As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 16, 2019

Registration No. 333-228849

 

 

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

AMENDMENT NO. 3

TO

FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   6770   83-2289787
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
  (Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.
50 West Street, Suite 40C
New York, NY 10006
(212) 785-2579

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 

 

 

Robert S. Mancini
Chief Executive Officer
RMG Acquisition Corp.
50 West Street, Suite 40C
New York, NY 10006
(212) 785-2579

(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)

 

Copies to:

 

 

  

Ryan J. Maierson
Debbie P. Yee
Latham & Watkins LLP
811 Main Street, Suite 3700
Houston, Texas 77002
(713) 546-5400
  Alexander D. Lynch
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
767 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10153
(212) 310-8000

  

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

  

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. ¨

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer   ¨   Accelerated filer   ¨
Non-accelerated filer   x   Smaller reporting company   ¨
        Emerging growth company   x

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. x

 

This registration statement shall hereinafter become effective in accordance with the provisions of Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JANUARY 16, 2019

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

$200,000,000

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

 

20,000,000 Units

 

RMG Acquisition Corp. is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to focus our search for a target business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors.

  

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our 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 described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (subject to the limitation discussed below), divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering (our “public shares”), subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

 

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 29 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

    Per Unit     Total  
Public offering price   $ 10.00     $ 200,000,000  

Underwriting discounts and commissions (1)

  $ 0.55     $ 11,000,000  
Proceeds, before expenses, to RMG Acquisition Corp.   $ 9.45     $ 189,000,000  

 

 

(1) Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

 

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $200.0 million or $230.0 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit) will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at Citibank, N.A., with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and approximately $2.0 million will be available to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

  

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about        , 2019.

 

Deutsche Bank Securities

Sole Bookrunner

 

Stifel

Lead Manager

 

              , 2019

 

 

 

 

Our sponsor, RMG Sponsor, LLC (our “sponsor”), and certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. and certain funds and accounts managed by Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC (together, the “Anchor Investors”) have committed to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 warrants (or 4,600,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.50 per whole warrant (approximately $6,000,000 in the aggregate, or $6,900,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants as the private placement warrants throughout this prospectus. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering. For a discussion of certain additional arrangements with the Anchor Investors, please see “Summary—The Offering—Expression of Interest” beginning on page 12.

 

Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors currently own 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock (up to 750,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). We refer to these shares of Class B common stock as the founder shares throughout this prospectus. The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein.

  

Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A common stock or warrants. We will apply to list our units on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “RMG.U” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52 nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “RMG” and “RMG.WS,” respectively.

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
   
SUMMARY 1
RISK FACTORS 29
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 57
USE OF PROCEEDS 58
DIVIDEND POLICY 61
DILUTION 62
CAPITALIZATION 64
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 65
PROPOSED BUSINESS 71
MANAGEMENT 92
PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS 102
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS 104
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES 106
UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS 119
UNDERWRITING 127
LEGAL MATTERS 133
EXPERTS 133
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 133
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS F-1

 

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.

 

  i  

 

 

SUMMARY

 

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.

 

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, or the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to RMG Acquisition Corp., and references to:

 

· “Advisory Board” refers to our advisory board, which will assist us in sourcing and evaluating transaction opportunities;

 

· “Anchor Investors” are to certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. and Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC, who have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering as described herein;

 

· “Board” refers to our board of directors;

 

· “common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock, collectively;

 

· “equity-linked securities” are to any securities of our company which are convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, common stock of our company;

 

· “founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor and the Anchor Investors in private placements prior to this offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein;

 

· “initial stockholders” are to our sponsor, the Anchor Investors and any other holders of our founder shares prior to this offering;

 

· “management” or our “management team” are to our three executive offıcers, Mr. Carpenter, our Chairman, Mr. Mancini, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Kassin, our President and Chief Operating Officer;

 

· “private placement warrants” are to the warrants to be issued to our sponsor and the Anchor Investors in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering;

 

· “public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

· “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and members of our management team, Board and Advisory Board to the extent any of them purchases public shares, provided that each such initial stockholder’s and individual’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

 

· “public warrants” are to our warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market) and to any private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers or officers or directors (or permitted transferees) following the consummation of our initial business combination;

 

· “Riverside Management Group” refers to Riverside Management Group LLC, an entity of which our Chairman is the founder and serves as a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer;

 

· “specified future issuance” are to an issuance of a class of equity or equity-linked securities to specified purchasers that we may determine to make in connection with financing our initial business combination;

 

1

 

 

· “sponsor” are to RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, in which each of our officers, directors and certain members of our Advisory Board is or will be, directly or indirectly, a member; and

 

· “warrants” are to our warrants, which includes the public warrants as well as the private placement warrants.

 

Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant for each unit purchased. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

 

Registered trademarks referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option and that the Anchor Investors purchase units in this offering as described under “Summary—The Offering—Expression of Interest.”

 

2

 

 

PROPOSED BUSINESS

 

Overview

  

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target. We intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, including the chemicals, energy services and alternatives, environmental services, metals and power sectors, that may provide opportunities for attractive long-term risk-adjusted returns, though we reserve the right to pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business or industry.

 

Business Strategy

 

 

Our business strategy is to utilize the investment identification and evaluation experience of our management, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group, an entity of which our Chairman is the founder and serves as a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer, to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that we believe, with proper utilization of their network and experience, has compelling potential for value creation. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team, Board and Advisory Board and their affiliates (including Riverside Management Group) have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through the extensive experience of our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group in both investing in and operating chemicals, energy services and alternatives, environmental services, metals and power companies and assets. We expect these networks will provide us with a robust flow of acquisition opportunities among lower middle-market and middle-market companies with overall transaction values between $750 million and $2.5 billion. To the extent the purchase price for any acquisition to be paid in cash exceeds the net proceeds available to us, we may issue debt or equity to consummate the acquisition. Such additional financing may come in the form of bank financings or preferred equity, common equity or debt offerings or a combination of the foregoing. We believe our management’s experience and track record are particularly differentiated, and will enable us to successfully identify and execute an initial business combination.

 

Our management team has experience in:

 

· Operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting exceptional talent;

 

· Developing and growing companies, both organically and through strategic transactions and acquisitions, and expanding the product range and geographic footprint of a number of target businesses;

 

· Investing in leading private and public diversified resources and industrial materials companies to accelerate their growth and maturation;

 

· Sourcing, structuring, acquiring, and selling businesses;

 

· Accessing the capital markets, including financing businesses and helping companies transition to public ownership; and

 

· Fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers and target management teams.

 

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Acquisition Criteria

 

We will seek to identify companies that have compelling growth potential and a combination of the following characteristics. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire companies or assets that we believe have the following attributes:

 

·

Network utilization .       We will focus on companies that can utilize and leverage the extensive networks and insights that we, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group have built in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors;

 

· Large and growing market . We will focus on investments in industry segments that we believe demonstrate attractive long-term growth prospects and reasonable overall size or potential;

 

· Attractive, profitable business . We will seek to invest in companies that we believe possess not only established business models but sustainable competitive advantages as well;

 

· Strong management teams . We will spend significant time assessing a company’s leadership and personnel and evaluating what we can do to augment or upgrade the team over time if needed;

 

· Opportunity for operational improvements . We will seek to identify businesses that we believe are stable but at an inflection point and would benefit from our additional management expertise, ability to drive improvements in the company’s production processes, research and development, go-to-market strategy, products or service offerings, sales and marketing efforts, geographical presence and/or leadership team;

 

· Opportunity for financial improvements . We will seek to identify businesses that we believe would benefit from our management’s ability to improve and optimize a company’s capital structure, including by assisting the company in accessing the capital markets and any other financing sources;

 

· Differentiated products or services . We will focus on businesses whose products or services are differentiated or where we see an opportunity to create value by implementing best practices;

 

· Unrecognized value. We will seek to identify business that we believe exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company’s growth strategy, and that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review;

 

· Minimal technology risk . We will seek to invest in companies that do not depend on experimental technology; and

 

· 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.

 

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.

 

Our Management Team, Board and Advisors

 

Our Management Team

 

Our management team is led by our Chairman, D. James Carpenter, our Chief Executive Officer, Robert S. Mancini, and our President and Chief Operating Officer, Philip Kassin, who combined have over 80 years of experience in advising and investing in private and public companies in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. Mr. Carpenter is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Riverside Management Group, and former Chief Executive Officer of Horsehead Industries Inc. Mr. Mancini is a former partner and Managing Director at The Carlyle Group and the former co-head of Carlyle Power Partners, and prior to that was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and most recently was head of the power and commodity principal investment businesses and Chief Executive Officer of Cogentrix Energy Power Management LLC. Mr. Kassin is the former Head of M&A and Financing at Access Industries, LLC and M-III Partners, and has also held senior investment banking roles at Evercore, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and AIG.

 

4

 

 

Messrs. Carpenter, Mancini and Kassin played a major role in over 85 investments with total transaction values in excess of $55 billion and more than $20 billion of invested equity, and were involved in investments across numerous geographies, through a variety of different structures and amidst diverse economic cycles. These investments included some of the largest and most complex private equity deals in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. Success at this level requires the highest degree of diligence, financial and market analyses, process management, structuring abilities, operational knowhow and investment acumen.

 

Our management team has extensive experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and equity and debt capital markets transactions. Additionally, our management team has been responsible for developing bank relationships with banks worldwide that have provided billions of dollars of committed capital to their companies. Our team has experience investing across a variety of commodity price cycles and a track record of identifying high-quality assets and businesses with significant resources, capital and optimization potential.

 

Our management team has an extensive history of partnering with other management teams and operators to successfully create greater value. Our team has consistently brought in management teams to enhance the value of assets, while providing expertise in public equity and debt markets, and mergers and acquisitions. It has been a differentiating strength of our management team in finding acquisitions and growth opportunities to be flexible in partnering with other management teams and companies. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees” for additional information.

 

Our Board

 

In addition to Messrs. Carpenter, Mancini and Kassin, at the closing of this offering, our Board will be comprised of W. Grant Gregory and Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch.

 

Mr. Gregory is the founder and Chairman of Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Inc., a financial advisory firm providing mergers and acquisitions and strategic services to firms, including private equity firms. Mr. Gregory has served successfully in numerous leadership roles as chairman of the board, chief executive officer, investment banker, merchant banker and director of public, private and nonprofit corporations, including serving on the board of directors of Touche Ross & Co. (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu), where he worked for 24 years, Chrysler Corporation, MCI and Renaissance Hotels Inc. Dr. Schimmelbusch is a member of Riverside Management Group’s advisory board, and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (EuroNext Amsterdam: AMG) since November 21, 2006. Dr. Schimmelbusch also serves as a director of various companies, including Allied Resource Corporation and PFW Aerospace GmbH. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees” for additional information.

 

Our Advisory Board

 

Our Advisory Board is comprised of Steven J. Gilbert, Edward Forst and Thad Miller, each of whom has expertise in diversified resources and industrial materials companies. Mr. Gilbert is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, L.P., an institutional investment firm established in 1997. In addition, Mr. Gilbert also founded Soros Capital, Commonwealth Capital Partners, and Chemical Venture Partners. He currently serves on the boards of several public companies, and has served on the boards of more than 25 companies over the span of his career. Mr. Forst previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., a commercial real estate firm operating in over 60 countries. Prior to that, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where during his career he held numerous executive roles. Mr. Miller currently serves as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of Calpine Corporation, and has decades of legal and energy industry experience. We anticipate that our Advisory Board will contribute to our efforts in sourcing and evaluating transaction opportunities. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Advisory Board” for additional information.

 

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Riverside Management Group

 

Riverside Management Group, an entity of which our Chairman is the founder and serves as a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer, is a merchant banking boutique founded in 1996. Through its team of approximately 40 professionals, including the broader Riverside Management Group platform of more than 20 senior finance professionals, Riverside Management Group provides capital placement, principal investments and mergers and acquisitions advisory services to companies, funds and entrepreneurs. Additionally, Riverside Management Group’s advisory board includes nine former or current “C-level” executives of world leading companies in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. As a result, Riverside Management Group has an active and highly robust network of deal flow through personal relationships with companies and management teams leading to proprietary opportunities. We expect to leverage the exceptional industry expertise and executive and operational management skills of Riverside Management Group and its senior advisors and employees to assist us in identifying, evaluating and performing due diligence on a target, as well as structuring, financing and completing our initial business combination.

 

Riverside Management Group’s advisory board includes Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch, who will serve as one of our directors upon the effective date of this registration statement, Mark R. White, Nils A. Kindwall, William Smelas, Harry Walters and Ronald J. Statile. These Advisory Board members have significant experience as founders, owners, directors and/or executive officers of companies such as Horsehead Holding Corporation, one of the largest zinc recyclers and producers in the U.S., Great Lakes Carbon Corp., the world’s largest producer of calcined petroleum products, AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group, a global leading producer of critical materials for carbon dioxide reduction and Freeport-McMoran, a leading producer of copper, gold and molybdenum and SAP, the global leader in enterprise software.

 

The past performance of our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group are not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect of any business combination we may consummate. Certain of our officers, directors and advisors have had management and successful deal execution experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past. You should not rely on the historical record of performance of our management, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group as indicative of our future performance.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.

 

Any party may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this prospectus. The amount and other terms and conditions of any such specified future issuance would be determined at the time thereof. We are not obligated to make any specified future issuance and may determine not to do so. This is not an offer for any specified future issuance. Pursuant to the anti-dilution provisions of our Class B common stock, any such specified future issuance would result in an adjustment to the conversion ratio such that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees, if any, would retain their aggregate percentage ownership at 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares issued in the specified future issuance, unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding shares of Class B common stock agreed to waive such adjustment with respect to the specified future issuance at the time thereof. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any such specified future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. If such adjustment is not waived, the specified future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the specified future issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock.

 

6

 

 

Our Acquisition Process

 

In evaluating a prospective initial business combination, we expect to conduct a thorough diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of assets and facilities and financial analyses, as well as a review of other information that will be made available to us.

 

We believe that we are well positioned to identify attractive risk-adjusted returns in the marketplace and that our contacts and transaction sources, ranging from industry executives, private owners, private equity funds, and investment bankers, in addition to the reach of Riverside Management Group, which is further supported by the broader Riverside Management Group platform and its advisory board, will enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities.

 

We will seek to capitalize on the industry expertise and relationships of members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group to source and complete an initial business combination. Members of our Board and Advisory Board, as well as the Riverside Management Group’s team and advisors, who will assist us in sourcing potential target companies and evaluating management teams, have an extensive track record of identifying high-quality assets, businesses and management teams with significant resources, capital and optimization potential.

 

We believe that conducting comprehensive due diligence on prospective investments is particularly important within the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. We will utilize the diligence, rigor, and expertise of our management and members of our Board and Advisory Board, as well as Riverside Management Group’s platform, to evaluate potential targets’ strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to identify the relative risk and return profile of any potential target for our initial business combination. Given our management team’s extensive tenure investing in natural resources companies, we will often be familiar with the prospective target’s end-market, competitive landscape and business model.

 

We currently do not have any specific targets for an initial business combination selected. Neither our officers, directors or members of our Advisory Board nor Riverside Management Group has contacted or had any discussions with possible target businesses in which they directly or indirectly proposed or encouraged a potential target to consider a possible combination with us. Certain of our officers and directors are employed by or affiliated with various investment funds. Such funds and individuals are continuously made aware of potential investment opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf, including members of our Board and Advisory Board or Riverside Management Group) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with any prospective target business. Neither we nor members of our Board or Advisory Board nor Riverside Management Group (nor has any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible business combination with us.

 

We may, at our option, pursue an opportunity with an entity to which an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity 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 amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

 

Our officers and directors have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

 

Corporate Information

 

Our executive offices are located at 50 West Street, Suite 40C, New York, NY 10006, and our telephone number is (212) 785-2579. Upon completion of this offering, our corporate website address will be www.rmgacquisition.com. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this prospectus. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.

 

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We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 do not intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period and our election to opt out is irrevocable.

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is 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. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

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The Offering

 

In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, Board and Advisory Board, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.”

 

Securities offered  

20,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

·        one share of Class A common stock; and

 

·        one-third of one warrant.

     
Proposed NYSE symbols  

Units: “RMG.U”

 

Class A Common Stock: “RMG”

 

Warrants: “RMG.WS”

     
Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and warrants  

 

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

     
Separate trading of the Class A common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K  

In no event will the Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

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Units :    
     
Number outstanding before this offering   0
     
Number outstanding after this offering   20,000,000 (or 23,000,000 if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full)
     
Common stock :    
     
Number outstanding before this offering   5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock (up to an aggregate of 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) ( 1 )
     
Number outstanding after this offering   25,000,000 shares, consisting of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock (or 28,750,000 shares, consisting of 23,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full)
     
Warrants :    
     
Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement that will close simultaneously with this offering  
4,000,000 (or 4,600,000 if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full)
     
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement  
10,666,666 (or 12,266,666 if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full)
     
Exercisability   Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.
     
Exercise price   $11.50 per share. In addition, if we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our Board, and in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “newly issued price”), the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the newly issued price.
     
Exercise period  

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

·        30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, or

 

·        12 months from the closing of this offering;

 

provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement).

 

 

( 1 ) The shares of common stock included in the units are Class A common stock. Founder shares are classified as shares of Class B common stock, which shares are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution.”

 

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We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed; provided, that if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

     
Redemption of warrants for cash  

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants for cash (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):

 

·        in whole and not in part;

 

·        at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

·        upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”); and

 

·        if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

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We will not redeem the warrants unless a 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.

 

None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us for cash so long as they are held by the sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their permitted transferees.

 

Redemption of warrants for shares of Class A common stock  

Commencing 90 days after the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (including both public warrants and private placement warrants):

 

·       in whole and not in part;

 

·       at a price equal to a number of shares of Class A common stock to be determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants”;

 

·       upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and

 

·       if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted per share splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

The “fair market value” of our Class A common stock shall mean the average reported last sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings. Any redemption of the warrants for shares of Class A common stock will apply to both the public warrants and the private placement warrants.

 

No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

Cashless exercise   If we call the warrants for redemption for cash or shares of Class A common stock as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the fair market value over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

  

Expression of Interest   The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to the Anchor Investors such number of units. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering, then we will redeem from the Anchor Investors their founder shares for the original purchase price and they will not acquire any private placement warrants.  In such circumstance, we expect to effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our founder shares such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.  In addition, our sponsor will instead purchase from us an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.  

 

Each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering .

 

There can be no assurance that the Anchor Investors will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity the Anchor Investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that the Anchor Investors may hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

 

The Anchor Investors will not have any rights to the funds held in the trust account beyond the rights afforded to our public stockholders, as described herein.

 

Founder shares   In November 2018, our sponsor acquired 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On December 17, 2018, we effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 founder shares. In January 2019, our sponsor forfeited to us 575,000 founder shares and the Anchor Investors purchased from us 575,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300, or approximately $0.004 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. As such, our initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Additionally, if we redeem the Anchor Investors’ founder shares upon their failure to purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our Class B common stock such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering. Up to an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised so that our initial stockholders will maintain ownership of 20% of our common stock after this offering.

 

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The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

 

·        the founder shares are shares of Class B common stock that automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein;

 

·        the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;

 

·        our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, 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. Our sponsor has agreed to vote any founder shares held by it and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 40%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) in order to have our initial business combination approved. The majority voting threshold and the voting agreement of our sponsor may make it more likely that we will consummate our business combination; and

 

·        the founder shares are subject to registration rights.

 

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Transfer restrictions on founder shares   Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date 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 shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Our officers, directors and certain Advisory Board members are owners of our sponsor and, accordingly, will indirectly be subject to the lock-up.
     
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights   The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time 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 excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the initial business, including pursuant to a specified future issuance, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance, including a specified future issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.

 

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Voting   Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by law. Each share of common stock will have one vote on all such matters.
     
Private placement warrants  

Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors have committed, pursuant to written agreements, to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per whole warrant (approximately $6,000,000 in the aggregate or approximately $6,900,000 in the aggregate if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Of those private placement warrants, 3,333,333 private placement warrants (or 3,766,667 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 666,667 private placement warrants (or 833,333 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the Anchor Investors. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, they will not purchase any private placement warrants in the private placement and our sponsor will instead purchase 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share.

 

A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing $200.0 million (or $230.0 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless.

 

So long as the private placement warrants are held by our sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us for cash and will be exercisable on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us for cash and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

     
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants   The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Our officers, directors and certain Advisory Board members are owners of our sponsor and, accordingly, will indirectly be subject to the above transfer restrictions.

 

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Cashless exercise of private placement warrants   If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their respective permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
     
Proceeds to be held in trust account  

The rules of NYSE provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000, or $10.00 per unit ($230,000,000, or $10.00 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account at Citibank, N.A., with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. These proceeds include $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.

 

Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

 

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Anticipated expenses and funding sources  

Except as described above with respect to the payment of taxes and expenses related to the administration of the trust account, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We will disclose in each quarterly and annual report filed with the SEC prior to our initial business combination whether the proceeds deposited in the trust account are invested in U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds or a combination thereof. Based upon a current interest rate of 2.53%, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $5.06 million of interest annually. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

·        the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $1,197,294 in working capital after the payment of approximately $802,706 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

·        any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination.

     
Conditions to completing our initial business combination  


There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately, including pursuant to any specified future issuance, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.

 

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    If our Board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm. 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. However, 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 an interest in the target sufficient for the post-transaction company not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our 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. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.
     
Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates   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 initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares 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 sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the rules of the NYSE. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

 

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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 public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants.

 

Our 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 held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our business combination or otherwise. In addition, each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering .

     
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 business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek 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. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with such rules.

 

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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, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

·        conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

 

·        file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

 

Upon the public announcement of our 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 under the Exchange Act 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.

 

In the event that 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 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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.

 

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will:

 

·        conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and

 

·        file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

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If we seek stockholder approval, 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 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 sponsor will count towards this quorum and has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering 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 sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 8,000,0001, or 40%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) in order to have our initial business combination approved. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, 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. As described elsewhere, each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering .

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. 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 business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates delivered, or shares tendered electronically, by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.

 

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    Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all 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, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
     
Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote  

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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 20% of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 20% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our 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 all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our business combination.

 

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Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation  

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public 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. 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 Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or in our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us (filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part), that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would 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 this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account released to us) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

 

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Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination  
On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other assets, companies or for working capital.
     
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination  
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.

 

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Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time period.

 

The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

     
Limited payments to insiders  

There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account, prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

·        Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to our formation and initial public offering and to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and

 

·        Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

Additionally, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or our or their affiliates; however, any such payment would not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account and we currently do not have any arrangement or agreement with our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or our or their affiliates, to do so. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were or are to be made to our sponsor, officers, directors or Advisory Board members, or our or their affiliates.

 

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Audit Committee   We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed of a majority of independent directors and, within one year, will be composed of at least three independent directors to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.”
     
Conflicts of Interest  

Certain of our officers, directors and Advisory Board members presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer, director or Advisory Board member is or will be required to present business combination opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, in the future, if any of our officers, directors or Advisory Board members becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers arising in the future would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

 

Our officers and directors have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

     
Indemnity   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 by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to administration of the trust account. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

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Risks

 

We are a newly formed company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team and members of our Board and Advisory Board, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.”

 

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Summary Financial Data

 

The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.

 

    As of November 6, 2018  
    Actual     Adjusted  
Balance Sheet Data:                
Working capital (deficiency) (1)   $ (208,500 )   $ 196,221,294  
Total assets (2)   $ 257,500     $ 201,221,294  
Total liabilities (3)   $ 233,500     $ 7,000,000  
Value of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption (4)   $     $ 189,221,290  
Stockholders’ equity (5)   $ 24,000     $ 5,000,004  

 

 

(1) The “as adjusted” calculation includes $200,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,197,294 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $24,000 of actual stockholders’ equity as of November 6, 2018, less $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions.
(2) The “as adjusted” calculation equals $200,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,197,294 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $24,000 of actual stockholders’ equity as of November 6, 2018.
(3) The “as adjusted” calculation includes $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions.
(4) The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” stockholders’ equity, which is set to approximate the minimum net tangible assets threshold of at least $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination.
(5) Excludes 189,922,129 shares of Class A common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of Class A common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (approximately $10.00 per share).

 

If no business combination is completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period.

 

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RISK FACTORS

 

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

We are a newly formed company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

 

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though holders of a majority of our common stock do not support such a combination.

 

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the 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, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed 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. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our common stock do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor has agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

 

Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial stockholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial business combination, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering, in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 8,000,001 or 40%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) in order to have our initial business combination approved. Our sponsor will own shares representing 18% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our sponsor agreed to vote its founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

 

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.

 

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our Board 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, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

 

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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.

 

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public 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 to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

 

The ability of our public 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 public 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 our 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, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a 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 per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the 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 stock.

 

If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock 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 stock in the open market.

 

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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our 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 complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

 

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares 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. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement 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, directors, officers, advisors 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 such purchases 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 business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

 

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In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock 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 business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

 

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination—Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”

 

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, 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 earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of our common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering 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 this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering 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 this 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. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

If our securities are approved for listing, the NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

 

We will apply to have our units listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity and a minimum number of holders of our securities. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

 

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If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

· a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

· reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

· a determination that our Class A common stock is 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;

 

· a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

· a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

 

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

 

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

 

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”

 

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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 20% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 20% 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 will provide 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 this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our 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 business combination. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 20% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock 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 approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses.

 

Furthermore, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock that our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. This 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 approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

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If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search for a business combination, to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

 

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1,197,294 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $802,706, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $802,706, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to withdraw interest from the trust account as described elsewhere in this prospectus and/or borrow funds from our sponsor, 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 any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

Subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, 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 surface all material issues that may be present inside 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 post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

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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 auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to 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 perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue.

 

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our 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 share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to 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 the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to administration of the trust account. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. 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 will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

Our independent 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 public share or (ii) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to administration of the trust account, 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.

 

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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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

 

We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members.

 

We have agreed to indemnify our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if: (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members for breach of their fiduciary duties. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members, 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 our directors, executive officers and Advisory Board members 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 we and our board may be exposed 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 all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our Board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

 

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.

 

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 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

 

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· restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our 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.

 

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

 

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee will not be permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering; or (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

 

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

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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 the prescribed time period 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 24 th month from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our 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 the prescribed time frame is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, 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 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 the NYSE 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 the NYSE. 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.

 

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We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.

 

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. 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 shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

 

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register their founder shares, after those shares convert to our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, 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 exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A 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 shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the 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.

 

Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or 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’ operations.

 

Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, we may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to complete our business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our 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 revenues 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 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 who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

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Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this sector.

 

We intend to focus our search for a target business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, including the chemicals, energy services and alternatives, environmental services, metals and power sectors. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business or sector, we cannot provide specific risks of any business combination. However, risks inherent in investments in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

· volatility of commodity prices;

 

· significant federal, state and local regulation, taxation and regulatory approval processes as well as changes in applicable laws and regulations;

 

· denial or delay of receiving requisite regulatory approvals and/or permits;

 

· the speculative nature of and high degree of risk involved in investments in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors;

 

· exploration and development risks, which could lead to environmental damage, injury and loss of life or the destruction of property;

 

· proximity and capacity of transportation and support infrastructure to production facilities;

 

· availability of key inputs, such as strategic consumables and raw materials;

 

· changes in global supply and demand and prices for commodities;

 

· impact of energy conservation efforts;

 

· technological advances affecting energy production and consumption;

 

· overall domestic and global economic conditions;

 

· availability of, and potential disputes with, independent contractors;

 

· adverse weather conditions, natural disasters or other events (such as equipment malfunctions, explosions, fires or spills);

 

· value of U.S. dollar relative to the currencies of other countries; and

 

· terrorist acts.

 

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Past performance by our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

 

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by such individuals and Riverside Management Group is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. Certain of our officers, directors and advisors have had management and deal execution experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past. You should not rely on the historical record of performance of our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team, Board and Advisory Board have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful.

 

We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.

 

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

 

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of 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 receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.

 

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

 

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We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

Unless we complete our business combination with an affiliated entity or our board cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our Board, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

 

Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

 

As of November 6, 2018, we had $25,000 in cash and a working capital deficiency of $208,500. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of an initial business combination. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus 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 prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

 

We may issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination, and may issue shares of common stock to redeem the warrants or issue shares of common stock or preferred stock 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 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 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 will authorize the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 10,000,000 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. Immediately after this offering, there will be 80,000,000 and 5,000,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) 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 the shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of any outstanding warrants or the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.

 

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination (including pursuant to a specified future issuance). After the completion of our initial business combination, we may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common stock to redeem the warrants as described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” or shares of common or preferred stock under an employee incentive plan. 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 contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

 

· may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

 

· may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

· could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our 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; and

 

· may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

Our ability to successfully complete our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of members of our management team and Advisory Board, some of whom may not join us following our initial business combination. The loss of such people could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

 

Our ability to successfully complete our business combination is dependent upon the efforts of members of our management team and Advisory Board. The role of members of our management team and Advisory Board in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some members of our management team and Advisory Board may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

 

In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the 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. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

 

Members of our management team or Advisory Board may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our 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.

 

Members of our management team or Advisory Board may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations could 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. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any members of our management team or Advisory Board will remain with us after the completion of our business combination. We cannot assure you that any members of our management team or Advisory Board will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any members of our management team or Advisory Board will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

 

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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may complete our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

 

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’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’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 who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the 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 officers and directors may allocate their time to other businesses, thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”

 

Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business.

 

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Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities in the future to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

 

For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled “Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

 

Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.

 

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact (subject to certain approvals and consents) we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not 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.

 

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, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

 

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Sources of Target Businesses” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

We may not have a majority of independent directors at completion of this offering and will not have an audit committee consisting entirely of independent directors for up to a year following our initial public offering. You may not know at the time of this offering the identities of independent directors that may be responsible for evaluating an initial business combination.

 

NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our Board be independent. In conformity with NYSE’s “phase-in” rules, within one year of our initial public offering, a majority of our Board will be independent. At the closing of this offering, we will have two independent directors. Thus, upon our initial public offering, and for up to a year afterwards, we may not have a majority of independent directors and may not have an audit committee consisting entirely of independent directors. As a result, investors will not know the identities of all of the independent directors and will be unable to evaluate the qualifications and backgrounds of such additional independent directors or the full composition of the board at the time of this offering. Also, at the time of this offering, investors will not know the independent directors that may be responsible for evaluating an initial business combination. After additional independent directors are appointed, those additional independent directors will be available to evaluate any initial business combination. In addition, while we currently expect to add two more independent directors after completion of our initial public offering, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so in time for them to evaluate the risks associated with an initial business combination as described above.

 

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Since our sponsor will lose its entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed and our officers, directors and Advisory Board members may have differing personal and financial interests than you, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

 

In November 2018, our sponsor acquired 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On December 17, 2018, we effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 founder shares. In January 2019, our sponsor forfeited to us 575,000 founder shares and the Anchor Investors purchased 575,000 founder shares from us for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300, or approximately $0.004 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering.

 

The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, assuming that the Anchor Investors purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, our sponsor has committed to purchase 3,333,333 private placement warrants (or 3,766,667 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of approximately $5,000,000 (or approximately $5,650,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.50 per whole warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Our sponsor has agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by it in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our Advisory Board members may also influence the advice they provide to the Board regarding identifying and selecting a target business.

 

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 prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

· default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

 

· acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

· our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;

 

· our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;

 

· our inability to pay dividends on our 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 common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes;

 

· limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

· increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation;

 

· limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and

 

· other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.

 

Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, up to $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes up to approximately $7,000,000, or up to approximately $8,050,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions).

 

We may complete our 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 complete our 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. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

 

· solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or

 

· dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

 

This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our business combination.

 

We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.

 

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

 

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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 complete our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

 

Our 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 a 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 an interest in the target sufficient for the post-transaction company 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-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 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 common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of 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 stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business. We 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 do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or 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, 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.

 

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The exercise price for the public warrants is higher than in many similar blank check company offerings in the past, and, accordingly, the warrants are more likely to expire worthless.

 

The exercise price of the public warrants is higher than has been typical in many similar blank check companies in the past. Historically, the exercise price of a warrant was generally a fraction of the purchase price of the units in the initial public offering. The exercise price for our public warrants is $11.50 per share. As a result, the warrants are less likely to ever be in the money and more likely to expire worthless.

 

In order to complete our initial business combination, we may seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or other governing instruments, including our warrant agreement, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination but that our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.

 

In order to complete a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreement. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, changed industry focus and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or other governing instruments or change our industry focus in order to complete 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 blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

 

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter that prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public 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. 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. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or in our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated 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 that govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

 

Our 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 that would affect 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 this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of 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 (which interest shall be net of amounts released to us to pay taxes and expenses related to the administration of the trust account), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, this letter agreement and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of the letter agreement. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

 

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We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.

 

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account) on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our 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. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

 

Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

 

Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own shares representing 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). 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 and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of 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, whose members were elected by our initial stockholders, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our 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, only a minority of the Board 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 business combination.

 

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Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors contributed approximately $0.004 per founder share and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A common stock.

 

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 91.8% (or $9.18 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.82 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In addition, because of the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.

 

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our 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 American 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 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.

 

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants for cash at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. 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 (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to 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. In addition, we may redeem your warrants after they become exercisable for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding.

 

Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to complete our business combination.

 

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 6,666,666 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 7,666,666 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 (or up to 4,600,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our initial stockholders currently own 5,750,000 founder shares. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

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To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to complete a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to complete a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

 

The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us for cash, (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.

 

Because each unit contains one-third of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

 

Each unit contains one-third of one warrant. Because, pursuant to the warrant agreement, the warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole 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 they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

 

A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

 

Unlike most blank check companies, if we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a newly issued price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the newly issued price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

 

The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.

 

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with the representative of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:

 

· the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;

 

· prior offerings of those companies;

 

· our prospects for acquiring an operating business;

 

· a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

 

· our capital structure;

 

· an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;

 

· general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and

 

· other factors as were deemed relevant.

 

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Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.

 

There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

 

There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

 

Because we must furnish our 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 target historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“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 acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth 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 to  irrevocably 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 will adopt the new or revised standard at the time public companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another emerging growth company that has not opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

 

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Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.

 

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2020. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our 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.

 

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 Class A common stock and could entrench management.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered Board and the ability of the Board to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

 

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 will designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, Advisory Board members, employees or agents.

  

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (“Court of Chancery”) will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, Advisory Board members, employees or stockholders to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers, Advisory Board members, or employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case except for such claims as to which (a) the Court of Chancery determines that it does not have personal jurisdiction over an indispensable party, (b) exclusive jurisdiction is vested in a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (c) the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of our common stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation described in the preceding sentence. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, Advisory Board members, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, 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 adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. 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 and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities 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, the Securities Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse United States federal income tax consequences.

 

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant to purchase Class A common stock included in each unit could be challenged by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or the courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant included in the units is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of Class A common stock suspend the running of a U.S. holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividend income” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See “United States Federal Income Tax Considerations” below for a summary of the principal United States federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.

 

If we complete our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

 

If we complete our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

 

· higher costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;

 

· rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

· complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

· laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

 

· tariffs and trade barriers;

 

· regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

· longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

· tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

 

· currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

· rates of inflation;

 

· cultural and language differences;

 

· employment regulations;

 

· crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars;

 

· deterioration of political relations with the United States; and

 

· government appropriations of assets.

 

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Certain statements in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

 

·

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, including the chemicals, energy services and alternatives, environmental services, metals and power sectors;

 

· our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

· our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses;

 

· our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

 

· our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

 

· our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

 

· our pool of prospective target businesses in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors;

 

· the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities;

 

· our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

· the lack of a market for our securities;

 

· the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

 

· the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

 

· our financial performance following this offering.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We are offering 20,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

    Without Over-
Allotment
Option
    Over-Allotment
Option Fully
Exercised
 
Gross proceeds                
Gross proceeds from units offered to public (1)   $ 200,000,000     $ 230,000,000  
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement     6,000,000       6,900,000  
Total gross proceeds   $ 206,000,000     $ 236,900,000  
                 
Offering expenses (2)                
Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion) (3)   $ 4,000,000     $ 4,600,000  
Legal fees and expenses     300,000       300,000  
Accounting fees and expenses     50,000       50,000  
SEC/FINRA filing fees and expenses     62,876       62,876  
Travel and road show     50,000       50,000  
NYSE listing and filing fees     100,000       100,000  
Director and Officer liability insurance premiums     150,000       150,000  
Printing and engraving expenses     45,000       45,000  
Miscellaneous     44,830       44,830  
Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions)   $ 802,706     $ 802,706  
Proceeds after offering expenses   $ 201,197,294     $ 231,497,294  
Held in trust account (3)   $ 200,000,000     $ 230,000,000  
% of public offering size     100 %     100 %
Not held in trust account   $ 1,197,294     $ 1,497,294  

 

The following table shows the expected use of the approximately $1,197,294 of net proceeds not held in the trust account (4)

 

    Amount     % of Total  
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination (5)   $ 600,000       50.1 %
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations     100,000       8.4 %
Consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during search for initial business combination target     160,000       13.3 %
Reserve for liquidation     100,000       8.4 %
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses     237,294       19.8 %
Total   $ 1,197,294       100.0 %

 

 

(1) Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.
(2) In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.
(3) The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,000,000 which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.
(4) These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example , we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. In the event the over-allotment option is exercised, we anticipate that the additional net proceeds held outside the trust account will be allocated to fund working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses.
(5) Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.

 

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The rules of the NYSE provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a U.S.-based trust account at Citibank, N.A., with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $5.06 million per year, assuming an interest rate of 2.53% per year; however, we can provide no assurance regarding this amount. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law.

 

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other assets, companies or for working capital.

 

We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the rules of the NYSE. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

 

The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to the Anchor Investors such number of units. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering, then we will redeem from the Anchor Investors their founder shares for the original purchase price and they will not acquire any private placement warrants.  In such circumstance, we expect to effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our founder shares such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.  In addition, our sponsor will instead purchase from us an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.

 

Each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering . There can be no assurance that the Anchor Investors will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity the Anchor Investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that the Anchor Investors may hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

 

We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

 

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of our common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months following the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

 

In addition to the Anchor Investors’ commitment to retain a certain amount of equity as described above, our 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 any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officer and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors, Advisory Board members or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

 

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 at such time. If we increase the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Additionally, if we redeem the Anchor Investors’ founder shares upon their failure to purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our Class B common stock such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

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DILUTION

 

The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.

 

At November 6, 2018, our net tangible book deficit was $208,500 or approximately $0.04 per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at November 6, 2018 would have been $5,000,004, or approximately $0.86 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of 18,922,129 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) of $0.86 per share to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $10.00 per share or 100% to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights. Total dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $9.18 per share or 91.8%. The dilution to new investors if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full would be an immediate dilution of $9.28 per share or 92.8%.

 

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants (assuming no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option):

 

    Without Over-
allotment
    With Over-
allotment
 
Public offering price   $ 10.00     $ 10.00  
Net tangible book deficit before this offering     (0.04 )     (0.04 )
Increase attributable to public stockholders     0.86       0.76  
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants     0.82       0.72  
Dilution to public stockholders   $ 9.18     $ 9.28  
Percentage of dilution to public stockholders     91.8 %     92.8 %

 

For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $189,221,290 because holders of up to approximately 95.6% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account), divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.

 

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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:

 

    Shares Purchased     Total Consideration     Average
Price
 
    Number     Percentage     Amount     Percentage     Per Share  
Initial Stockholders (1)     5,000,000       20.0 %   $ 25,000       0.01 %   $ 0.003  
Public Stockholders     20,000,000       80.0 %     200,000,000       99.99 %   $ 10.00  
      25,000,000       100.0 %   $ 200,025,000       100.0 %        

 

 

(1) Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our sponsor.

 

    Without Over-
allotment
    With Over-
allotment
 
Numerator:                
Net tangible book deficit before this offering   $ (208,500 )   $ (208,500 )
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants     201,197,294       231,497,294  
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering     232,500       232,500  
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions     (7,000,000 )     (8,050,000 )
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption     (189,221,290 )     (218,171,290 )
    $ 5,000,004     $ 5,000,004  
Denominator:                
Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering     5,750,000       5,750,000  
Class B common stock forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised     (750,000 )      
Class A common stock included in the units offered     20,000,000       23,000,000  
Less: Shares subject to redemption     (18,922,129 )     (21,817,129 )
      6,077,871       6,932,871  

 

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CAPITALIZATION

 

The following table sets forth our capitalization at November 6, 2018, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units and the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

    November 6, 2018  
    Actual    

As Adjusted (1)

 
Deferred underwriting commissions           7,000,000  
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 0 and 189,922,129 shares are subject to possible redemption, actual and adjusted, respectively (2)           189,221,290  
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted            
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 0 and 1,077,871 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 0 and 189,922,129 shares subject to possible redemption), actual and as adjusted, respectively (2)           108  
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized, 5,750,000 (3) and 5,000,000 (3) shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively     575       500  
Additional paid-in capital     24,425       5,000,396  
Accumulated deficit     (1,000 )     (1,000 )
Total stockholders’ equity   $ 24,000     $ 5,000,004  
Total capitalization   $ 24,000     $ 201,221,294  

 

 

(1) Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and the resulting forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares held by our sponsor has occurred.
(2) Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account 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 and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination.
(3) Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed 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 have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any business combination target. We intend to complete our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

 

The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:

 

· may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock;

 

· may subordinate the rights of holders of our common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

· could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;

 

· may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and

 

· may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or warrants.

 

Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or owners of a target, it could result in:

 

· default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

 

· acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

· our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;

 

· our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;

 

· our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

· 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 common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes;

 

· limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

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· increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation;

 

· limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and

 

· other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at November 6, 2018, we had deferred offering costs of $232,500. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

 

Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

 

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through a capital contribution of our sponsor and the Anchor Investors of $27,300 for the founder shares. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $802,706, underwriting commissions of $4,000,000 ($4,600,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $6,000,000 (or $6,900,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $201,197,294 (or $231,497,294 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. The remaining approximately $1,197,294 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $802,706, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $802,706, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

 

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less amounts released to us for taxes payable, expenses relating to the administration of the trust account and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering, to be $200,000, which is the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation per annum. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. Based on current interest rates, the interest earned on the trust account, net of income taxes, may not be sufficient to pay Delaware franchise taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

 

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $1,197,294 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.

 

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In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $600,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $100,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $160,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during the search for a business combination target, $100,000 reserved for liquidation and $237,294 for working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses.

 

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.

 

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination, which may include a specified future issuance. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

 

Controls and Procedures

 

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.

 

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Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our auditors tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

 

· staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;

 

· reconciliation of accounts;

 

· proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;

 

· evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

 

· documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and

 

· documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

 

Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

 

Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent auditors to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent auditors may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

 

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 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. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

Related Party Transactions

 

In November 2018, our sponsor acquired 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On December 17, 2018, we effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 founder shares. In January 2019, our sponsor forfeited to us 575,000 founder shares and the Anchor Investors purchased from us 575,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300, or approximately $0.004 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Additionally, if we redeem the Anchor Investors’ founder shares upon their failure to purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our Class B common stock such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.

 

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Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf, including with respect to our formation and initial public offering and to identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Additionally, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or our or their affiliates; however, any such payment would not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account and we currently do not have any arrangement or agreement with our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or our or their affiliates, to do so. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made or are to be made to our sponsor, officers, directors, Advisory Board members, or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors have committed to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,00 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.50 per whole warrant (approximately $6,000,000 in the aggregate or $6,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Of those private placement warrants, 3,333,333 private placement warrants warrants (or 3,766,667 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 666,667 private placement warrants warrants (or 833,333 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the Anchor Investors. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, they will not purchase any private placement warrants in the private placement and our sponsor will instead purchase 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by them to certain permitted transferees, including our officers, directors and Advisory Board members and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to it, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the sponsor. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our business combination. So long as the private placement warrants are held by our sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us for cash. The private placement warrants may also be exercised by the sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period, and may be redeemed by us for shares of Class A common stock as described under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants”.

 

The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to the Anchor Investors such number of units. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering, then we will redeem from the Anchor Investors their founder shares for the original purchase price and they will not acquire any private placement warrants.  In such circumstance, we expect to effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our founder shares such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.  In addition, our sponsor will instead purchase from us an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.

 

Each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering. There can be no assurance that the Anchor Investors will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity the Anchor Investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that the Anchor Investors may hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

 

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial stockholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results

 

As of November 6, 2018, 2018, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus, as we have conducted no operations to date.

 

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JOBS Act

 

On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We have elected to irrevocably 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 will adopt the new or revised standard at the time public companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another emerging growth company that has not opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

 

Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company”, we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

 

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

 

Overview

 

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target. We intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, including the chemicals, energy services and alternatives, environmental services, metals and power sectors, that may provide opportunities for attractive long-term risk-adjusted returns, though we reserve the right to pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business or industry.

 

Business Strategy

 

Our business strategy is to utilize the investment identification and evaluation experience of our management, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group, an entity of which our Chairman is the founder and serves as a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer, to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that we believe, with proper utilization of their network and experience, has compelling potential for value creation. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team, Board and Advisory Board and their affiliates (including Riverside Management Group) have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through the extensive experience of our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group in both investing in and operating chemicals, energy services and alternatives, environmental services, metals and power companies and assets. We expect these networks will provide us with a robust flow of acquisition opportunities among lower middle-market and middle-market companies with overall transaction values between $750 million and $2.5 billion. To the extent the purchase price for any acquisition to be paid in cash exceeds the net proceeds available to us, we may issue debt or equity to consummate the acquisition. Such additional financing may come in the form of bank financings or preferred equity, common equity or debt offerings or a combination of the foregoing. We believe our management’s experience and track record are particularly differentiated, and will enable us to successfully identify and execute an initial business combination.

 

Our management team has experience in:

 

· Operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting exceptional talent;

 

· Developing and growing companies, both organically and through strategic transactions and acquisitions, and expanding the product range and geographic footprint of a number of target businesses;

 

· Investing in leading private and public diversified resources and industrial materials companies to accelerate their growth and maturation;

 

· Sourcing, structuring, acquiring, and selling businesses;

 

· Accessing the capital markets, including financing businesses and helping companies transition to public ownership; and

 

· Fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers and target management teams.

 

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Acquisition Criteria

 

We will seek to identify companies that have compelling growth potential and a combination of the following characteristics. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire companies or assets that we believe have the following attributes:

 

· Network utilization.       We will focus on companies that can utilize and leverage the extensive networks and insights that we, members of our Board and our Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group have built in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors;

 

· Large and growing market . We will focus on investments in industry segments that we believe demonstrate attractive long-term growth prospects and reasonable overall size or potential;

 

· Attractive, profitable business . We will seek to invest in companies that we believe possess not only established business models but sustainable competitive advantages as well;

 

· Strong management teams . We will spend significant time assessing a company’s leadership and personnel and evaluating what we can do to augment or upgrade the team over time if needed;

 

· Opportunity for operational improvements . We will seek to identify businesses that we believe are stable but at an inflection point and would benefit from our additional management expertise, ability to drive improvements in the company’s production processes, research and development, go-to-market strategy, products or service offerings, sales and marketing efforts, geographical presence and/or leadership team;

 

· Opportunity for financial improvements . We will seek to identify businesses that we believe would benefit from our management’s ability to improve and optimize a company’s capital structure, including by assisting the company in accessing the capital markets and any other financing sources;

 

· Differentiated products or services . We will focus on businesses whose products or services are differentiated or where we see an opportunity to create value by implementing best practices;

 

· Unrecognized value. We will seek to identify business that we believe exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company’s growth strategy, and that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review;

 

· Minimal technology risk . We will seek to invest in companies that do not depend on experimental technology; and

 

· 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.

 

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.

 

Our Management Team, Board and Advisors

 

Our Management Team

 

Our management team is led by our Chairman, D. James Carpenter, our Chief Executive Officer, Robert S. Mancini, and our President and Chief Operating Officer, Philip Kassin, who combined have over 80 years of experience in advising and investing in private and public companies in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. Mr. Carpenter is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Riverside Management Group, and former Chief Executive Officer of Horsehead Industries Inc. Mr. Mancini is a former partner and Managing Director at The Carlyle Group and the former co-head of Carlyle Power Partners, and prior to that was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and most recently was head of the power and commodity principal investment businesses and Chief Executive Officer of Cogentrix Energy Power Management LLC. Mr. Kassin is the former Head of M&A and Financing at Access Industries and M-III Partners, and has also held senior investment banking roles at Evercore, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and AIG.

 

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Messrs. Carpenter, Mancini and Kassin played a major role in over 85 investments with total transaction values in excess of $55 billion and more than $20 billion of invested equity, and were involved in investments across numerous geographies, through a variety of different structures and amidst diverse economic cycles. These investments included some of the largest and most complex private equity deals in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. Success at this level requires the highest degree of diligence, financial and market analyses, process management, structuring abilities, operational knowhow and investment acumen.

 

Our management team has extensive experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and equity and debt capital markets transactions. Additionally, our management team has been responsible for developing bank relationships with banks worldwide that have provided billions of dollars of committed capital to their companies. Our team has experience investing across a variety of commodity price cycles and a track record of identifying high-quality assets and businesses with significant resources, capital and optimization potential.

 

Our management team has an extensive history of partnering with other management teams and operators to successfully create greater value. Our team has consistently brought in management teams to enhance the value of assets, while providing expertise in public equity and debt markets, and mergers and acquisitions. It has been a differentiating strength of our management team in finding acquisitions and growth opportunities to be flexible in partnering with other management teams and companies. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees” for additional information.

 

Our Board

 

In addition to Messrs. Carpenter, Mancini and Kassin, at the closing of this offering, our Board will be comprised of W. Grant Gregory and Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch.

 

Mr. Gregory is the founder and Chairman of Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Inc., a financial advisory firm providing mergers and acquisitions and strategic services to firms, including private equity firms. Mr. Gregory has served successfully in numerous leadership roles as chairman of the board, chief executive officer, investment banker, merchant banker and director of public, private and nonprofit corporations, including serving on the board of directors of Touche Ross & Co. (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu), where he worked for 24 years, Chrysler Corporation, MCI and Renaissance Hotels Inc. Dr. Schimmelbusch is a member of Riverside Management Group’s advisory board, and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (EuroNext Amsterdam: AMG) since November 21, 2006. Dr. Schimmelbusch also serves as a director of various companies, including Allied Resource Corporation and PFW Aerospace GmbH. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management —Officers, Directors and Director Nominees ” for additional information.

 

Our Advisory Board

 

Our Advisory Board is comprised of Steven J. Gilbert, Edward Forst and Thad Miller, each of whom has expertise in diversified resources and industrial materials companies. Mr. Gilbert is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, L.P., an institutional investment firm established in 1997. In addition, Mr. Gilbert also founded Soros Capital, Commonwealth Capital Partners, and Chemical Venture Partners. He currently serves on the boards of several public companies, and has served on the boards of more than 25 companies over the span of his career. Mr. Forst previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., a commercial real estate firm operating in over 60 countries. Prior to that, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where during his career he held numerous executive roles. Mr. Miller currently serves as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of Calpine Corporation, and has decades of legal and energy industry experience. We anticipate that our Advisory Board will contribute to our efforts in sourcing and evaluating transaction opportunities. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management —Advisory Board ” for additional information.

 

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Riverside Management Group

 

Riverside Management Group, an entity of which our Chairman is the founder and serves as a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer, is a merchant banking boutique founded in 1996. Through its team of approximately 40 professionals, including the broader Riverside Management Group platform of more than 20 senior finance professionals, Riverside Management Group provides capital placement, principal investments and mergers and acquisitions advisory services to companies, funds and entrepreneurs. Additionally, Riverside Management Group’s advisory board includes nine former or current “C-level” executives of world leading companies in the diversified  resources and industrial materials sectors. As a result, Riverside Management Group has an active and highly robust network of deal flow through personal relationships with companies and management teams leading to proprietary opportunities. We expect to leverage the exceptional industry expertise and executive and operational management skills of Riverside Management Group and its senior advisors and employees to assist us in identifying, evaluating and performing due diligence on a target, as well as structuring, financing and completing our initial business combination.

 

Riverside Management Group’s advisory board includes Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch, who will serve as one of our directors upon the effective date of this registration statement, Mark R. White, Nils A. Kindwall, William Smelas, Harry Walters and Ronald J. Statile. These advisory board members have significant experience as founders, owners, directors and/or executive officers of companies such as Horsehead Holding Corporation, one of the largest zinc recyclers and producers in the U.S., Great Lakes Carbon Corp., the world’s largest producer of calcined petroleum products, AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group, a global leading producer of critical materials for carbon dioxide reduction and Freeport-McMoran, a leading producer of copper, gold and molybdenum and SAP, the global leader in enterprise software.

 

The past performance of our management team, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group are not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. Certain of our officers, directors and advisors have had management and successful deal execution experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past. You should not rely on the historical record of performance of our management, members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group as indicative of our future performance.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.

 

Any party may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this prospectus. The amount and other terms and conditions of any such specified future issuance would be determined at the time thereof. We are not obligated to make any specified future issuance and may determine not to do so. This is not an offer for any specified future issuance. Pursuant to the anti-dilution provisions of our Class B common stock, any such specified future issuance would result in an adjustment to the conversion ratio such that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees, if any, would retain their aggregate percentage ownership at 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares issued in the specified future issuance, unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding shares of Class B common stock agreed to waive such adjustment with respect to the specified future issuance at the time thereof. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any such specified future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. If such adjustment is not waived, the specified future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the specified future issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock.

 

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Our Acquisition Process

 

In evaluating a prospective initial business combination, we expect to conduct a thorough diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of assets and facilities and financial analyses, as well as a review of other information that will be made available to us.

 

We believe that we are well positioned to identify attractive risk-adjusted returns in the marketplace and that our contacts and transaction sources, ranging from industry executives, private owners, private equity funds, and investment bankers, in addition to the reach of Riverside Management Group, which is further supported by the broader Riverside Management Group platform and its advisory board, will enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities.

 

We will seek to capitalize on the industry expertise and relationships of members of our Board and Advisory Board and Riverside Management Group to source and complete an initial business combination. Members of our Board and Advisory Board, as well as the Riverside Management Group’s team and advisors, who will assist us in sourcing potential target companies and evaluating management teams, have an extensive track record of identifying high-quality assets, businesses and management teams with significant resources, capital and optimization potential.

 

We believe that conducting comprehensive due diligence on prospective investments is particularly important within the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. We will utilize the diligence, rigor, and expertise of our management and Riverside Management Group’s platform to evaluate potential targets’ strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to identify the relative risk and return profile of any potential target for our initial business combination. Given our management team’s extensive tenure investing in natural resources companies, we will often be familiar with the prospective target’s end-market, competitive landscape and business model.

 

We currently do not have any specific targets for an initial business combination selected. Neither our officers, directors or members of our Advisory Board nor Riverside Management Group has contacted or had any discussions with possible target businesses in which they directly or indirectly proposed or encouraged a potential target to consider a possible combination with us. Certain of our officers and directors are employed by or affiliated with various investment funds. Such funds and individuals are continuously made aware of potential investment opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf, including members of our Board and Advisory Board or Riverside Management Group) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with any prospective target business. Neither we nor members of our Board or Advisory Board nor Riverside Management Group have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible business combination with us.

 

We may, at our option, pursue an opportunity with an entity to which an officer, director or Advisory Board member has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity 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 amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

 

Our officers and directors have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

 

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Status as a Public Company

 

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

 

Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

 

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 do not intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period and our election to opt out is irrevocable.

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is 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.

 

Financial Position

 

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $193,000,000, after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $221,950,000 after payment of up to $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial 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 balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our 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.

 

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Effecting our Initial Business Combination

 

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to complete our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

 

If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other assets, companies or for working capital.

 

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination (which may include a specified future issuance), and we may complete our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately, including pursuant to any specified future issuance, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

 

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

 

Sources of Target Businesses

 

We expect to receive a number of proprietary transaction opportunities to originate as a result of the business relationships, direct outreach, and deal sourcing activities of our officers, directors and Advisory Board members. In addition to the proprietary deal flow, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms, private equity groups, large business enterprises, and other market participants. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers, directors and Advisory Board members, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. Some of our officers, directors and Advisory Board members may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate. In no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates, which payment would not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account. We currently do not have any agreement or arrangement with our sponsor, any of our officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates to make any such payments.

 

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We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or Advisory Board members or making the acquisition 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, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Any such entity 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.

 

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 business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

 

· subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and

 

· cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

 

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team

 

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ 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 or of our board, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination, it is presently unknown if any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our 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. The determination as to whether any members of our Board will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

 

Following a business combination, to the extent that we deem it necessary, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management team 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. 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   Whether Stockholder
Approval is Required
Purchase of assets   No
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company   No
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company   No
Merger of the company with a target   Yes

 

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Under the NYSE’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

 

· 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;

 

· any of our directors, officers or substantial security holders (as defined by NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets and if the number of shares of common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of common stock into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and officers or (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial security holders; or

 

· the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.

 

Permitted Purchases of our Securities

 

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement 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, directors, officers, advisors 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. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

 

The purpose of such purchases would 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 business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

 

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

 

Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors 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 following our mailing of 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 the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

 

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Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

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 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 and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our 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 any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination. In addition, each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering .

 

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

 

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 either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. 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. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with such rules.

 

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, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

· conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

 

· file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination that contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

 

Upon the public announcement of our business combination, 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 if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

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In the event that 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 are not purchased by our sponsor, 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 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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.

 

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, 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

 

· file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

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 stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.

 

If we seek stockholder approval, 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 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 sponsor will count toward this quorum and has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering 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 sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 40%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) in order to have our initial business combination approved. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, 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.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. 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, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

 

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Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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 20% of the shares sold in this offering (the “Excess Shares”). 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 20% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us 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 20% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our 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, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.

 

Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, 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 from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short 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 tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

 

The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

 

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Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, 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 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 initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.

 

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our business combination within such prescribed time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us (filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part), that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would 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 this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of 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 and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account 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 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above) we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares.

 

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $1,197,294 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

 

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If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by 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 auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest and 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 perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. 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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to 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 which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. 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 will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

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In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are 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 which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.

 

We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $1,197,294 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $802,706, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $802,706, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

 

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 business combination within 24 months from the closing of this 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 business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, 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 business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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.

 

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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 auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to 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 as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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 may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, 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 business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to approve 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 have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (iii) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of our common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus. 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 as described above.

 

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Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete our Business Combination

 

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.

 

    Redemptions in Connection
with our Initial Business
Combination
  Other Permitted Purchases
of Public Shares by us or
our Affiliates
  Redemptions if we fail to
Complete an Initial
Business Combination
Calculation of redemption price   Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes  as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place, if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.   If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions.   If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.
             
Impact to remaining stockholders   The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions, franchise and income taxes payable as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account .   If the permitted purchases described above are made there would be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.   The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.

 

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Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

 

The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.

 

    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Escrow of offering proceeds   $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at Citibank, N.A., with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.   Approximately $170,100,000 of the offering proceeds would be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.
         
Investment of net proceeds   $200,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.   Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.
         
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds   Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any income or franchise taxes paid or payable; (ii) expenses relating to the administration of the trust account and (iii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.   Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.
         
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business   Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.   The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

 

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Trading of securities issued   The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, an additional Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option.   No trading of the units or the underlying Class A common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.
         
Exercise of the warrants   The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering.   The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.
         
Election to remain an investor   We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account , upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, 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 business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. 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.   A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

 

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    Terms of Our Offering   Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering
Business combination deadline   If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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.   If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.
         
Release of funds   Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted 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 this offering and (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete a business combination within the required time frame (subject to the requirements of applicable law).   The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

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Competition

 

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, 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 we do. 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 50 West Street, Suite 40C, New York, NY 10006, and our telephone number is (212) 785-2579. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

 

Employees

 

We currently have three officers. Members of our management team 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 that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

 

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

 

We will register 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 will 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 tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials 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 GAAP. We cannot assure you that any particular target business selected by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with GAAP. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

 

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

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.

 

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MANAGEMENT

 

Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

 

Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:

 

Name   Age   Position
D. James Carpenter   51   Chairman
Robert S. Mancini   61   Chief Executive Officer and Director
Philip Kassin   61   President and Chief Operating Officer and Director
W. Grant Gregory   77   Director Nominee
Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch   74   Director Nominee

 

D. James Carpenter has been our Chairman since inception. Mr. Carpenter is the Founder and has been a Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Riverside Management Group, LLC (“Riverside”) for 22 years. Riverside is a merchant bank with approximately 40 senior professionals and advisors who have completed billions of dollars of transactions as advisors, principal investors and as management. From  2002 to 2004, Mr. Carpenter served as the CEO of Horsehead Industries (renamed American Zinc Recycling), one of the largest zinc recyclers and producers in the U.S. Mr. Carpenter was a founding investor and has served as a longtime advisor, and since 2016 has served as a board member of Allied Resource Corp, a clean water and clean energy company. He is a founder of Mohegan Energy where he led the capital formation for the acquisition of Met Resources, a company with over 40 million tons of steel making coal reserves. Mr. Carpenter earned his B.A. from Boston University in 1989. He also has FINRA Series 24, 63 and 79 licenses. Mr. Carpenter is well qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive management, investment banking, M&A advisory and investing experience.

 

Robert S. Mancini has been our Chief Executive Officer and a director since inception. From June 2018 to December 2018, Mr. Mancini served as a Senior Advisor to Carlyle Power Partners and was a Partner and a Managing Director with The Carlyle Group and head or co-head of Carlyle’s power investment business from December 2012 until June 2018. Prior to joining Carlyle, from June 1993 to December 2012 Mr. Mancini was an employee of Goldman Sachs & Co., and from November 1999 through December 2012 was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Co.  From December 2003 to December 2012, Mr. Mancini led or co-led Goldman Sach’s on-balance sheet power asset investment business. During that period Goldman Sachs conducted most of its power asset investment business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Cogentrix Energy LLC, where Mr. Mancini served in various capacities, including as the President, co-President and Chief Executive Officer and serving as a member of the board of directors.  Mr. Mancini was instrumental in the formation of and Goldman’s entry into the power asset investment business in 2003 and he was also responsible for the creation of Goldman’s proprietary Commodities Principal Investment business in 2006, where he led investments on Goldman’s behalf in companies involved in the processing, production and logistics for a broad range of commodities including base, precious and specialty metals, oil, gas, coal and other energy related raw materials, as well as CO2 offsets and mitigation. Prior to 2003, Mr. Mancini was a member of the legal department where he eventually became the Deputy General Counsel of the Securities Division.  During his tenure at Goldman, Mr. Mancini sat on several committees including the firm-wide Risk Committee, Operational Risk Committee, and Divisional Risk Committee, as well as several portfolio company boards. Prior to joining Goldman, Mr. Mancini spent nine years in private practice as a lawyer with Debevoise and Plimpton, where he established that firm’s derivatives practice. Mr. Mancini received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1984, where he was a member of Law Review, and received his B.A. degree from Binghamton University in 1980. Mr. Mancini is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive investment experience in the power and broader commodities industries, his many years of management and leadership experience, as well as his service on several boards and committees throughout his career.

 

Philip Kassin has been our President and Chief Operating Officer and a director since inception. From August 2016 to October 2016, Mr. Kassin was a Managing Director and Head of M&A and Financing at M-III Partners and has over 35 years of experience as both an advisor and investor in public and private equity. At M-III Partners, he completed a $345 million SPAC transaction for M-III Acquisition Corp., successfully acquiring Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (NASDAQ: IEA) from Oaktree Capital Management, and serving on its Board from March 2018 to September 2018. Prior to joining M-III Partners, Mr. Kassin was a Senior Managing Director at Evercore from July 2010 to April 2016, specializing in chemicals and energy. Prior to Evercore, from September 2005 to July 2010, Mr. Kassin was the Head of M&A and Financing for Access Industries, a privately held industrial group which focused on natural resources and chemicals, media and telecommunications, technology and e-commerce and real estate. Mr. Kassin also served as a Supervisory Board Member of Basell Polyolefins from 2005 to 2007 and as a Supervisory Board Member of LyondellBasell Industries from 2007 to 2010, where he also served as Chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee and Chairman of the Audit Committee. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kassin held senior investment banking roles at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and AIG. He was also a Partner at PwC where he was responsible for its energy M&A consulting practice. Mr. Kassin started his career as a utilities analyst at Standard & Poor’s. Mr. Kassin earned an M.P.A. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a B.A, in Policy Studies from Syracuse University. He also has FINRA Series 24, 63 and 79 Qualifications. Mr. Kassin is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive principal investment expertise in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors, investment banking, M&A, capital markets and publicly listed company director experience.

 

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W. Grant Gregory will become a director upon the effective date of the registration statement. Mr. Gregory is the founder, and since December 1987 has served as the Chairman of, Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Inc., a financial advisory firm providing mergers and acquisitions and strategic services to firms, including private equity firms. Mr. Gregory’s expertise includes corporate governance and ethical business practices, mergers and acquisitions and tax policy. Mr. Gregory has served successfully in numerous leadership roles as chairman of the board, chief executive officer, investment banker, merchant banker and director of public, private and nonprofit corporations. Mr. Gregory previously served as a corporate director of NYSE member companies, including Chrysler Corporation until 2007, MCI until 2006 and Renaissance Hotels Inc. until 1997, and he has served as the chairman of the audit, governance and compensation committees for a number of NYSE member companies. Mr. Gregory has also served as chairman of Special Independent Directors Committees for numerous NYSE member companies. He was Vice Chairman of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. from 2005 until 2011. Mr. Gregory is also a founder of DoubleClick Inc. Mr. Gregory was previously Chairman of the Board of Touche Ross & Co. (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu), where he worked for 24 years until 1987. Mr. Gregory has served as Executive Co-Chairman of the United States Privatization Council and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Advisory Committee on International Trade in Services. He currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the National Forest Foundation, Director Emeritus of the Wyoming Wildlife Foundation, Director Emeritus of The National Board of Directors of Junior Achievement, and Director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making at the University of Southern California. Mr. Gregory graduated with distinction from the University of Nebraska in 1964, where he was later awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, as well as The Builder Award, the University’s highest non-academic recognition. Mr. Gregory is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive mergers and acquisitions experience and his publicly listed company director experience.

 

Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch will become a director upon the effective date of the registration statement. Dr. Schimmelbusch has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (EuroNext Amsterdam: AMG) since November 21, 2006. He has served in a similar capacity for businesses comprising AMG since 1998. Dr. Schimmelbusch also serves as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of various companies, including Allied Resource Corporation since 1996. Dr. Schimmelbusch served as Chairman of Metallgesellschaft AG from 1989 until he resigned in 1993. His directorships have included Aurubis AG, Allianz Versicherung AG, Mobil Oil AG, Teck Corporation, Methanex Corporation and MMC Norilsk Nickel and he is currently a director of PFW Aerospace GmbH. Dr. Schimmelbusch served as a member of the Presidency of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the Presidency of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Dr. Schimmelbusch received his graduate degree (with distinction) and his doctorate (magna cum laude) from the University of Tübingen, Germany. Dr. Schimmelbusch is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive principal investment expertise in the natural resources sector and his publicly listed company director experience.

 

Advisory Board

 

Our current Advisory Board members are as follows:

 

Steven J. Gilbert is a member of our Advisory Board. Mr. Gilbert has 48 years of experience in private equity investing, investment banking and law, and has been involved as the Managing Principal in the purchase, financing, operations and sale of over 180 businesses. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, L.P., a billion dollar private equity fund. He also currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of MidOcean Equity Partners, LP, Co-Chairman of Birch Grove Capital, Chairman of CPM Holdings, a manufacturer of process equipment used for oilseed processing and animal feed production, Oaktree Capital Group (NYSE: OAK), Chairman of the Board of TRI Pointe Group, Inc. (NYSE: TPH), Lead Independent Director of The Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE: ESRT), a Director of Florida Food Products, Inc., an Advisory Board Member of the Fairholme Partnership, L.P. and a Director of The Fairholme Fund (Nasdaq: FAIRX). Mr. Gilbert was also recently Chairman of the Board of Dura Automotive Systems, Inc., the largest independent designer and manufacturer of automotive drive control systems, Co-Chairman of Stone Tower Capital Partners, a director of J. O. Hambro Capital Management Group and the Asian Infrastructure Fund. Until 2009, Mr. Gilbert was Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Sun Group (USA). From 1992 to 1997 he was the Founder and Managing General Partner of Soros Capital L.P., the principal venture capital and leveraged transaction entity of Quantum Group Funds, and a principal advisor to Quantum Industrial Holdings Ltd. From 1988 through 1992, he was the Managing Director of Commonwealth Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity investment firm. From 1984 to 1988, Mr. Gilbert was the Managing General Partner of Chemical Venture Partners (now CCMP), which he founded. From 1980 through 1984, he was the principal owner, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Lion’s Gate Films, Inc. Mr. Gilbert is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Global Agenda Council on Capital Flows of the World Economic Forum, a Trustee of the Wharton School and is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies. He received a B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the Harvard Law School and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

 

Edward “Ed” Forst is a member of our Advisory Board. Mr. Forst currently serves on the board of or as an advisor to several not-for-profits, a family investment office and certain start-up companies, including as a Director of a leading nationwide provider of drone services to various industries. From 2014 to 2015, Mr. Forst served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a board member of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. and was responsible for leading the commercial real estate services firm across more than 60 countries. Prior to his employment at Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., Mr. Forst was a partner and senior executive at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 16 years. Mr. Forst held several senior management positions, including Global Head and Co-CEO of Goldman’s Asset Management Division, Global Chief Administrative Officer and Co-Head of Global Credit Markets, and served on several key committees, including the Firmwide Management Committee, the Firmwide Business Planning and Budget Committee and the Firmwide Global Debt Underwriting Committee, on which he served as Chairman. Prior to his tenure at Goldman, Mr. Forst was a Managing Director at Bankers Trust for more than 12 years, where he held several roles including Head of U.S. Loan Sales and Trading. During his career, Mr. Forst also served as Executive Vice President and Principal Operating Officer of Harvard University, where he was responsible for the major non-academic affairs of the university, was a board member of the Harvard Management Company, and served as a special advisor to Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson during the 2008 financial crisis. Mr. Forst earned his B.A. in economics, cum laude, from Harvard University in 1982, and a Master in Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1988.

 

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W. Thaddeus Miller is a member of our Advisory Board member. W. Thaddeus Miller currently serves as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of Calpine Corporation, one of the largest independent power producers (IPP) in the U.S. He joined Calpine in 2008 and helped lead its post-bankruptcy transition, numerous corporate and asset acquisitions and divestitures, and the recent public-to-private merger sale of Calpine to a private equity group, one of the largest take-private transaction in U.S. history. Mr. Miller has decades of legal and energy industry experience, including substantial experience over the last two decades in power sector mergers and acquisitions, operations and regulatory oversight. In 2006-7, as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Texas Genco Inc., he helped lead the merger sale of a large privately held IPP to a public company, having also helped lead the acquisition of Texas Genco a year earlier by five major private equity firms, the largest private equity “club” transaction at the time. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Miller was a consultant to Texas Pacific Group (now TPG), a private equity firm. From 1998 to 2002, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Orion Power, an IPP majority owned by Goldman Sachs, that acquired over 90 power plants in various transactions which he helped lead, as well the company’s IPO and subsequent merger sale. From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Miller was Vice President of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he focused on wholesale electric and other energy commodity trading. Before joining Goldman Sachs & Co., Mr. Miller was a partner with a New York law firm. Mr. Miller earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where he has served on the board of directors of the alumni association and foundation, and his Juris Doctor from St. John’s School of Law. In addition, he was an officer in the United States Coast Guard.

 

We currently expect our Advisory Board members to (i) assist us in sourcing potential business combination targets, (ii) provide their business insights when we assess potential business combination targets and (iii) upon our request, provide their business insights as we work to create additional value in the businesses that we acquire. In this regard, they will fulfill some of the same functions as our board members. However, our Advisory Board members will not perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. They will also not be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. We have not entered into any agreements governing our relationship with our Advisory Board members, and we may modify or expand our roster of Advisory Board members as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may acquire.

 

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

 

We intend to have five directors upon completion of this offering. Our Board will be divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of W. Grant Gregory, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of D. James Carpenter, Robert S. Mancini and Philip Kassin, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders. We expect to add two more independent directors after completion of our initial public offering, one to our first class of directors and one to our second class of directors.

 

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Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, holders of our founder shares will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by holders of at least 90% of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the shareholders, any vacancies on our Board may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board or by a majority of the holders of our founder shares.

 

Our officers are appointed by the Board and serve at the discretion of the Board, rather than for specific terms of office. Our Board is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of one or more Chairmen of the Board, one or more Chief Executive Officers, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the Board.

 

Director Independence

 

The NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our Board be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect to have two “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

 

Officer and Director Compensation

 

None of our officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, including Messrs. Carpenter, Mancini and Kassin, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Additionally, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates; however any such payment would not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account and we currently do not have any agreement or arrangement with any such party to do so. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were or are to be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.

 

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 tender offer materials or proxy solicitation 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 officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the Board for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of independent directors on our board of directors.

 

Following a business combination, to the extent we deem it necessary, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management team 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.

 

Committees of the Board of Directors

 

Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, our Board will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee will be available on our website.

 

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Audit Committee

 

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish an audit committee of the Board. Robert S. Mancini, Philip Kassin and W. Grant Gregory will serve as a members of our audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Because we expect to list our securities on the NYSE in connection with our initial public offering, our audit committee must have one independent member at the time of listing, a majority of independent members within 90 days of listing, and consist of all independent members within one year of listing. Mr. Gregory meets the independent director standard under the NYSE’s listing standard and under Rule 10A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act, and will serve as chairman of the audit committee.

 

Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our Board has determined that Mr. Gregory qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

 

We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

· the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors 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 auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

 

· reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors 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 auditors;

 

· 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 auditors 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 auditors, 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

 

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a compensation committee of the Board. D. James Carpenter and W. Grant Gregory will serve as a members of our compensation committee. Because we expect to list our securities on the NYSE in connection with our initial public offering, our compensation committee must have one independent member at the time of listing, a majority of independent members within 90 days of listing, and consist of all independent members within one year of listing. Mr. Gregory meets the independent director standard under the NYSE listing standard, and will serve as chairman of the compensation committee.

 

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We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

· reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;

 

· reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation of all of our other officers;

 

· reviewing on an annual basis 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;

 

· 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.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to complete the consummation of a business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

 

The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.

 

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

 

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a nominating and corporate governance committee of the Board. Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch and Philip Kassin will serve as members of our nominating and corporate governance committee. Because we expect to list our securities on the NYSE in connection with our initial public offering, our nominating and corporate governance committee must have one independent member at the time of listing, a majority of independent members within 90 days of listing, and consist of all independent members within one year of listing. Dr. Schimmelbusch meets the independent director standard under the NYSE listing standard, and will serve as chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee.

 

The primary purposes of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be to assist the board in:

 

· identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors and recommending to the Board candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the Board;

 

· developing, recommending to the Board and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; and

 

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· coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the Board, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and

 

· reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.

 

The nominating and corporate governance committee will be governed by a charter that complies with the rules of the NYSE.

 

Director Nominations

 

Our nominating and corporate governance committee will recommend to the Board candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of the stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, the Board will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by holders of our founder shares during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at an annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board.

 

Our nominating and corporate governance committee will recommend to the Board candidates for nomination who have a high level of personal and professional integrity, strong ethics and values and the ability to make mature business judgments. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, our Board considers experience in corporate management such as serving as an officer or former officer of a publicly held company, experience as a board member of another publicly held company, professional and academic experience relevant to our business, leadership skills, experience in finance and accounting or executive compensation practices, whether candidate has the time required for preparation, participation and attendance at Board meetings and committee meetings, if applicable, independence and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

 

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

 

None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year none of them has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our Board.

 

Code of Ethics

 

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. The Code of Ethics will be available on our website at https://www.rmgacquisition.com. We will also post any amendments to or waivers of our Code of Ethics on our website.

 

Corporate Governance Guidelines

 

Our Board will adopt corporate governance guidelines in accordance with the corporate governance rules of the NYSE that serve as a flexible framework within which our Board and its committees operate. These guidelines will cover a number of areas including board membership criteria and director qualifications, director responsibilities, board agenda, roles of the Chairman of the board, Chief Executive Officer and presiding director, meetings of independent directors, committee responsibilities and assignments, board member access to management and independent advisors, director communications with third parties, director compensation, director orientation and continuing education, evaluation of senior management and management succession planning. A copy of our corporate governance guidelines will be posted on our website.

 

Conflicts of Interest

 

Certain of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present business combination opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, in the future, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers arising in the future would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

 

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Our officers and directors have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

 

Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

· None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs in particular and, accordingly, each of them may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities.

 

· 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 with which they are affiliated. Our officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

· Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable by our sponsor until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to complete our initial business combination.

 

· Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

 

· Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or 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 at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

 

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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.

 

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

 

Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:

 

Individual   Entity   Entity’s Business   Affiliation
D. James Carpenter   Riverside Management Group, LLC   Merchant Bank   Founder, Senior
Managing
Director and
Chief Executive
Officer
             
W. Grant Gregory   Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Inc.   Financial Advisor   Chairman
             
Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch   AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V.   Critical materials company   Chief Executive
Officer and
Chairman of the
Management
Board

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, subject to certain approvals and consents. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote any founder shares held by it and any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote any public 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 will provide 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 will provide 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.

 

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We will enter into agreements with our officers, directors and members of our Advisory Board to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also will 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. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.

 

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.

 

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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

 

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:

 

· each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock;

 

· each of our officers and directors upon completion of this offering who beneficially owns shares of our common stock;

 

· each of our Advisory Board members; and

 

· all our officers and directors upon completion of this offering as a group.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.

 

In November 2018, our sponsor acquired 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On December 17, 2018, we effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 founder shares. In January 2019, our sponsor forfeited to us 575,000 founder shares and the Anchor Investors purchased from us 575,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300, or approximately $0.004 per share. The following table presents the number of shares and percentage of our common stock owned by our initial stockholders before and after this offering. The post-offering numbers and percentages presented assume that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares, that the Anchor Investors do not buy any units in this offering and that there are 25,000,000 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.

 

    Before Offering     After Offering  

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1)

 

Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned (2)

    Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Common Stock
   

Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned (2)

    Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Common Stock
 
RMG Sponsor, LLC (3)     5,175,000       90 %     5,000,000       20 %
BlackRock, Inc. (4)     383,333       6.6 %     -       - %
D. James Carpenter     5,175,000       90 %     5,000,000       20 %
Robert S. Mancini     5,175,000       90 %     5,000,000       20 %
Philip Kassin     5,175,000       90 %     5,000,000       20 %
W. Grant Gregory           %           %
Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch           %           %
Steven J. Gilbert           %           %
Edward Forst           %           %
W. Thaddeus Miller           %           %
All officers’ directors and Advisory Board members as a group (eight individuals)     5,750,000       100 %     5,000,000       20 %

 

 

* less than 1%.
(1) Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o RMG Acquisition Corp., 50 West Street, Suite 40C, New York, NY 10006.
(2) Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. Such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities.”
(3) RMG Sponsor, LLC is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Each of our officers, directors and certain members of our Advisory Board is or will be, directly or indirectly, a member of RMG Sponsor, LLC. MKC Investments LLC is the sole managing member of RMG Sponsor, LLC, and Messrs. Carpenter, Mancini and Kassin are the managing members of MKC Investments LLC. As such, they may be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of the Class B common stock held directly by RMG Sponsor, LLC. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly.
(4) The registered holders of the referenced shares are funds and accounts under management by investment adviser subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. BlackRock, Inc. is the ultimate parent holding company of such investment adviser entities. On behalf of such investment adviser entities, the applicable portfolio managers, as managing directors of such entities, have voting and investment power over the shares held by the funds and accounts which are the registered holders of the referenced shares. Such portfolio managers expressly disclaim beneficial ownership of all shares held by such funds and accounts. The address of such funds and accounts, such investment adviser subsidiaries and such portfolio managers is 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10055.

 

Immediately after this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20% of the then-issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Additionally, if we redeem the Anchor Investors’ founder shares upon their failure to purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our Class B common stock such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering. Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions, including approval of our initial business combination.

 

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Our sponsor agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by it in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.

 

Our sponsor and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.

 

The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to the Anchor Investors such number of units. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering, then we will redeem from the Anchor Investors their founder shares for the original purchase price and they will not acquire any private placement warrants.  In such circumstance, we expect to effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our founder shares such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.  In addition, our sponsor will instead purchase from us an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.

 

Each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering . There can be no assurance that the Anchor Investor will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity the Anchor Investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that the Anchor Investors may hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

 

Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants

 

The founder shares and private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement to be entered into by us, our sponsor, officers and directors. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers, directors or Advisory Board members, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers, directors or Advisory Board members, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family, to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; (h) in the event of our liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination; or (i) with respect to the Anchor Investors, to the any affiliate of the Anchor Investor, to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the Anchor Investors, or to any investment manager or investment advisor of Anchor Investors or an affiliate of any such investment manager or investment advisor; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (i) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

In November 2018, our sponsor acquired 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On December 17, 2018, we effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 founder shares. In January 2019, our sponsor forfeited to us 575,000 founder shares and the Anchor Investors purchased from us 575,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300, or approximately $0.004 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Additionally, if we redeem the Anchor Investors’ founder shares upon their failure to purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our Class B common stock such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering. Up to an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

 

Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors have committed, pursuant to written agreements, to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $1.50 per whole warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. As such, our sponsor’s and the Anchor Investor’s interests in this transaction is valued at between $6,000,000 and $6,900,000, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Of those private placement warrants, 3,333,333 private placement warrants (or 3,766,667 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 666,667 private placement warrants (or if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the Anchor Investors. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, they will not purchase any private placement warrants in the private placement and our sponsor will instead purchase 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

 

As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Certain of our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations to certain entities that may take priority over their duties to us.

 

The Anchor Investors have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to the Anchor Investors such number of units. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase an aggregate of 2,530,000 units in this offering, then we will redeem from the Anchor Investors their founder shares for the original purchase price and they will not acquire any private placement warrants.  In such circumstance, we expect to effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our founder shares such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.  In addition, our sponsor will instead purchase from us an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the private placement that will close simultaneously with this offering.

 

Each of the Anchor Investors has agreed with us that if, at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, such Anchor Investor does not own a number of public shares equal to the number of shares purchased by it in this offering, then (assuming that the Anchor Investors collectively have purchased 2,530,000 units in this offering and have not had their founder shares redeemed by us) such Anchor Investor will forfeit to us all of the founder shares that it purchased prior to this offering . There can be no assurance that the Anchor Investors will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity the Anchor Investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that the Anchor Investors may hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

 

No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf, including with respect to our formation and initial public offering and to identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Additionally, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates; however any such payment would not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account and we currently do not have any agreement or arrangement with any such party to do so. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were or are to be made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

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After our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

 

We will enter into a registration rights agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Registration Rights.”

 

Related Person Transaction Policy

 

We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.

 

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a written policy relating to the approval of related person transactions. A “related person transaction” is a transaction or arrangement or series of transactions or arrangements in which we participate (whether or not we are a party) and a related person has a direct or indirect material interest in such transaction. Our audit committee will review and approve or ratify all relationships and related person transactions between us and (i) our directors, director nominees or executive officers, (ii) any 5% record or beneficial owner of our common stock or (iii) any immediate family member of any person specified in (i) and (ii). The audit committee will review all related person transactions and, where the audit committee determines that such transactions are in our best interests, approve such transactions in advance of such transaction being given effect.

 

As set forth in the related person transaction policy, in the course of its review and approval or ratification of a related party transaction, the audit committee will, in its judgment, consider in light of the relevant facts and circumstances whether the transaction is, or is not inconsistent with, our best interests, including consideration of various factors enumerated in the policy.

 

Any member of the audit committee who is a related person with respect to a transaction under review will not be permitted to participate in the discussions or approval or ratification of the transaction. Our policy also includes certain exceptions for transactions that need not be reported and provides the audit committee with the discretion to pre-approve certain transactions.

 

To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to 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, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

· Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to our formation and initial public offering and to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and

 

· Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender.

 

Additionally, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or our or their affiliates; however, any such payment would not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account and we currently do not have any arrangement or agreement with our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or our or their affiliates, to do so. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were or are to be made to our sponsor, officers, directors or Advisory Board members, or our or their affiliates.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

 

Units

 

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one whole share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

 

The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the closing of this offering unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. informs us of its decision (based upon, among other things, its assessment of the relative strengths of the securities markets, of comparably capitalized companies and of blank check companies in general, and the trading pattern of, and demand for, our securities in particular) to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants.

 

In no event will the Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

Common Stock

 

Upon the closing of this offering, 25,000,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor), consisting of:

 

· 20,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock underlying the units being offered in this offering; and

 

· 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders.

 

If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Additionally, if we redeem the Anchor Investors’ founder shares upon their failure to purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism with respect to our Class B common stock such that our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding common stock following this offering.

 

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Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by law. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Our Board will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the Board out of funds legally available therefor.

 

Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination.

 

In accordance with the NYSE 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 the NYSE. 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.

 

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our 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 any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, 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 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. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such 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 business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

 

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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 of common stock sold in this offering, which we refer to as the Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination, and, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 8,000,001, or 40%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.

 

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

 

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Founder Shares

 

The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination and (B) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within such time period, (iii) the founder shares are shares of our Class B common stock that will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein and (iv) are subject to registration rights. If we submit our business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote any founder shares held by it and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.

 

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time 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 excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the business combination, including pursuant to a specified future issuance, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance, including a specified future issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.

 

With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

Preferred Stock

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our Board will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our Board will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our Board to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.

 

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Warrants

 

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

 

Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of this offering or 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.

 

We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our reasonable best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption for cash:

 

· in whole and not in part;

 

· at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

· upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and

 

· if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

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We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

 

Commencing 90 days after the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (including both public warrants and private placement warrants):

 

· in whole and not in part;

 

· at a price equal to a number of shares of Class A common stock to be determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described below;

 

· upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and

 

· if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted per share splits, share dividends, reorganizations, reclassifications, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

The numbers in the table below represent the “redemption prices,” or the number of shares of Class A common stock that a warrant holder will receive upon redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock on the corresponding redemption date, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below.

 

                                                       
Redemption Date   Fair Market Value of Class A Common Stock  
(period to expiration of warrants)   $10.00     $11.00     $12.00     $13.00     $14.00     $15.00     $16.00     $17.00     $18.00  
57 months     0.257       0.277       0.294       0.310       0.324       0.337       0.348       0.358       0.365  
54 months     0.252       0.272       0.291       0.307       0.322       0.335       0.347       0.357       0.365  
51 months     0.246       0.268       0.287       0.304       0.320       0.333       0.346       0.357       0.365  
48 months     0.241       0.263       0.283       0.301       0.317       0.332       0.344       0.356       0.365  
45 months     0.235       0.258       0.279       0.298       0.315       0.330       0.343       0.356       0.365  
42 months     0.228       0.252       0.274       0.294       0.312       0.328       0.342       0.355       0.364  
39 months     0.221       0.246       0.269       0.290       0.309       0.325       0.340       0.354       0.364  
36 months     0.213       0.239       0.263       0.285       0.305       0.323       0.339       0.353       0.364  
33 months     0.205       0.232       0.257       0.280       0.301       0.320       0.337       0.352       0.364  
30 months     0.196       0.224       0.250       0.274       0.297       0.316       0.335       0.351       0.364  
27 months     0.185       0.214       0.242       0.268       0.291       0.313       0.332       0.350       0.364  
24 months     0.173       0.204       0.233       0.260       0.285       0.308       0.329       0.348       0.364  
21 months     0.161       0.193       0.223       0.252       0.279       0.304       0.326       0.347       0.364  
18 months     0.146       0.179       0.211       0.242       0.271       0.298       0.322       0.345       0.363  
15 months     0.130       0.164       0.197       0.230       0.262       0.291       0.317       0.342       0.363  
12 months     0.111       0.146       0.181       0.216       0.250       0.282       0.312       0.339       0.363  
9 months     0.090       0.125       0.162       0.199       0.237       0.272       0.305       0.336       0.362  
6 months     0.065       0.099       0.137       0.178       0.219       0.259       0.296       0.331       0.362  
3 months     0.034       0.065       0.104       0.150       0.197       0.243       0.286       0.326       0.361  
0 months                 0.042       0.115       0.179       0.233       0.281       0.323       0.361  

 

The “fair market value” of our Class A common stock shall mean the average reported last sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.

 

The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued for each warrant redeemed will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365-day year. For example, if the average reported last sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading date prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, we may choose to, pursuant to this redemption feature, redeem the warrants at a “redemption price” of 0.277 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the average reported last sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading date prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, we may choose to, pursuant to this redemption feature, redeem the warrants at a “redemption price” of 0.298 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. Finally, as reflected in the table above, we can redeem the warrants for no consideration in the event that the warrants are “out of the money” (i.e. the trading price of our Class A common stock is below the exercise price of the warrants) and about to expire.

 

This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A common stock exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A common stock is trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A common stock is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide the warrants with an additional liquidity feature, which provides us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants for shares of Class A common stock, instead of cash, for “fair market value” without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold to redeem the warrants for cash. Holders of the warrants will, in effect, receive a number of shares having a value reflecting a premium for their warrants, based on the “redemption price” as determined pursuant to the above table. We have calculated the “redemption prices” as set forth in the table above to reflect a premium in value as compared to the expected trading price that the warrants would be expected to trade. This redemption right provides us not only with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, in this case, for shares of Class A common stock, and therefore have certainty as to (i) our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed and (ii) the amount of cash provided by the exercise of the warrants and available to us, and also provides a ceiling to the theoretical value of the warrants as it locks in the “redemption prices” we would pay to warrant holders if we chose to redeem warrants in this manner. While we will effectively be required to pay a “premium” to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right, it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants for shares of Class A common stock if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the premium to the warrant holders. In particular, it would allow us to quickly redeem the warrants for shares of Class A common stock, without having to negotiate a redemption price with the warrant holders, which in some situations, may allow us to more quickly and easily close a business combination. And for this right, we are effectively agreeing to pay a premium to the warrant holders. In addition, the warrant holders will have the ability to exercise the warrants prior to redemption if they should choose to do so.

 

As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock is trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with a premium (in the form of shares of Class A common stock). If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock is trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of Class A common stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of Class A common stock if and when such shares of Class A common stock were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50. No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. Any redemption of the warrants for shares of Class A common stock will apply to both the public warrants and the private placement warrants.

 

If we call the warrants for redemption for cash or shares of Class A common stock as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the fair market value over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, our sponsor and its permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.

 

A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

 

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

 

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In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock 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 Class A common stock if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.

 

If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.

 

Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

 

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The 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 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.

 

In addition, if we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a newly issued price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by the sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the newly issued price.

 

The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock or any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

 

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No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.

 

Private Placement Warrants

 

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us for cash so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period, and may be redeemable by us for shares of Class A common stock as described above under “—Public Stockholders’ Warrants”. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us for cash and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

 

If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their respective permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

 

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of any of these warrants) until the date that is 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except that, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants” made to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor.

 

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 a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our Board at such time. If we increase the size of the offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

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Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

 

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify American Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

 

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of 65% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:

 

· If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, 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;

 

· Prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination;

 

· Although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;

 

· If a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act;

 

· Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination;

 

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· If our stockholders approve 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 our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

 

· We will not complete our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

 

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination.

 

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

 

We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers upon completion of this offering. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:

 

· a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);

 

· an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or

 

· an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.

 

A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:

 

· our Board approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;

 

· after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or

 

· on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our Board and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.

 

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval (including a specified future issuance) and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

 

Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar 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. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

 

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Special meeting of stockholders

 

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our Board, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman.

 

Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations

 

Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders, must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.

 

Action by written consent

 

Subsequent to the consummation of the offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our common stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our Class B common stock.

 

Classified Board of Directors

 

Our Board will initially be divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with members of each class serving staggered three-year terms. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the Board. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, holders of our founder shares will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by holders of at least 90% of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the shareholders, any vacancies on our Board may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board or by a majority of the holders of our founder shares.

 

Class B Common Stock Consent Right

 

For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision our certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.

 

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

 

Immediately after the consummation of this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we will have 25,000,000 (or 28,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 20,000,000 shares (or 23,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 5,000,000 (or 5,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares and all 4,000,000 (or 4,600,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the shares of Class B common stock and private placement warrants are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. These restricted securities will be subject to registration rights as more fully described below under “—Registration Rights.”

 

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Rule 144

 

Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

 

Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

 

· 1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 250,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 287,500 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or

 

· the average weekly reported trading volume of the common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

 

Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

 

Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies

 

Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

 

· the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;

 

· the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

 

· the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and materials required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and

 

· at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.

 

As a result, our initial stockholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.

 

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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 shares of 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 to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

Listing of Securities

 

We will apply to have our units listed on the NYSE under the symbol “RMG.U”. We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our Class A common stock and public warrants will be separately listed on the NYSE under the symbols “RMG” and “RMG.WS”, respectively. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE.

 

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UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

 

The following discussion is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences relating to the purchase, ownership and disposition of our units, Class A common stock and warrants issued pursuant to this offering, which we refer to collective as our securities, but does not purport to be a complete analysis of all potential tax effects. The effects of other U.S. federal tax laws, such as estate and gift tax laws, and any applicable state, local or non-U.S. tax laws are not discussed. This discussion is based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial decisions, and published rulings and administrative pronouncements of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), in each case in effect as of the date hereof. These authorities may change or be subject to differing interpretations. Any such change or differing interpretation may be applied retroactively in a manner that could adversely affect the tax consequences discussed below. We have not sought and will not seek any rulings from the IRS regarding the matters discussed below. There can be no assurance the IRS or a court will not take a contrary position to that discussed below regarding the tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our units, Class A common stock or warrants.

 

This discussion is limited to holders that hold our units, Class A common stock and warrants as a “capital asset” within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code (generally, property held for investment). This discussion does not address all U.S. federal income tax consequences relevant to a holder’s particular circumstances, including the impact of the Medicare contribution tax on net investment income. In addition, it does not address consequences relevant to holders subject to special rules, including, without limitation:

 

banks;

 

certain financial institutions;

 

regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts;

 

insurance companies;

 

brokers, dealers or traders in securities;

 

traders in securities that elect to mark to market;

 

tax-exempt organizations or governmental organizations;

 

persons subject to the alternative minimum tax;

 

U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States;

 

persons holding our units, Class A common stock or warrants as part of a hedge, straddle or other risk reduction strategy or as part of a conversion transaction or other integrated investment;

 

persons that actually or constructively own 10% or more of our voting stock by vote or value;

 

“controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies,” and corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid U.S. federal income tax;

 

S corporations, partnerships or other entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes (and investors therein);

 

persons deemed to sell our units, Class A common stock or warrants under the constructive sale provisions of the Code;

 

persons who hold or receive our units, Class A common stock or warrants pursuant to the exercise of any employee stock option or otherwise as compensation;

 

tax-qualified retirement plans; and

 

“qualified foreign pension funds” as defined in Section 897(l)(2) of the Code and entities all of the interests of which are held by qualified foreign pension funds.

 

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If an entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our units, Class A common stock and warrants, the tax treatment of an owner of such an entity will depend on the status of the owner, the activities of the entity and certain determinations made at the owner level. Accordingly, entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes holding our units, Class A common stock and warrants and the partners in such partnerships should consult their tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences to them.

 

THIS DISCUSSION IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TAX ADVICE. INVESTORS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATIONS AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR UNITS, CLASS A COMMON STOCK AND WARRANTS ARISING UNDER THE U.S. FEDERAL ESTATE OR GIFT TAX LAWS OR UNDER THE LAWS OF ANY STATE, LOCAL OR NON-U.S. TAXING JURISDICTION OR UNDER ANY APPLICABLE INCOME TAX TREATY.

 

Personal Holding Company Status

 

We could be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company (“PHC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).

 

Depending on the date and size of our Initial Business Combination, at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not be a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.

 

Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit

 

No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments or arrangements similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of an investment unit consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one warrant to acquire one share of Class A common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each U.S. Holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such Unit between the one share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make his or her own determination of such value based on all the facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult his or her own tax adviser regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant should be the shareholder’s tax basis in such share or one-third of one warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant constituting the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A common stock and the one-third of one warrant based on their respective fair market values at the time of disposition (as determined by each such unit holder based on all the facts and circumstances).

 

The separation of shares of Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The foregoing U.S. federal income tax treatment of the shares of our Class A common stock and warrants and a U.S. Holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

 

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U.S. Holders

 

For purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. Holder” is any beneficial owner of our units, Class A common stock and warrants that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

 

an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States;

 

a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation) created or organized under the laws of the United States, any state thereof, or the District of Columbia;

 

an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or

 

a trust that (1) is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and the control of one or more “United States persons” (within the meaning of Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code), or (2) has a valid election in effect to be treated as a United States person for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

 

Taxation of Distributions. The gross amount of distributions made with respect to the Class A common stock generally will be includable in a U.S. Holder’s gross income, in accordance with such U.S. Holder’s method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as dividend income, but only to the extent that such distributions are paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. The dividends will be taxable to a corporate U.S. Holder at regular rates and will generally be eligible for the dividends-received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. Distributions in excess of such earnings and profits generally will be applied against and reduce the U.S. Holder’s basis in its Class A common stock (but not below zero) and, to the extent in excess of such basis, will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such Class A common stock.

 

With respect to non-corporate U.S. Holders and with certain exceptions, dividends may be “qualified dividend income,” which is taxed at the lower applicable long-term capital gain rate provided that the U.S. Holder satisfies certain holding period requirements and the U.S. Holder is not under an obligation to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then non-corporate U.S. Holders may be subject to tax on such dividends at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.

 

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock and Warrants. Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our units, Class A common stock or warrants which, in general, would include a redemption of Class A common stock or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in the Class A common stock or warrants.

 

Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period is suspended, then non-corporate U.S. Holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment, in which case any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares or warrants would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. Holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

 

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Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. Holder is an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock or the warrant based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrant generally will equal the U.S. Holder’s adjusted cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock or one-third of one warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. Holder’s initial basis for Class A common stock received upon exercise of warrants) less, in the case of a share of Class A common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital.

 

Redemption of Class A Common Stock. In the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under the section entitled “ Description of Securities—Common Stock ” or if we purchase a U.S. Holder’s share of Class A common stock in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption or purchase by us qualifies as sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption or purchase by us qualifies as a sale of Class A common stock, the U.S. Holder will be treated as described under “ U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock and Warrants ” above. Whether a redemption or purchase by us qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption or purchase by us. The redemption or purchase by us of Class A common stock generally will be treated as a sale of the Class A common stock (rather than a corporate distribution) if the redemption or purchase by us (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. Holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. Holder. These tests are explained more fully below.

 

In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any stock the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption or purchase by us of Class A common stock must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption or purchase by us. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed and the U.S. Holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other stock. The redemption or purchase by us of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if a U.S. Holder’s conversion results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption or purchase by us will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” A U.S. Holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption or purchase by us.

 

If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption or purchase by us will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “ U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions ,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A common stock will be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.

 

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Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the acquisition of a share of Class A common stock on the exercise of a warrant for cash. A U.S. Holder’s tax basis in a share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “ Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit ”) and the exercise price. The U.S. Holder’s holding period for the share of Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; however, in either case the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.

 

The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, either because the exercise is not a gain realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either tax-free situation, a U.S. Holder’s basis in the share of Class A common stock received would equal the holder’s basis in the warrants used to effect the cashless exercise. If the cashless exercise is not treated as a gain realization event, a U.S. Holder’s holding period in the Class A common stock generally would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise of the warrant). If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant.

 

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder could be deemed to have surrendered warrants equal to the number of shares of Class A common stock having a value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. The U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the Class A common stock received represented by the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered plus (or minus) the gain (or loss) recognized with respect to the surrendered warrants. A U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock in such case generally would commence on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrant.

 

Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

 

While not free from doubt, the tax consequences of a redemption of warrants for Class A common stock described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of warrants for shares of Class A common stock” should be treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder should not recognize any gain or loss on the redemption of warrants for shares of the Class A common stock. A U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the shares of Class A common stock received in the redemption should equal the U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the warrants redeemed and the holding period for the shares of Class A common stock received in redemption of your warrants should include the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the surrendered warrants.  However, there is some uncertainty regarding this tax treatment and it is possible such a redemption could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized in a manner similar to that discussed above for a cashless exercise of warrants.  Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a redemption of warrants for Class A common stock.

 

If we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Redemption of warrants for cash” or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to the U.S. Holder, taxed as described above under “—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”

   

Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events. An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. Holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (for instance, through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property such as other securities to the holders of our Class A common stock which is taxable to the U.S. Holders of such shares of Class A common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock as described under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions ” above. Such constructive distributions would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. Holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest. For certain informational reporting purposes, we are required to determine the date and amount of any such constructive distributions. Recently proposed Treasury regulations, which we may rely on prior to the issuance of final regulations, specify how the date and amount of constructive distributions are determined.

 

U.S. Information Reporting and Backup Withholding . Dividend payments with respect to the Class A common stock to a U.S. Holder and proceeds from the sale, exchange or redemption of the Class A common stock by a U.S. Holder generally are subject to information reporting to the IRS and possible U.S. backup withholding, unless the U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if a U.S. Holder fails to furnish a correct taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).

 

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Amounts withheld as backup withholding may be credited against a U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, and such holder may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules by timely filing the appropriate claim for refund with the IRS and furnishing any required information.

 

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Non-U.S. Holders

 

For purposes of this discussion, a “Non-U.S. Holder” is any beneficial owner of our units, Class A common stock and warrants that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

 

a non-resident alien individual;

 

a foreign corporation; or

 

a foreign estate or trust.

 

Taxation of Distributions. In general, any distributions (including constructive distributions) we make to a Non-U.S. Holder of shares of our Class A common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles) will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Amounts not treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes will constitute a return of capital and first be applied against and reduce a Non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its common stock, but not below zero. Any excess will be treated as capital gain and will be treated as described below under “ Non-U.S. Holders Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock and Warrants .”

 

Subject to the discussion below on effectively connected income, dividends paid to a Non-U.S. Holder of our Class A common stock will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a rate of 30% of the gross amount of the dividends (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty, provided the Non-U.S. Holder furnishes a valid IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (or other applicable documentation) certifying qualification for the lower treaty rate). In the case of any constructive dividend, it is possible that this tax would be withheld from any amount owed to a Non-U.S. Holder by the applicable withholding agent, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to such holder. A Non-U.S. Holder that does not timely furnish the required documentation, but that qualifies for a reduced treaty rate, may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld by timely filing an appropriate claim for refund with the IRS. Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding their entitlement to benefits under any applicable income tax treaty. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “ Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock and Warrants ” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits, including a distribution in redemption of our Class A common stock. See also “Non-U.S. Holders—Possible Constructive Distributions” for potential U.S. federal tax consequences with respect to constructive distributions.

 

If dividends paid to a Non-U.S. Holder are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, the Non-U.S. Holder maintains a permanent establishment in the United States to which such dividends are attributable), the Non-U.S. Holder will be exempt from the U.S. federal withholding tax described above. To claim the exemption, the Non-U.S. Holder must furnish to the applicable withholding agent a valid IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States.

 

Any such effectively connected dividends will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular graduated rates. A Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation also may be subject to a branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on such effectively connected dividends, as adjusted for certain items. Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding any applicable tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

 

Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant . The U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise, redemption or lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder, generally will follow the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise or lapse of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “ U.S. Holders—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant ” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise or redemption results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would follow those described below in “ Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock and Warrants .”

 

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock and Warrants. A Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of any gain realized upon the sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock (including a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the date of the closing of the Offering) or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case, without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

 

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the gain is effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, the Non-U.S. Holder maintains a permanent establishment in the United States to which such gain is attributable);

 

the Non-U.S. Holder is a nonresident alien individual present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year of the disposition and certain other requirements are met; or

 

we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our Class A common stock or warrants, as applicable, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock and warrants are treated as regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our Class A common stock or more than 5% of warrants, as applicable, at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. Holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock or warrants, as applicable. There can be no assurance that our Class A common stock or warrants will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.

 

Gain described in the first bullet point above generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular graduated rates applicable to a U.S. Holder, unless an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise. A Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation also may be subject to a branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on such effectively connected gain, as adjusted for certain items.

 

Gain described in the second bullet point above will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty), which may be offset by U.S. source capital losses of the Non-U.S. Holder (even though the individual is not considered a resident of the United States), provided the Non-U.S. Holder has timely filed U.S. federal income tax returns with respect to such losses.

 

If the third bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. Holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our Class A common stock or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a U.S. real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a U.S. real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “U.S. real property interests” equals or exceeds 50 percent of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

 

Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding potentially applicable income tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

 

Redemption of Class A Common Stock . The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s share of Class A common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “ Description of Securities—Common Stock ” generally will follow the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock, as described under “ U.S. Holders—Redemption of Class A Common Stock ” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. Holder will be as described above under “ Non-U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions ” and “ Non-U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Units, Class A Common Stock or Warrants ,” as applicable. It is possible that because the applicable withholding agent may not be able to determine the proper characterization of a redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock, the withholding agent might treat the redemption as a distribution subject to withholding tax.

 

Possible Constructive Distributions . The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events. An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The Non-U.S. Holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the Non-U.S. Holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (for instance, through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property such as other securities to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock. Such constructive distribution to a Non-U.S. Holder of warrants would be treated as if such Non-U.S. Holder had received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest (taxed as described above under “Non-U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” ). For certain informational reporting purposes, we are required to determine the date and amount of any such constructive distributions. Recently proposed Treasury regulations, which taxpayers may generally rely on prior to the issuance of final regulations, specify how the date and amount of constructive distributions are determined.

 

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Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. Payments of dividends on our Class A common stock will not be subject to backup withholding, provided the applicable withholding agent does not have actual knowledge or reason to know the holder is a United States person and the holder either certifies its non-U.S. status, such as by furnishing a valid IRS Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or W-8ECI, or otherwise establishes an exemption. However, information returns are required to be filed with the IRS in connection with any dividends on our common stock paid to the Non-U.S. Holder, regardless of whether any tax was actually withheld. In addition, proceeds from a sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock and warrants within the United States or conducted through certain U.S.-related brokers generally will not be subject to backup withholding or information reporting if the applicable withholding agent receives the certification described above and does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such holder is a United States person, or the holder otherwise establishes an exemption. Proceeds from a disposition of our Class A common stock and warrants conducted through a non-U.S. office of a non-U.S. broker generally will not be subject to backup withholding or information reporting.

 

Copies of information returns that are filed with the IRS may also be made available under the provisions of an applicable treaty or agreement to the tax authorities of the country in which the Non-U.S. Holder resides or is established.

 

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules may be allowed as a refund or a credit against a Non-U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

 

Additional Withholding Tax on Payments Made to Foreign Accounts . Withholding taxes may be imposed under Sections 1471 to 1474 of the Code (such Sections commonly referred to as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or “FATCA”) on certain types of payments made to non-U.S. financial institutions and certain other non-U.S. entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on dividends on, or (subject to the proposed Treasury Regulations discussed below) gross proceeds from the sale or disposition of, our units or Class A common stock paid, or constructive distributions with respect to our warrants deemed paid, to a “foreign financial institution” or a “non-financial foreign entity” (each as defined in the Code), unless (1) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting obligations, (2) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any “substantial United States owners” (as defined in the Code) or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial United States owner, or (3) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the diligence and reporting requirements in (1) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury requiring, among other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain “specified United States persons” or “United States-owned foreign entities” (each as defined in the Code), annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on certain payments to non-compliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules.

 

Under the applicable Treasury regulations and administrative guidance, withholding under FATCA generally applies to payments of dividends on our common stock. While withholding under FATCA would have applied also to payments of gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of our units or Class A common stock on or after January 1, 2019, recently proposed Treasury Regulations eliminate FATCA withholding on payments of gross proceeds entirely. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations until final Treasury Regulations are issued.

 

Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the potential application of withholding under FATCA to their investment in our securities.

 

THE DISCUSSION ABOVE IS A GENERAL SUMMARY. IT DOES NOT COVER ALL TAX MATTERS THAT MAY BE IMPORTANT TO YOU. EACH PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT ITS TAX ADVISOR ABOUT THE TAX CONSEQUENCES OF AN INVESTMENT IN OUR CLASS A COMMON STOCK AND WARRANTS BASED ON THE INVESTOR’S CIRCUMSTANCES.

 

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UNDERWRITING

 

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is acting as representative of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus, each underwriter named below has severally agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to that underwriter, the number of units set forth opposite the underwriter’s name.

 

Underwriter   Number of Units  
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.     17,400,000  
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated     2,600,000  
Total     20,000,000  

 

The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all of the units (other than those covered by the over-allotment option described below) if they purchase any of the units.

 

The offering of the units by the underwriters is subject to the receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.

 

Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. Any units sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount from the initial public offering price not to exceed $0.10 per unit. If all of the units are not sold at the initial offering price, the underwriters may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The representative has advised us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.

 

If the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. To the extent the option is exercised, each underwriter must purchase a number of additional units approximately proportionate to that underwriter’s initial purchase commitment. Any units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.

 

We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock, subject to certain exceptions. The representative in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice, other than in the case of the officers and directors, which shall be with notice. Our sponsor, officers and directors are also subject to separate transfer restrictions on their founder shares and private placement warrants pursuant to the letter agreement described herein.

 

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted transferees as in the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

 

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Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the representative. Among the factors considered in determining initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A common stock or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.

 

We will apply to list our units on the NYSE under the symbol “RMG.U.” We expect that our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed under the symbols “RMG” and “RMG.WS,” respectively, once the Class A common stock and warrants begin separate trading.

 

The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

    Payable by RMG
Acquisition Corp.
 
    No Exercise     Full Exercise  
Per Unit (1)   $ 0.55     $ 0.55  
Total (1)   $ 11,000,000     $ 12,650,000  

 

 

(1) Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus.

 

If we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate, the trustee and the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account upon liquidation, and (ii) that the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the public stockholders, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account.

 

In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the over-allotment option and stabilizing purchases, in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

· Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriters of a greater number of units than they are required to purchase in the offering.

 

· “Covered” short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

· “Naked” short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

· Covering transactions involve purchases of units either pursuant to the over-allotment option or in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions.

 

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· To close a naked short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering.

 

· To close a covered short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed or must exercise the over-allotment option. In determining the source of units to close the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option.

 

· Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase units so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

 

Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriters may conduct these transactions in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. If the underwriters commence any of these transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.

 

The underwriters may also impose a penalty bid. This occurs when a particular underwriter repays to the underwriters a portion of the underwriting discount received by it because the representative has repurchased units sold by or for the account of such underwriter in stabilizing or short covering transactions.

 

We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $802,706 (which includes $50,000 of accounting fees and expenses), excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.

 

We have agreed to indemnify the several underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.

 

We are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters prior to the date that is 90 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.

 

The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include sales and trading, commercial and investment banking, advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, market making, brokerage and other financial and non-financial activities and services. Some of the underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates, including in connection with acting in an advisory capacity or as a potential financing source in conjunction with our potential acquisition of a company. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.

 

In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates, officers, directors and employees may purchase, sell or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade securities, derivatives, loans, commodities, currencies, credit default swaps and other financial instruments for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and trading activities may involve or relate to assets, securities and/or instruments of the issuer (directly, as collateral securing other obligations or otherwise) and/or persons and entities with relationships with the issuer. The underwriters and their respective affiliates may also communicate independent investment recommendations, market color or trading ideas and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such assets, securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they should acquire, long and/or short positions in such assets, securities and instruments.

 

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Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area

 

In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area that has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a “relevant member state”), with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that relevant member state (the “relevant implementation date”), an offer of units described in this prospectus may not be made to the public in that relevant member state prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units that has been approved by the competent authority in that relevant member state or, where appropriate, approved in another relevant member state and notified to the competent authority in that relevant member state, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that, with effect from and including the relevant implementation date, an offer of our units may be made to the public in that relevant member state at any time:

 

· to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive;

 

· to fewer than 100, or, if the relevant member state has implemented the relevant provisions of the 2010 PD Amending Directive, 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), as permitted under the Prospectus Directive, subject to obtaining the prior consent of the relevant Dealer or Dealers nominated by the issuer for any such offer; or natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined below) subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriter for any such offer; or

 

· in any other circumstances that do not require the publication by us of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

 

provided that no such offer of units referred to in the bullet points above shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 16 of the Prospectus Directive.

 

Each purchaser of units described in this prospectus located within a relevant member state will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that it is a “qualified investor” within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive.

 

For the purpose of this provision, the expression an “offer of units to the public” in any relevant member state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the units, as the expression may be varied in that member state by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that member state, and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive to the extent implemented by the relevant member state) and includes any relevant implementing measure in each relevant member state. The expression 2010 PD Amending Directive means Directive 2010/73/EU.

 

We have not authorized and do not authorize the making of any offer of units through any financial intermediary on their behalf, other than offers made by the underwriters with a view to the final placement of the units as contemplated in this prospectus. Accordingly, no purchaser of the units, other than the underwriters, is authorized to make any further offer of the units on behalf of us or the underwriters.

 

Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom

 

This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (each such person being referred to as a “relevant person”). The units are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase or otherwise acquire such units will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

 

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Notice to Prospective Investors in France

 

Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units described in this prospectus has been submitted to the clearance procedures of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers or by the competent authority of another member state of the European Economic Area and notified to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units has been or will be:

 

· released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or

 

· used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of the units to the public in France.

 

Such offers, sales and distributions will be made in France only:

 

· to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), in each case investing for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with, articles L.411-2, D.411-1, D.411-2, D.734-1, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier;

 

· to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or

 

· in a transaction that, in accordance with article L.411-2-II-1°-or-2°-or 3° of the French Code monétaire et financier and article 211-2 of the General Regulations (Règlement Général) of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, does not constitute a public offer (appel public à l’épargne).

 

The units may be resold directly or indirectly, only in compliance with articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 through L.621-8-3 of the French Code monétaire et financier.

 

Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong

 

The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.

 

Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore

 

This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.

 

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Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is

 

· a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or

 

· a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor,

 

shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:

 

· to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than $200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA;

 

· where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or

 

· where the transfer is by operation of law.

 

Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan

 

The securities have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law) and each underwriter has agreed that it will not offer or sell any securities, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to a resident of Japan, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and any other applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines of Japan.

 

Notice to Prospective Investors in Canada

 

The units may be sold in Canada only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 P rospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations . Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.

 

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

 

Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

 

Latham & Watkins LLP, Houston, Texas, is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus. In connection with this offering, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, is acting as counsel to the underwriters.

 

EXPERTS

 

The financial statements included in this prospectus and elsewhere in the registration statement have been so included in reliance upon the report of Grant Thornton LLP, independent registered public accountants, upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.

 

Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file with the SEC at its public reference facility at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549.

 

You may also obtain copies of the documents at prescribed rates by writing to the Public Reference Section of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference facilities.

 

133

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

 

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

  Page
Audited Financial Statements of RMG Acquisition Corp.  
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm F-2
Balance Sheet as of November 6, 2018 F-3
Statement of Operations for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) to November 6, 2018 F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) to November 6, 2018 F-5
Statement of Cash Flows for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) to November 6, 2018 F-6
Notes to Financial Statements F-7

 

  F- 1  

 

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

Board of Directors and Stockholder

RMG Acquisition Corp.

 

Opinion on the financial statements

 

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of RMG Acquisition Corp. (a Delaware corporation) (the “Company”) as of November 6, 2018, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity, and cash flows for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) through November 6, 2018, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of November 6, 2018, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) through November 6, 2018, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Going Concern

 

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has no present revenue, its business plan is dependent on the completion of a financing transaction and the Company’s cash and working capital as of November 6, 2018 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities for the upcoming year. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans regarding these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Basis for opinion

 

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP  

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2018.

 

New York, New York

November 15, 2018

(except for Note 5, as to which date is December 17, 2018)

 

  F- 2  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

 

BALANCE SHEET

 

November 6, 2018

 

Assets:        
Current assets:        
Cash   $ 25,000  
Total current assets     25,000  
Deferred offering costs associated with the proposed public offering     232,500  
Total assets   $ 257,500  
         
Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity:        
Current liabilities:        
Accrued expenses   $ 233,500  
Total current liabilities     233,500  
         
Commitments        
         
Stockholder’s Equity:        
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding     -  
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding     -  
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding (1)(2)     575  
Additional paid-in capital     24,425  
Accumulated deficit     (1,000 )
Total stockholder’s equity     24,000  
Total Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity   $ 257,500  

 

(1) This number includes up to 750,000 Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.

(2) The share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the 0.8-for-1 reverse stock split on December 17, 2018.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

  F- 3  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

 

For the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) to November 6, 2018

 

Formation and operating costs   $ 1,000  
Net loss   $ (1,000 )
         
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted (1)(2)     5,000,000  
         
Basic and diluted net loss per share   $ (0.00 )

 

(1) This number excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.

(2) The share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the 0.8-for-1 reverse stock split on December 17, 2018.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

  F- 4  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

 

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

 

For the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) to November 6, 2018

 

    Common Stock                 Total  
    Class A     Class B     Additional Paid-In     Accumulated     Stockholder’s  
    Shares     Amount     Shares     Amount     Capital     Deficit     Equity  
Balance - October 22, 2018 (inception)     -     $ -       -     $ -     $ -     $ -     $ -  
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor (1)(2)     -       -       5,750,000       575       24,425       -       25,000  
Net loss     -       -       -       -       -       (1,000 )     (1,000 )
Balance - November 6, 2018     -     $ -       5,750,000     $ 575     $ 24,425     $ (1,000 )   $ 24,000  

 

(1) This number includes up to 750,000 Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.

(2) The share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the 0.8-for-1 reverse stock split on December 17, 2018.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

  F- 5  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

 

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

 

For the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) to November 6, 2018

 

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:        
Net loss   $ (1,000 )
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:        
Accrued expenses     1,000  
Net cash used in operating activities     -  
         
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:        
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor     25,000  
Net cash provided by financing activities     25,000  
         
Net change in cash     25,000  
         
Cash - beginning of the period     -  
Cash - end of the period   $ 25,000  
         
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:        
Deferred offering costs included in accrued expenses   $ 232,500  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

  F- 6  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations

 

RMG Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a newly organized blank check company incorporated in Delaware on October 22, 2018 (date of inception) for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). While the Company may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, it intends to focus its search for a target business in the diversified resources and industrial materials sectors. The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.

 

As of November 6, 2018, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) through November 6, 2018 relates to the Company’s formation and a proposed initial public offering. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

 

The Company’s sponsor is RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources.

 

Going Concern Considerations

 

At November 6, 2018, the Company had $25,000 in cash and working capital deficit of $208,500. Further, the Company expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management plans to address this uncertainty through a planned public offering. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital will be successful. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

  F- 7  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Emerging Growth Company

 

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

 

Further, section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has irrevocably elected to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, will adopt the new or revised standard at the time public companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another emerging growth company which has not opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

 

Net Loss Per Ordinary Share

 

The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. At November 6, 2018, the Company did not have any dilutive securities except for 750,000 shares of Class B common stock and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.

 

Concentration of Credit Risk

 

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. At November 6, 2018, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

 

  F- 8  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Financial Instruments

 

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet.

 

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

Deferred Offering Costs

 

Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to a planned public offering and that will be charged to stockholder’s equity upon the completion of a planned public offering. Should a planned public offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.

 

  F- 9  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Deferred tax assets were deemed immaterial as of November 6, 2018.

    

FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of November 6, 2018. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties for the period from October 22, 2018 (inception) to November 6, 2018. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

 

Income taxes were deemed immaterial from October 22, 2018 to November 6, 2018.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

The Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

Note 3 — Related Party Transactions

 

Founder Shares

 

On November 6, 2018, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class B common stock”), for an aggregate price of $25,000. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis at the time of the Company’s initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions. The initial stockholders have agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters if there is an initial public offering. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the Founder Shares will represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after a planned public offering. If the Company increases or decreases the size of a planned public offering, the Company will effect a share dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of a planned public offering in such amount as to maintain the Founder Share ownership of the Company’s initial stockholders prior to a planned public offering at 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of a planned public offering.

 

Related Party Reimbursements and Loans

 

The Sponsor has agreed to cover expenses related to the Company’s formation and a planned public offering and expects to be reimbursed upon the completion of a planned public offering. As of November 6, 2018, the Sponsor has not paid for any offering expenses on behalf of the Company.

 

  F- 10  

 

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

In addition, 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 held in a trust account (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 is not completed, the Company may use a portion of the 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.

 

Note 4 — Stockholder’s Equity

 

Common stock

 

Class A Common stock  — The Company is authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of November 6, 2018, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.

 

Class B Common stock  — The Company is authorized to issue 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of November 6, 2018, there were 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. Of the 5,750,000 Class B common stock outstanding, up to 750,000 shares are subject to forfeiture to the Company by the Sponsor for no consideration to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial stockholders will collectively own 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after a planned public offering.

 

Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s stockholders, except as required by law.

 

The Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of the 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.

 

Preferred Stock  — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of November 6, 2018, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

 

Note 5 — Subsequent Events

 

As described in this Note, the Company is reissuing these financial statements to reflect a 0.8-for-1 reverse stock split of its Class B common stock effected on December 17, 2018. All share amounts for the Class B common stock have been retroactively restated to reflect the reverse stock split. In connection with the reissuance of these financial statements, the Company has considered whether there are subsequent events that have occurred since November 15, 2018 (the date the financial statements were issued) and through December 17, 2018 and did not identify any events that required disclosure other than as set forth in this Note.

 

  F- 11  

 

 

 

 

20,000,000 Units

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

 

 

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

, 2019

 

 

 

Deutsche Bank Securities

Sole Bookrunner

 

Stifel

Lead Manager

 

Until                , 2019 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade shares of our Class A common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART II

 

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

 

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution .

 

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discounts and commissions) will be as follows:

 

Legal fees and expenses   $ 300,000  
Accounting fees and expenses     50,000  
SEC filing fees and expenses     27,876  
FINRA filing fees and expenses     35,000  
Travel and road show     50,000  
NYSE listing and filing fees     100,000  
Directors and officers insurance     150,000  
Printing and engraving expenses     45,000  
Miscellaneous expenses     44,830  
Total offering expenses   $ 802,706  

 

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers .

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”).

 

Section 145 of the DGCL concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

 

Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

 

(a)          A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

 

(b)        A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

 

  II- 1  

 

 

(c)        To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

 

(d)        Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer of the corporation at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

 

(e)        Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director of the corporation in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents of the corporation or by persons serving at the request of the corporation as directors, officers, employees or agents of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

 

(f)        The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

 

(g)        A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

 

  II- 2  

 

 

(h)        For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

 

(i)        For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

 

(j)        The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

 

(k)        The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL unless they violated their duty of loyalty to the Company or its stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived improper personal benefit from their actions as directors. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.

 

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.

 

  II- 3  

 

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our Board, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.

 

The right to indemnification conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.

 

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

 

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

 

Our bylaws include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

 

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our Board, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

 

We will enter into indemnity agreements with each of our officers and directors, a form of which is to be filed as an exhibit to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

 

  II- 4  

 

 

Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement to be filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriters and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

 

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities .

 

In November 2018, RMG Sponsor, LLC, our sponsor, acquired 7,187,500 shares of our Class B common stock, or founder shares, in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. On December 17, 2018, we effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock. 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.

 

In January 2019, our sponsor forfeited to us 575,000 founder shares and the Anchor Investors purchased from us 575,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300, or approximately $0.004 per share. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

 

In addition, our sponsor and the Anchor Investors have committed, pursuant to written agreements, to purchase from us an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at $1.50 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $6,000,000 (or $6,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)). Of those private placement warrants, 3,333,333 private placement warrants (or 3,766,667 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and 666,667 private placement warrants (or 833,333 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by the Anchor Investors. If the Anchor Investors do not purchase 2,530,000 units in this offering, they will not purchase any private placement warrants in the private placement and our sponsor will instead purchase 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,600,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of this offering. These issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor and the Anchor Investors are accredited investors for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.

 

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules .

 

(a)          Exhibits. The list of exhibits following the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference.

 

(b)          Financial Statements. See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.

 

Item 17. Undertakings .

 

(a)          The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

 

(b)          Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. 

 

  II- 5  

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on the 16 th  day of January, 2019.

 

  RMG ACQUISITION CORP.
     
  By: /s/ Robert S. Mancini
    Robert S. Mancini
    Chief Executive Officer

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Name   Position   Date
         
/s/ Robert S. Mancini        
Robert S. Mancini   Chief Executive Officer and Director
(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
 

January 16, 2019

         
/s/ Philip Kassin        
Philip Kassin   President and Chief Operating Officer and Director  

January 16, 2019

         
/s/ D. James Carpenter        
D. James Carpenter   Chairman of the Board  

January 16, 2019

 

  II- 6  

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No.   Description
1.1   Form of Underwriting Agreement.*
3.1   Certificate of Incorporation.
3.2   Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.
3.3   Bylaws.
4.1   Specimen Unit Certificate.
4.2   Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate.
4.3   Specimen Warrant Certificate.
4.4   Form of Warrant Agreement between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company and RMG Acquisition Corp. *
5.1   Opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP.
10.1   Form of Letter Agreement among RMG Acquisition Corp. and its officers and directors and RMG Sponsor, LLC.*
10.2   Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement American Stock Transfer & Trust Company and RMG Acquisition Corp.
10.3   Form of Registration Rights Agreement among RMG Acquisition Corp. and certain security holders.*
10.4   Securities Subscription Agreement, dated November 6, 2018, between RMG Acquisition Corp. and RMG Sponsor, LLC.
10.5   Amendment No. 1 to the Securities Subscription Agreement, dated January 16, 2019, between RMG Acquisition Corp. and RMG Sponsor, LLC.*
10.6   Form of Subscription Agreement, among RMG Acquisition Corp., RMG Sponsor, LLC and the purchaser party thereto.*
10.7   Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated December 17, 2018, between RMG Acquisition Corp. and RMG Sponsor, LLC. 
10.8   Amendment No. 1 to the Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated January 16, 2019, between RMG Acquisition Corp. and RMG Sponsor, LLC.*
10.9   Form of Indemnity Agreement. 
23.1   Consent of Grant Thornton LLP.*
23.2   Consent of Latham & Watkins LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1). 
24.1   Power of Attorney (included on the signature page herein)
99.1   Consent of W. Grant Gregory.
99.2   Consent of Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch.

 

 

Previously filed
* Filed herewith

 

  II- 7  

 

Exhibit 1.1

 

20,000,000 Units

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

 

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

 

[●], 2019

 

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
60 Wall Street,
4th Floor
New York, New York 10005

As Representative of the several Underwriters

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

RMG Acquisition Corp., a corporation organized under the laws of Delaware (the “ Company ”), proposes to sell to you and, as applicable, to the several underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (collectively, the “ Underwriters ”), for whom you are acting as representative (the “ Representative ”), 20,000,000 units (the “ Units ”) of the Company (said units to be issued and sold by the Company being hereinafter called the “ Underwritten Securities ”). The Company also proposes to grant to the Underwriters an option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any (the “ Option Securities ”; the Option Securities, together with the Underwritten Securities, being hereinafter called the “ Securities ”). To the extent there are no additional Underwriters listed on Schedule I other than you, the term Representative as used herein shall mean you, as Underwriter, and the term Underwriter shall mean either the singular or plural as the context requires. Certain capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined are defined in Section 20 hereof.

 

Each Unit consists of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”), and one-third of one warrant, where each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Common Stock (the “ Warrant(s) ”). The shares of Common Stock and Warrants included in the Units will not trade separately until the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus (unless the Representative informs the Company of its decision to allow earlier separate trading), subject to (a) the Company’s preparation of an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the Offering (as defined below), (b) the filing of such audited balance sheet with the Commission on a Current Report on Form 8-K or similar form by the Company that includes such audited balance sheet, and (c) the Company having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Each whole Warrant entitles its holder, upon exercise, to purchase one share of Common Stock for $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in the Prospectus, during the period commencing on the later of thirty (30) days after the completion of an initial Business Combination (as defined below) or twelve (12) months from the date of the consummation of the Offering and terminating on the five-year anniversary of the date of the completion of such initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or Liquidation; provided, however, that pursuant to the Warrant Agreement (as defined below), a warrant may not be exercised for a fractional share. As used herein, the term “ Business Combination ” (as described more fully in the Registration Statement) shall mean a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

 

 

 

 

The Company has entered into an Investment Management Trust Agreement, effective as of [●], with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“ AST ”), as trustee, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement (the “ Trust Agreement ”), pursuant to which certain proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below) and certain proceeds of the Offering will be deposited and held in a trust account (the “ Trust Account ”) for the benefit of the Company, the Underwriters and the holders of the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities, if and when issued.

 

The Company has entered into a Warrant Agreement, effective as of [●], with respect to the Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below) with AST, as warrant agent, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Registration Statement (the “ Warrant Agreement ”), pursuant to which AST will act as warrant agent in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption, and exercise of the Warrants and Private Placement Warrants.

 

The Company has entered into a Securities Subscription Agreement, dated as of November 6, 2018, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, dated as of January 16, 2019 (the “ Founder’s Purchase Agreement ”), with RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), pursuant to which the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,187,5000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (including the shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion thereof, the “ Founder Shares ”), for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On December 17, 2018, the Company effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the Founder Shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 Founder Shares. The Company has entered into a Forfeiture Agreement, dated on or about January 16, 2019 (the “ Forfeiture Agreement ”), pursuant to which the Sponsor forfeited 575,000 Founder Shares. The Founder Shares are substantially similar to the shares of Common Stock included in the Units, except as described in the Prospectus.

 

The Company has entered into a Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, effective as of December 17, 2018, and Amendment No. 1 thereto, effective as of January 16, 2019, (as amended, “ Warrant Subscription Agreement ”), with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 3,333,333 warrants (or up to 3,766,667 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, or, in certain circumstances, 4,000,000 warrants (or up to 4,600,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each entitling the holder, upon exercise, to purchase one share of Common Stock (the “ Private Placement Warrants ”), for $11.50 per share. The Private Placement Warrants are substantially similar to the Warrants included in the Units, except as described in the Prospectus.

 

The Company has entered into certain Subscription Agreements, each dated as of January 16, 2019 (the “Subscription Agreements”), with certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. and Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC (collectively, the “Investors”), pursuant to which the Investors (i) purchased an aggregate of 575,000 Founder Shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2,300 and (ii) agreed subject to the satisfaction of certain terms and conditions, to purchase an aggregate of 666,667 Private Placement Warrants (or up to 833,333 Private Placement Warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for $1.50 per warrant.

 

The Company has entered into a Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of [●], with the Sponsor, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Registration Statement (the “ Registration Rights Agreement ”), pursuant to which the Company has granted certain registration rights in respect of (i) Private Placement Warrants, (ii) Warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, (iii) the shares of Common Stock underlying the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and Warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, (iv) any outstanding share of Common Stock or any other equity security (including the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any other equity security) of the Company held by the Sponsor as of the date thereof and (v) any other equity security of the Company issued or issuable with respect to any such share of Common Stock by way of a stock dividend or stock split or in connection with a combination of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation or reorganization.

 

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The Company has caused to be duly executed and delivered certain letter agreements, each dated [●], by the Sponsor and each of the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement (each, an “ Insider Letter ”).

 

1.           REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES .

 

The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each Underwriter as set forth below in this Section 1.

 

(a)          The Company has prepared and filed with the Commission the Registration Statement (file number 333-228849) on Form S-1, including the related Preliminary Prospectus, for registration under the Act of the offering and sale of the Securities. Such Registration Statement, including any amendments thereto filed prior to the Execution Time, has become effective. The Company has filed one or more amendments thereto, including the related Preliminary Prospectus, each of which has previously been furnished to you. The Company will file with the Commission the Prospectus in accordance with Rule 424(b). As filed, such Prospectus shall contain all information required by the Act and, except to the extent the Representative shall agree in writing to a modification, shall be in all substantive respects in the form furnished to you prior to the Execution Time or, to the extent not completed at the Execution Time, shall contain only such specific additional information and other changes (beyond that contained in the latest Preliminary Prospectus) as the Company has advised you, prior to the Execution Time, will be included or made therein. The Company has complied to the Commission’s satisfaction with all requests of the Commission for additional or supplemental information.

 

(b)          On the Effective Date, the Registration Statement did, and when the Prospectus is first filed in accordance with Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date (as defined herein) and on any date on which Option Securities are purchased, if such date is not the Closing Date (a “ settlement date ”), the Prospectus (and any supplement thereto) will, comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Act; on the Effective Date and at the Execution Time, the Registration Statement did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; as of the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication (as defined herein) did not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or the Statutory Prospectus, complied in all material respects with the Act, when considered together with the Statutory Prospectus, and did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and on the date of any filing pursuant to Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, the Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided , however , that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to the information contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representative specifically for inclusion in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement thereto), it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8(b) hereof.

 

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(c)          The Statutory Prospectus, as of the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date and any settlement date, did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided , however , that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to the information contained in or omitted from the Statutory Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representative specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8(b) hereof.

 

(d)          The Company has filed with the Commission a Form 8-A (file number 001-[●]) providing for the registration under the Exchange Act of the Securities, which registration is currently effective on the date hereof. The Securities have been authorized for listing, subject to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution, on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Company knows of no reason or set of facts that is likely to adversely affect such authorization.

 

(e)          The Commission has not issued any order or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened to issue any order preventing or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any part thereof, and has not instituted or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened to institute any proceedings with respect to such an order.

 

(f)          (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement and (ii) as of the Execution Time (with such date being used as the determination date for purposes of this clause (ii)), the Company was and is an Ineligible Issuer (as defined in Rule 405).

 

(g)          The Company has not prepared or used a Free Writing Prospectus.

 

(h)          The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware with full corporate power and authority to own or lease, as the case may be, and to operate its properties and conduct its business as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus and to enter into this Agreement, the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founder’s Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement and the Insider Letters, and to carry out the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation and is in good standing under the laws of each jurisdiction that requires such qualification.

 

4

 

 

(i)          Since the date of the most recent financial statements of the Company included in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, except as otherwise specifically stated therein, (i) there has been no material adverse change or any development involving a prospective material adverse change in or affecting the financial condition, prospects, earnings, business or properties of the Company, (ii) there have been no material transactions entered into by the Company, other than as contemplated pursuant to this Agreement, (iii) no member of the Company’s management has resigned from any position with the Company and (iv) no event or occurrence has taken place which materially impairs, or would likely materially impair, with the passage of time, the ability of the members of the Board of Directors or management to act in their capacities with the Company as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(j)          There is no franchise, contract or other document of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement or Prospectus, or to be filed as an exhibit thereto, which is not described or filed as required (and the Statutory Prospectus contains in all material respects the same description of the foregoing matters contained in the Prospectus); and the statements in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus under the headings “Principal Stockholders,” “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions,” and “Description of Securities” insofar as such statements summarize legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings discussed therein, are accurate and fair summaries of such legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings. There are no business relationships or related party transactions involving the Company or any other person required by the Act to be described in the Registration Statement or Prospectus that have not been described as required.

 

(k)         The Company’s authorized equity capitalization is as set forth in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(l)          All issued and outstanding securities of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and nonassessable; and none of such securities were issued in violation of the preemptive rights of any holders of any security of the Company or similar contractual rights granted by the Company. The offers and sales of the outstanding shares of Common Stock and Warrants were at all relevant times either registered under the Act, the applicable state securities and blue sky laws or, based in part on the representations and warranties of the purchasers of such shares of Common Stock and Warrants, exempt from such registration requirements. The holders of outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are not entitled to preemptive or other rights to subscribe for the Securities arising by operation of law or under the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or bylaws of the Company; and, except as set forth in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no options, warrants or other rights to purchase, agreements or other obligations to issue, or rights to convert any obligations into or exchange any securities for, shares of capital stock of or ownership interests in the Company are outstanding.

 

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(m)         The Securities have been duly authorized and when executed by the Company and countersigned and issued and delivered against payment by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement.

 

(n)          The shares of Common Stock included in the Units have been duly authorized and, when executed by the Company and countersigned, and issued and delivered against payment for the Securities by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

(o)          The Warrants included in the Units, when executed, authenticated, issued and delivered in the manner set forth in the Warrant Agreement against payment for the Securities by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement, will be duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered, and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(p)          The shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants included in the Units and the Private Placement Warrants have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance upon exercise thereof and, when executed by the Company and countersigned, and issued and delivered against payment therefor pursuant to the Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants, as applicable, and the Warrant Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. The holders of such shares of Common Stock are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; such shares of Common Stock are not and will not be subject to any preemptive or other similar contractual rights granted by the Company; and all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of such shares of Common Stock (other than such execution, countersignature and delivery at the time of issuance) has been duly and validly taken.

 

(q)          Except as set forth in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no holders of any securities of the Company or any rights exercisable for or convertible or exchangeable into securities of the Company have the right to require the Company to register any such securities of the Company under the Act or to include any such securities in a registration statement to be filed by the Company.

 

(r)          No securities of the Company have been sold by the Company or by or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any person or persons controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Company from its inception through and including the date hereof, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(s)          Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates has, prior to the date hereof, made any offer or sale of any securities that are required to be “integrated” pursuant to the Act with the offer and sale of the Underwritten Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement.

 

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(t)           The Founder Shares issued on November 6, 2018 are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

(u)          The Private Placement Warrants, when delivered upon the consummation of this offering, will be duly executed, authenticated and issued, and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(v)          This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(w)         The Trust Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company, in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(x)          The Warrant Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(y)          The Founder’s Purchase Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and the Sponsor in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(z)          The Warrant Subscription Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and the Sponsor in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(aa)        The Registration Rights Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

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(bb)         The Insider Letters executed by the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Company’s knowledge each executive officer, director and director nominee of the Company, have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Company’s knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, and constitute valid and binding agreements of the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Company’s knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, enforceable against the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Company’s knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, in accordance with their terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability.

 

(cc)         The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, will not be an “investment company” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

(dd)         No consent, approval, authorization, filing with or order of any court or governmental agency or body is required in connection with the transactions contemplated herein or in the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founder’s Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement or the Insider Letters, except for the registration under the Act and the Exchange Act of the Securities and such as may be required under state securities or blue sky laws of any jurisdiction in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters in the manner contemplated herein and in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(ee)         The Company is not in violation or default of (i) any provision of its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or bylaws, (ii) the terms of any indenture, contract, lease, mortgage, deed of trust, note agreement, loan agreement or other agreement, obligation, condition, covenant or instrument to which it is a party or bound or to which its property is subject, or (iii) any (x) statute, law, rule, regulation, or (y) judgment, order or decree of any court, regulatory body, administrative agency, governmental body, arbitrator or other authority having jurisdiction over the Company; except in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above for any such conflict, breach or violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, prospects, earnings, business or properties of the Company, taken as a whole, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business (a “ Material Adverse Effect ”).

 

(ff)         Neither the issue and sale of the Securities nor the consummation of any other of the transactions herein contemplated nor the fulfillment of the terms hereof or of the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founder’s Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement or the Insider Letters will conflict with, result in a breach or violation of, or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company pursuant to, (i) the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or bylaws of the Company, (ii) the terms of any indenture, contract, lease, mortgage, deed of trust, note agreement, loan agreement or other agreement, obligation, condition, covenant or instrument to which the Company is a party or bound or to which the Company’s property is subject, or (iii) any statute, law, rule, or regulation, judgment, order or decree applicable to the Company of any court, regulatory body, administrative agency, governmental body, arbitrator or other authority having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its respective properties.

 

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(gg)       No holders of securities of the Company have rights to the registration of such securities under the Registration Statement.

 

(hh)       The historical financial statements, including the notes thereto and the supporting schedules, if any, of the Company included in the Statutory Prospectus, the Prospectus and the Registration Statement present fairly the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of the dates and for the periods indicated, comply as to form with the applicable accounting requirements of the Act and have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved (except as otherwise noted therein). The summary financial data set forth under the caption “Summary Financial Data” in the Statutory Prospectus, Prospectus and Registration Statement fairly present, on the basis stated in the Statutory Prospectus, Prospectus and Registration Statement, the information included therein. The Company is not party to any off-balance sheet transactions, arrangements, obligations (including contingent obligations), or other relationships with unconsolidated entities or other persons that may have a material current or future effect on the Company’s financial condition, changes in financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, capital resources, or significant components of revenues or expenses. The statistical, industry-related and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company reasonably and in good faith believes are reliable and accurate, and such data agree with the sources from which they are derived.

 

(ii)          No action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or the Sponsor, or the property of either of them is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened that (i) could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the performance of this Agreement or the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company or (ii) could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).

 

(jj)          The Company owns or leases all such properties as are necessary to the conduct of its operations as presently conducted.

 

(kk)        Grant Thornton LLP (“ Grant Thornton ”), who have certified certain financial statements of the Company and delivered their report with respect to the audited financial statements and schedules included in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, is a registered public accounting firm that is independent with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable published rules and regulations thereunder.

 

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(ll)          The Company maintains effective “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined under Rule 13a-15 (e) under the Exchange Act to the extent required by such rule).

 

(mm)      Solely to the extent that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission thereunder (the “ Sarbanes-Oxley Act ”) have been applicable to the Company, there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company to comply in all material respects with the applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

 

(nn)        There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of the Company’s officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the Effective Date the Company will be in compliance with, the requirements of Section 303A of the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual (taking into account any applicable phase-in requirements). Further, there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of the Company’s officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the Effective Date the Company will be in compliance with, the phase-in requirements and all other provisions of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements set forth in the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual.

 

(oo)        There are no transfer, stamp, issue, registration, documentary or other similar taxes, duties, fees or charges under U.S. federal law or the laws of any state, or any political subdivision thereof, or under the laws of any non-U.S. jurisdiction, required to be paid in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the issuance or sale by the Company of the Securities.

 

(pp)        The Company has filed all tax returns (including U.S. federal, state and non-U.S.) that are required to be filed by it or has requested extensions thereof (except in any case in which the failure so to file would not have a Material Adverse Effect) through the date hereof and has paid all taxes required to be paid by it and any other assessment, fine or penalty levied against it, to the extent that any of the foregoing is due and payable, except for any such assessment, fine or penalty that is currently being contested in good faith and for which adequate reserves required by generally accepted accounting principles have been created with respect thereto or as would not have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).

 

(qq)        The Company possesses all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by the appropriate federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct its business, and the Company has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, authorization or permit that, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).

 

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(rr)         None of the Company, the Sponsor or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, director nominee, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company: (i) has used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity: (ii) has made any direct or indirect unlawful contribution or payment to any official of, or candidate for, or any employee of, any federal, state or foreign office from corporate funds; (iii) has made any bribe, unlawful rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment; or (iv) is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the OECD Convention on Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (“ OECD Convention ”), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “ FCPA ”) or any similar law or regulation to which the Company, any director, director nominee, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company is subject. The Company, the Sponsor and, to the knowledge of the Company, its directors, director nominees, officers, agents, employees and affiliates have each conducted the business of the Company and their own businesses on behalf of the Company in compliance with the FCPA and any applicable similar law or regulation and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith.

 

(ss)        The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the applicable money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the applicable rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “ Money Laundering Laws ”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.

 

(tt)         None of the Company, the Sponsor or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, director nominee, officer, agent or affiliate of the Company is currently subject to any sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“ OFAC ”) or any similar sanctions imposed by any other body, governmental or other, to which any of such persons is subject (collectively, “ other economic sanctions ”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the Offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any sanctions administered by OFAC or other economic sanctions.

 

(uu)       Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company (i) does not have any material lending or other relationship with any bank or lending affiliate of any of the Underwriters and (ii) does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities hereunder to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of any of the Underwriters.

 

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(vv)       All information contained in the questionnaires (the “ Questionnaires ”) completed by the Sponsor and, to the knowledge of the Company, the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees and provided to the Underwriters, is true and correct and the Company has not become aware of any information that would cause the information disclosed in the Questionnaires completed by the Sponsor or the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees to become inaccurate and incorrect.

 

(ww)      Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, prior to the date hereof, the Company has not identified any acquisition target and has not, nor, to its knowledge, has anyone on its behalf, initiated substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a possible initial Business Combination.

 

(xx)        Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no claims, payments, arrangements, contracts, agreements or understandings relating to the payment of a brokerage commission or finder’s, consulting, origination or similar fee by the Company or the Sponsor with respect to the sale of the Securities hereunder or any other arrangements, agreements or understandings of the Company, the Sponsor or any officer or director of the Company, or their respective affiliates, that may affect the Underwriters’ compensation, as determined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“ FINRA ”).

 

(yy)       Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company has not made any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or any other “item of value” as defined in Rule 5110(c)(3) of FINRA’s Conduct Rules): (i) to any person, as a finder’s fee, consulting fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised or provided capital to the Company; (ii) to any person that, to the Company’s knowledge, has been accepted by FINRA as a member of FINRA (a “ Member ”); or (iii) to any person or entity that, to the Company’s knowledge, has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Member, within the twelve months prior to the Effective Date, other than payments to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement.

 

(zz)        Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, during the period beginning 180 days prior to the initial filing of the Registration Statement and ending on the Effective Date, no Member and/or any person associated or affiliated with a Member has provided any investment banking, financial advisory and/or consulting services to the Company.

 

(aaa)      Except as disclosed in the Questionnaires provided to the Representative, no officer, director, or beneficial owner of any class of the Company’s securities (whether debt or equity, registered or unregistered, regardless of the time acquired or the source from which derived) (any such individual or entity, a “ Company Affiliate ”) is a Member or a person associated or affiliated with a Member.

 

(bbb)     Except as disclosed in the Questionnaires provided to the Representative, no Company Affiliate is an owner of shares or other stock of any Member (other than securities purchased on the open market).

 

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(ccc)      No Company Affiliate has made a subordinated loan to any Member.

 

(ddd)     Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no proceeds from the sale of the Underwritten Securities (excluding underwriting compensation as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus) will be paid by the Company to any Member, or any persons associated or affiliated with a Member.

 

(eee)      The Company has not issued any warrants or other securities, or granted any options, directly or indirectly to anyone who is a potential underwriter in the Offering or a related person (as defined by FINRA rules) of such an underwriter within the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement.

 

(fff)       Except for the issuance of securities to the Sponsor, no person to whom securities of the Company have been privately issued within the 180-day period prior to the initial filing date of the Registration Statement has to the Company’s knowledge any relationship or affiliation or association with any Member.

 

(ggg)     To the Company’s knowledge, no Member intending to participate in the Offering has a conflict of interest with the Company. For this purpose, a “conflict of interest” means, if at the time of the Member’s participation in the Offering, any of the following applies: (A) the securities are to be issued by the Member; (B) the Company controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the Member or the Member’s associated persons; (C) at least 5% of the net offering proceeds, not including underwriting compensation, are intended to be: (i) used to reduce or retire the balance of a loan or credit facility extended by the Member, its affiliates and its associated persons, in the aggregate; or (ii) otherwise directed to the Member, its affiliates and associated persons, in the aggregate; or (D) as a result of the Offering and any transactions contemplated at the time of the Offering: (i) the Member will be an affiliate of the Company; (ii) the Member will become publicly owned; or (iii) the Company will become a Member or form a broker-dealer subsidiary.

 

(hhh)     The Company has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.

 

(iii)        The Company does not own an interest in any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other entity.

 

(jjj)         No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among any of the Company or any affiliate of the Company, on the one hand, and any director, director nominee, officer, stockholder, special advisor, customer or supplier of the Company or any affiliate of the Company, on the other hand, which is required by the Act or the Exchange Act to be described in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus that is not described as required. There are no outstanding loans, advances (except normal advances for business expenses in the ordinary course of business) or guarantees of indebtedness by the Company to or for the benefit of any of the officers, directors or director nominees of the Company or any of their respective family members, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company has not extended or maintained credit, arranged for the extension of credit, or renewed an extension of credit, in the form of a personal loan to or for any director or officer of the Company.

 

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(kkk)      The Company has not offered, or caused the Underwriters to offer, the Underwritten Securities to any person or entity with the intention of unlawfully influencing: (a) a customer or supplier of the Company or any affiliate of the Company to alter the customer’s or supplier’s level or type of business with the Company or such affiliate or (b) a journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company or any such affiliate.

 

(lll)         Upon delivery and payment for the Units on the Closing Date, the Company will not be subject to Rule 419 under the Act and none of the Company’s outstanding securities will be deemed to be a “penny stock” as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act.

 

(mmm)   From the time of the initial confidential submission of the Registration Statement to the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged, directly or through any person authorized to act on its behalf, in any Testing-the-Waters Communication) through the Execution Time, the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”). “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Act.

 

(nnn)     The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representative with entities that are qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representative to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representative has been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Schedule III hereto. “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act.

 

Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company and delivered to the Representative or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the Offering shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter.

 

2.           PURCHASE AND SALE .

 

(a)          Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to each Underwriter, and each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of $9.80 per Unit, the amount of the Underwritten Securities set forth opposite such Underwriter’s name in Schedule I hereto.

 

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(b)         Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company hereby grants an option to the several Underwriters to purchase, severally and not jointly, up to 3,000,000 Option Securities at the same purchase price per Unit as the Underwriters shall pay for the Underwritten Securities. Said option may be exercised only to cover over-allotments in the sale of the Underwritten Securities by the Underwriters. Said option may be exercised in whole or in part at any time on or before the 45th day after the date of the Prospectus upon written notice by the Representative to the Company setting forth the number of Option Securities as to which the several Underwriters are exercising the option and the settlement date. The number of Option Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter shall be based upon the same percentage of the total number of the Option Securities to be purchased by the several Underwriters as such Underwriter is purchasing of the Underwritten Securities, subject to such adjustments as the Representative in its absolute discretion shall make to eliminate any fractional shares.

 

(c)          In addition to the discount from the public offering price represented by the purchase price set forth in the first sentence of Section 2(a) of this Agreement, and subject to Section 5(hh), the Company hereby agrees to pay to the Underwriters a deferred discount of $0.35 per Unit (including both Underwritten Securities and Option Securities) purchased hereunder (the “ Deferred Discount ”). The Underwriters hereby agree that if no Business Combination is consummated within the time period provided in the Trust Agreement and the funds held under the Trust Agreement are distributed to the holders of the Common Stock included in the Securities sold pursuant to this Agreement (the “ Public Stockholders ”), (i) the Underwriters will forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount and (ii) the trustee under the Trust Agreement is authorized to distribute the Deferred Discount to the Public Stockholders on a pro rata basis.

 

3.           DELIVERY AND PAYMENT .

 

Delivery of and payment for the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities (if the option provided for in Section 2 hereof shall have been exercised on or before the third Business Day prior to the Closing Date) shall be made at 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on [●], 2019, or at such time on such later date not more than three Business Days after the foregoing date as the Representative shall designate, which date and time may be postponed by agreement between the Representative and the Company or as provided in Section 9 hereof (such date and time of delivery and payment for the Securities being herein called the “ Closing Date ”). Delivery of the Securities shall be made to the Representative for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representative of the purchase price thereof by wire transfer payable in same-day funds to an account specified by the Company and to the Trust Account as described below in this Section 3. Delivery of the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities shall be made through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (“ DTC ”) unless the Representative shall otherwise instruct.

 

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(a)          Payment for the Underwritten Securities shall be made as follows: $196,000,000 of the net proceeds for the Underwritten Securities (including $7,000,000 of Deferred Discount) shall be deposited in the Trust Account pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement along with such portion of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants (the “ Private Placement Portion ”) in order for the Trust Account to equal the product of the number of Units sold and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus upon delivery to the Representative of the Underwritten Securities through the facilities of DTC or, if the Representative has otherwise instructed, upon delivery to the Representative of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative) representing the Underwritten Securities, in each case for the account of the Underwriters. The Underwritten Securities shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representative may request in writing at least two Business Days prior to the Closing Date. If delivery is not made through the facilities of DTC, the Company will permit the Representative to examine and package the Underwritten Securities for delivery, at least one Business Day prior to the Closing Date. The Company shall not be obligated to sell or deliver the Underwritten Securities except upon tender of payment by the Representative for all the Underwritten Securities. Payment by the Underwriters for the Underwritten Securities is contingent on the (i) payment by the Sponsor to the Company for the Private Placement Warrants and (ii) deposit of the Private Placement Portion by or at the direction of the Company into the Trust Account, in each case at least one Business Day prior to the Closing Date.

 

(b)          Payment for the Option Securities shall be made as follows: $9.80 per Option Security (including $0.35 per Option Security of Deferred Discount) shall be deposited in the Trust Account pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement along with such portion of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants in order for the Trust Account to equal the product of the number of Units sold and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus upon delivery to the Representative of the Option Securities through the facilities of DTC or, if the Representative has otherwise instructed, upon delivery to the Representative of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative) representing the Option Securities (or through the facilities of DTC) for the account of the Underwriters. The Option Securities shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representative may request in writing at least two Business Days prior to the Closing Date. If delivery is not made through the facilities of DTC, the Company will permit the Representative to examine and package the Option Securities for delivery, at least one Business Day prior to the Closing Date. The Company shall not be obligated to sell or deliver the Option Securities except upon tender of payment by the Representative for all the Option Securities. Payment by the Underwriters for the Option Securities is contingent on the (i) payment by the Sponsor to the Company for the Private Placement Warrants and (ii) deposit of such portion of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants in order for the Trust Account, together with the proceeds to be received pursuant to this clause (b), to equal the product of the number of Units sold and the public offering price per Unit as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus by or at the direction of the Company into the Trust Account, in each case at least one Business Day prior to the applicable settlement date.

 

If the option provided for in Section 2 hereof is exercised after the third Business Day prior to the Closing Date, the Company will deliver the Option Securities (at the expense of the Company) to the Representative, at 60 Wall Street, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10005, on the date specified by the Representative (which shall be at least three Business Days after exercise of said option) for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters, against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representative of the purchase price thereof to the Trust Account as described above in Section 3(b). If settlement for the Option Securities occurs after the Closing Date, the Company will deliver to the Representative on the settlement date for the Option Securities, and the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase the Option Securities shall be conditioned upon receipt of, supplemental opinions, certificates and letters confirming as of such date the opinions, certificates and letters delivered on the Closing Date pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

 

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4.           OFFERING BY UNDERWRITERS .

 

It is understood that the several Underwriters propose to offer the Securities for sale to the public as set forth in the Prospectus (the “ Offering ”).

 

5.           AGREEMENTS .

 

The Company agrees with the several Underwriters that:

 

(a)          Prior to the termination of the Offering, the Company will not file any amendment of the Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement unless the Company has furnished you a copy for your review prior to filing and will not file any such proposed amendment, supplement or Rule 462(b) Registration Statement to which you reasonably object. The Company will cause the Prospectus, properly completed, and any supplement thereto to be filed in a form approved by the Representative with the Commission pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) within the time period prescribed and will provide evidence satisfactory to the Representative of such timely filing. The Company will promptly advise the Representative (i) when the Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, shall have been filed (if required) with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) or when any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication shall have been filed with the Commission, (ii) when, prior to termination of the Offering, any amendment to the Registration Statement shall have been filed or become effective, (iii) of any request by the Commission or its staff for any amendment of the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or for any supplement to the Prospectus or for any additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any order preventing or suspending the use of the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, or of the institution of any proceedings for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act and (v) of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for sale in any jurisdiction or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose. The Company will use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or the occurrence of any such suspension or objection to the use of the Registration Statement and, upon such issuance, occurrence or notice of objection, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal of such stop order or relief from such occurrence or objection, including, if necessary, by filing an amendment to the Registration Statement or a new registration statement and using its best efforts to have such amendment or new registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable.

 

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(b)          If, at any time prior to the filing of the Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b), any event or development occurs as a result of which the Statutory Prospectus would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein in the light of the circumstances under which they were made at such time not misleading, the Company will (i) notify promptly the Representative so that any use of the Statutory Prospectus may cease until it is amended or supplemented; (ii) amend or supplement the Statutory Prospectus to correct such statement or omission; and (iii) supply any amendment or supplement to you in such quantities as you may reasonably request.

 

(c)          If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Securities is required to be delivered under the Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), any event or development occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein in the light of the circumstances under which they were made at such time not misleading, or if it shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement or supplement the Prospectus to comply with the Act or the rules thereunder, the Company promptly will (i) notify the Representative of any such event; (ii) prepare and file with the Commission, subject to the second sentence of paragraph (a) of this Section 5, an amendment or supplement that will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and (iii) supply any supplemented Prospectus to you in such quantities as you may reasonably request.

 

(d)          As soon as practicable, the Company will make generally available to its security holders and to the Representative an earnings statement or statements of the Company and its subsidiaries that will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158.

 

(e)          The Company will not make any offer relating to the Units that constitutes or would constitute a Free Writing Prospectus or a portion thereof required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433 of the Act.

 

(f)          The Company will furnish to the Representative and counsel for the Underwriters, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement (including exhibits thereto) and to each other Underwriter a copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto) and, so long as delivery of a prospectus by an Underwriter or dealer may be required by the Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), as many copies of each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any supplement thereto as the Representative may reasonably request. The Company will pay the expenses of printing or other production of all documents relating to the Offering.

 

(g)         The Company will arrange, if necessary, for the qualification of the Securities for sale under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representative may designate and will maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Securities; provided that in no event shall the Company be obligated to qualify to do business in any jurisdiction where it is not now so qualified or to take any action that would subject it to service of process in suits, other than those arising out of the offering or sale of the Securities, in any jurisdiction where it is not now so subject.

 

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(h)          The Company will not, without the prior written consent of the Representative, (x) offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction that is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the Company or any affiliate of the Company or any person in privity with the Company or any affiliate of the Company), directly or indirectly, including the filing (or participation in the filing) of a registration statement with the Commission in respect of, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act with respect to, any other Units, shares of Common Stock, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock or publicly announce an intention to effect any such transaction during the period commencing on the date hereof and ending 180 days after the date of this Agreement; provided , however , that the Company may (1) issue and sell the Private Placement Warrants, (2) issue and sell the Option Securities on exercise of the option provided for in Section 2 hereof, (3) register with the Commission pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, in accordance with the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, the resale of the securities covered thereby and (4) issue securities in connection with a Business Combination, or (y) release the Sponsor or any officer, director or director nominee from the 180-day lock-up contained in the Insider Letters.

 

(i)           The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities.

 

(j)           The Company agrees to pay the costs and expenses relating to the following matters: (i) the preparation, printing or reproduction and filing with the Commission of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and exhibits thereto), each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and each amendment or supplement to any of them; (ii) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery (including postage, air freight charges and charges for counting and packaging) of such copies of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and all amendments or supplements to any of them, as may, in each case, be reasonably requested for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities; (iii) the preparation, printing, authentication, issuance and delivery of certificates for the Securities, including any stamp or transfer taxes in connection with the original issuance and sale of the Securities; (iv) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery of this Agreement and all other agreements or documents printed (or reproduced) and delivered in connection with the Offering; (v) the registration of the Securities under the Exchange Act and the listing of the Securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (vi) the printing and delivery of a preliminary blue sky memorandum, any registration or qualification of the Securities for offer and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of the several states and any filings required to be made with FINRA (including filing fees and the reasonable and documented fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters relating to such filings, memorandum, registration and qualification in an aggregate amount up to $15,000); (vii) the transportation and other expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Company (and not the Underwriters) in connection with presentations to prospective purchasers of the Securities; (viii) the fees and expenses of the Company’s accountants and the fees and expenses of counsel for the Company (including local and special counsel); and (ix) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder.

 

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(k)          For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company will use its best efforts to maintain the registration of the Units, shares of Common Stock and Warrants under the provisions of the Exchange Act, except after giving effect to a going private transaction after the completion of a Business Combination. The Company will not deregister the Units, shares of Common Stock or Warrants under the Exchange Act (except in connection with a going private transaction after the completion of a Business Combination) without the prior written consent of the Representative.

 

(l)           The Company shall, on the date hereof, retain its independent registered public accounting firm to audit the balance sheet of the Company as of the Closing Date (the “ Audited Balance Sheet ”) reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the Offering on the Closing Date. As soon as the Audited Balance Sheet becomes available, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four Business Days after the Closing Date, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which report shall contain the Company’s Audited Balance Sheet. Additionally, upon the Company’s receipt of the proceeds from the exercise of all or any portion of the option provided for in Section 2 hereof, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four Business Days after the receipt of such proceeds, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which report shall disclose the Company’s sale of the Option Securities and its receipt of the proceeds therefrom.

 

(m)         For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the shares of Common Stock and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company, at its expense, shall cause its regularly engaged independent registered public accounting firm to review (but not audit) the Company’s financial statements for each of the first three fiscal quarters prior to the announcement of quarterly financial information, the filing of the -Company’s Form 10-Q quarterly report and the mailing, if any, of quarterly financial information to stockholders.

 

(n)          For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company shall, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from the Representative, furnish to the Representative copies of such financial statements and other periodic and special reports as the Company from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any class of securities, and, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from the Representative, promptly furnish to the Representative: (i) a copy of such registration statements, financial statements and periodic and special reports as the Company shall be required to file with the Commission and from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any such class of its securities; and (ii) such additional documents and information with respect to the Company and the affairs of any future subsidiaries of the Company as the Representative may from time to time reasonably request, all subject to the execution of a satisfactory confidentiality agreement. Any registration statements, financial statements, periodic and special reports or other additional documents referred to in the preceding sentence filed on the Commission’s EDGAR website will be considered furnished for the purposes of this section.

 

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(o)         For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the shares of Common Stock and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company shall retain a transfer and warrant agent.

 

(p)         The Company will not consummate a Business Combination with any entity that is affiliated with the Sponsor or any of the Company’s officers or directors unless it obtains an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, that such Business Combination is fair to the Company from a financial point of view. The Company shall not pay the Sponsor or any of the Company’s officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any repayment of a loan or other compensation prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is); provided , however , that such officers, directors and affiliates (i) may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses related to the Company’s formation and initial public offering and to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination, (ii) may be repaid loans as described in the Registration Statement and (iii) may receive a payment in connection with the successful completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, which payment will not be made from the proceeds from the Offering held in the Trust Account.

 

(q)         The Company will apply the net proceeds from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants received by it in a manner consistent in all material respects with the applications described under the caption “Use of Proceeds” in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(r)          For a period of 90 days following the Effective Date, in the event any person or entity (regardless of any FINRA affiliation or association) is engaged to assist the Company in its search for a merger candidate or to provide any other merger and acquisition services, or has provided or will provide any investment banking, financial, advisory and/or consulting services to the Company, the Company agrees that it shall promptly provide to FINRA (via a FINRA submission), the Representative and its counsel a notification prior to entering into the agreement or transaction relating to a potential Business Combination: (i) the identity of the person or entity providing any such services; (ii) complete details of all such services and copies of all agreements governing such services prior to entering into the agreement or transaction; and (iii) justification as to why the value received by any person or entity for such services is not underwriting compensation for the Offering. The Company also agrees that proper disclosure of such arrangement or potential arrangement will be made in the tender offer materials or proxy statement, as applicable, which the Company may file in connection with the Business Combination for purposes of offering redemption of shares held by its stockholders or for soliciting stockholder approval, as applicable.

 

(s)          The Company shall advise FINRA, the Representative and its counsel if it is aware that any 5% or greater stockholder of the Company becomes an affiliate or associated person of a Member participating in the distribution of the Securities.

 

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(t)          The Company shall cause the proceeds of the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to be held in the Trust Account to be invested only in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act as set forth in the Trust Agreement and disclosed in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company will otherwise conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become subject to the Investment Company Act. Furthermore, once the Company consummates a Business Combination, it will not be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

 

(u)         During the period prior to the Company’s initial Business Combination or Liquidation, the Company may instruct the trustee under the Trust Agreement to release from the Trust Account, solely from interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account, amounts to pay income tax and franchise tax obligations as well as expenses relating to the administration of the Trust Account. Otherwise, all funds held in the Trust Account (including any interest income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and amounts released to pay for expenses related to the administration of the Trust Account)) will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination, the redemption of shares of Common Stock tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of Common Stock held by Public Stockholders if the Company does not complete the Business Combination within 24 months of the Closing Date or the Liquidation; provided , however , that in the event of the Liquidation, up to $100,000 of interest income may be released to the Company if the proceeds of the Offering held outside of the Trust Account are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing the Company’s plan of dissolution.

 

(v)         The Company will reserve and keep available that maximum number of its authorized but unissued securities that are issuable upon exercise of any of the Warrants and Private Placement Warrants outstanding from time to time and the conversion of the Founder Shares.

 

(w)        Prior to the consummation of a Business Combination or the Liquidation, the Company shall not issue any shares of Common Stock, Warrants or any options or other securities convertible into shares of Common Stock, or any shares of preferred stock, in each case, that participate in any manner in the Trust Account or that vote as a class with the shares of Common Stock on a Business Combination.

 

(x)          The Company’s audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments made to the Sponsor, to the Company’s officers or directors, or to the Company’s or any of such other persons’ respective affiliates.

 

(y)         The Company agrees that it will use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the Company from becoming subject to Rule 419 under the Act prior to the consummation of any Business Combination, including, but not limited to, using its best efforts to prevent any of the Company’s outstanding securities from being deemed to be a “penny stock” as defined in Rule 3a-51-1 under the Exchange Act during such period.

 

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(z)          To the extent required by Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act, the Company will maintain “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) and a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary in order to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.

 

(aa)        The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect and maintain the listing of the Units, shares of Common Stock and Warrants on the New York Stock Exchange (or another national securities exchange).

 

(bb)        As soon as legally required to do so, the Company and its directors and officers, in their capacities as such, shall take all actions necessary to comply with any applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications, and to comply with the New York Stock Exchange Rules.

 

(cc)        The Company shall not take any action or omit to take any action that would cause the Company to be in breach or violation of its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, or its bylaws, as amended.

 

(dd)        The Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than independent accountants), prospective target businesses, lenders or other entities with which it does business enter into agreements waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Stockholders. The Company may forego obtaining such waivers only if the Company shall have received the approval of its Chief Executive Officer.

 

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(ee)        The Company may consummate the initial Business Combination and conduct redemptions of shares of Common Stock for cash upon consummation of such Business Combination without a stockholder vote pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, including the filing of tender offer documents with the Commission. Such tender offer documents will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under the Commission’s proxy rules and will provide each stockholder of the Company with the opportunity prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination to redeem the shares of Common Stock held by such stockholder for an amount of cash equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (x) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (y) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account not previously released to the Company to pay franchise and income taxes or expenses relating to the administration of the Trust Account, divided by (B) the total number of shares of Common Stock sold as part of the Units in the Offering (the “ Public Stock ”) then outstanding. If, however, the Company elects not to file such tender offer documents, a stockholder vote is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement in connection with the initial Business Combination or the Company decides to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will submit such Business Combination to the Company’s stockholders for their approval (“ Business Combination Vote ”). With respect to the initial Business Combination Vote, if any, the Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote all of their Founder Shares and any other shares of Common Stock purchased during or after the Offering in favor of the Company’s initial Business Combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company will offer to each Public Stockholder holding shares of Common Stock the right to have its shares redeemed in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules of the Commission at a per share redemption price (the “ Redemption Price ”) equal to (I) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (1) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (2) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account not previously released to the Company to pay franchise and income taxes or expenses relating to the administration of the Trust Account, divided by (II) the total amount of Public Stock then outstanding. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company may proceed with such Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock voted by the stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting are voted to approve such Business Combination. If, after seeking and receiving such stockholder approval, the Company elects to so proceed, it will redeem shares, at the Redemption Price, from those Public Stockholders who affirmatively requested such redemption. Only Public Stockholders holding shares of Common Stock who properly exercise their redemption rights, in accordance with the applicable tender offer or proxy materials related to such Business Combination and the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws of the Company, shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account in connection with an initial Business Combination, and the Company shall pay no distributions with respect to any other holders of shares of capital stock of the Company in connection therewith. In the event that the Company does not effect a Business Combination by twenty-four (24) months from the closing of the Offering, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten (10) business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the Public Stock, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account (including interest not previously released to the Company to pay franchise and income taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the Trust Account, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the amount of then outstanding Public Stock, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Only Public Stockholders holding shares of Common Stock included in the Securities shall be entitled to receive such redemption amounts and the Company shall pay no such redemption amounts or any distributions in liquidation with respect to any other shares of capital stock of the Company. The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Stock if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination within twenty-four (24) months from the closing of the Offering unless the Company offers to redeem the Public Stock in connection with such amendment, as described in the Statutory Prospectus and Prospectus.

 

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(ff)         In the event that the Company desires or is required by an applicable law or regulation to cause an announcement (“ Business Combination Announcement ”) to be placed in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or any other news or media publication or outlet or to be made via a public filing with the Commission announcing the consummation of the Business Combination that indicates that the Underwriters were the underwriters in the Offering, the Company shall supply the Representative with a draft of the Business Combination Announcement and provide the Representative with a reasonable advance opportunity to comment thereon, subject to the agreement of the Underwriters to keep confidential such draft announcement in accordance with the Representative’s standard policies regarding confidential information.

 

(gg)        Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination, the Company and the Representative will jointly direct the trustee under the Trust Agreement to pay the Representative, on behalf of the Underwriters, the Deferred Discount out of the proceeds of the Offering held in the Trust Account. The Underwriters shall have no claim to payment of any interest earned on the portion of the proceeds held in the Trust Account representing the Deferred Discount. If the Company fails to consummate its initial Business Combination within twenty-four (24) months from the closing of the Offering, the Deferred Discount will not be paid to the Representative and will, instead, be included in the Liquidation distribution of the proceeds held in the Trust Account made to the Public Stockholders. In connection with any such Liquidation, the Underwriters forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount.

 

(hh)        The Company will endeavor in good faith, in cooperation with the Representative to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as the Representative may reasonably designate, provided that no such qualification shall be required in any jurisdiction where, as a result thereof, the Company would be subject to service of general process or to taxation as a foreign corporation doing business in such jurisdiction. Until the earliest of (i) the date on which all Underwriters shall have ceased to engage in market-making activities in respect of the Securities, (ii) the date on which the Securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (or any successor thereto), (iii) a going private transaction after the completion of a Business Combination, and (iv) the date of the liquidation of the Company, in each jurisdiction where such qualification shall be effected, the Company will, unless the Representative agrees that such action is not at the time necessary or advisable, use all reasonable efforts to file and make such statements or reports at such times as are or may be required to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

 

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(ii)          If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in light of the circumstances under which they were made at such time, not misleading, the Company will promptly (i) notify the Representative so that use of the Written Testing-the-Waters Communication may cease until it is amended or supplemented; (ii) amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission; and (iii) supply any amendment or supplement to the Representative in such quantities as may be reasonably requested.

 

(jj)         The Company will promptly notify the Representative if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Securities within the meaning of the Act and (ii) completion of the 180-day restricted period referred to in Section 5(h) hereof.

 

(kk)        If the Representative, in its sole discretion, agrees to release or waive the transfer restrictions set forth in Section 5(h) for an officer or director of the Company and provides the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver at least three business days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver by a press release substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver.

 

(ll)          Upon the earlier to occur of the expiration or termination of the Underwriters’ over-allotment option, the Company shall cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of Founder Shares from the Sponsor, in an aggregate amount equal to the number of Founder Shares determined by multiplying (a) 750,000 by (b) a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is 5,750,000 minus the number of Option Securities purchased by the Underwriters upon the exercise of their over-allotment option, and (ii) the denominator of which is 5,750,000. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the Company shall not cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of the Founder Shares pursuant to this subsection.

 

(mm)      In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

 

(nn)       In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

 

6.           CONDITIONS TO THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE UNDERWRITERS .

 

The obligations of the Underwriters to purchase the Underwritten Securities and the Option Securities, as the case may be, shall be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein as of the Execution Time, the Closing Date and any settlement date pursuant to Section 3 hereof, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions:

 

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(a)          The Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, have been filed in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b); and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or threatened.

 

(b)          The Company shall have requested and caused Latham & Watkins LLP, counsel for the Company, to have furnished to the Representative its opinions dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representative, in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representative.

 

(c)          The Representative shall have received from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion or opinions, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representative, with respect to the issuance and sale of the Securities, the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus, the Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) and other related matters as the Representative may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters.

 

(d)          The Company shall have furnished to the Representative a certificate of the Company, signed by the Chief Executive Officer and the principal financial or accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing Date, to the effect that the signers of such certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, and this Agreement and that:

 

(i)          the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct on and as of the Closing Date with the same effect as if made on the Closing Date and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Date;

 

(ii)         no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened; and

 

(iii)        since the date of the most recent financial statements included in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), there has been no Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).

 

(e)          The Company shall have requested and caused Grant Thornton to have furnished to the Representative, at the Execution Time and at the Closing Date, letters, dated respectively as of the Execution Time and as of the Closing Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative, confirming that they are a registered public accounting firm that is independent with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Act and the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations adopted by the Commission thereunder and that they have performed a review of the audited financial statements of the Company for the period from October 22, 2018 (date of inception) through November 6, 2018, provided that the cutoff date shall not be more than two business days prior to such Execution Time or Closing Date, as applicable, and stating in effect that:

 

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(i)          in their opinion the audited financial statements and financial statement schedules included in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus and reported on by them comply as to form in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements of the Act and the related rules and regulations adopted by the Commission; and

 

(ii)         they have performed certain other specified procedures as a result of which they determined that certain information of an accounting, financial or statistical nature (which is limited to accounting, financial or statistical information derived from the general accounting records of the Company) set forth in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, including the information set forth under the captions “Dilution” and “Capitalization” in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, agrees with the accounting records of the Company, excluding any questions of legal interpretation.

 

References to the Prospectus in this paragraph (e) include any supplement thereto at the date of the letter.

 

(f)          Subsequent to the Execution Time or, if earlier, the dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement (exclusive of any amendment thereof), the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), there shall not have been (i) any change or decrease specified in the letter or letters referred to in paragraph (e) of this Section 6 or (ii) any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the earnings, business, management, properties, assets, rights, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto) the effect of which, in any case referred to in clause (i) or (ii) above, is, in the sole judgment of the Representative, so material and adverse as to make it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Securities as contemplated by the Registration Statement (exclusive of any amendment thereof), the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto).

 

(g)          Prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Representative such further information, certificates and documents as the Representative may reasonably request.

 

(h)          FINRA shall not have raised any objection with respect to the fairness or reasonableness of the underwriting or other arrangements of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

(i)           The Securities shall be duly listed subject to notice of issuance on the New York Stock Exchange, satisfactory evidence of which shall have been provided to the Representative.

 

(j)           On the Effective Date, the Company shall have delivered to the Representative executed copies of the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founder’s Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Insider Letters and the Registration Rights Agreement.

 

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(k)          At least one Business Day prior to the Closing Date, the Sponsor shall have caused the purchase price for the Private Placement Warrants to be deposited into the Trust Account.

 

(l)           No order preventing or suspending the sale of the Units in any jurisdiction designated by the Representative pursuant to Section 5(hh) hereof shall have been issued as of the Closing Date, and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or shall have been threatened.

 

If any of the conditions specified in this Section 6 shall not have been fulfilled when and as provided in this Agreement, or if any of the opinions and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall not be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Representative and counsel for the Underwriters, this Agreement and all obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be canceled at, or at any time prior to, the Closing Date by the Representative. Notice of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or by telephone or facsimile confirmed in writing.

 

The documents required to be delivered by this Section 6 shall be delivered at the office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, at 767 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10153, Attention: Alex Lynch, unless otherwise indicated herein, on the Closing Date.

 

7.           REIMBURSEMENT OF UNDERWRITERS’ EXPENSES .

 

If the sale of the Securities provided for herein is not consummated because any condition to the obligations of the Underwriters set forth in Section 6 hereof is not satisfied, because of any termination pursuant to Section 10 hereof (other than clauses (ii), (iii) or (vi) thereof) or because of any refusal, inability or failure on the part of the Company to perform any agreement herein or comply with any provision hereof other than by reason of a default by any of the Underwriters, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters severally through the Representative on demand for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel) that shall have been incurred by them in connection with the proposed purchase and sale of the Securities.

 

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8.           INDEMNIFICATION AND CONTRIBUTION .

 

(a)          The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, the directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter, each person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act and each affiliate of each Underwriter against any and all losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which they or any of them may become subject under the Act, the Exchange Act or other Federal or state statutory law or regulation, at common law or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement for the registration of the Securities as originally filed or in any amendment thereof, or in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus, the Prospectus, any “roadshow” as defined in Section 433(h) of the Act or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or in any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and agrees to reimburse each such indemnified party, as incurred, for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; provided , however , that the Company will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon any such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made therein in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representative specifically for inclusion therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described in the last sentence of Section 8(b) hereof. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability that the Company may otherwise have.

 

(b)          Each Underwriter severally and not jointly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who signs the Registration Statement, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act, to the same extent as the foregoing indemnity from the Company to each Underwriter, but only with reference to written information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representative specifically for inclusion in the documents referred to in the foregoing indemnity. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability that any Underwriter may otherwise have. The Company acknowledges that the statements set forth under the heading “Underwriting,” (x) the list of Underwriters and their respective roles and participation in the sale of the Securities, (y) the sentence related to the Underwriter’s intention not to make sales to discretionary accounts, and (z) the paragraphs related to stabilization, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids, in the Preliminary Prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus constitute the only information furnished in writing by or on behalf of the several Underwriters for inclusion in the documents referred to in the foregoing indemnity.

 

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(c)          Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 8 of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 8, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the failure so to notify the indemnifying party (i) will not relieve it from liability under paragraph (a) or (b) above unless and to the extent it did not otherwise learn of such action and such failure results in the forfeiture by the indemnifying party of material rights and defenses and (ii) will not, in any event, relieve the indemnifying party from any obligations to any indemnified party other than the indemnification obligation provided in paragraph (a) or (b) above. The indemnifying party shall be entitled to appoint counsel of the indemnifying party’s choice at the indemnifying party’s expense to represent the indemnified party in any action for which indemnification is sought (in which case the indemnifying party shall not thereafter be responsible for the fees and expenses of any separate counsel retained by the indemnified party or parties except as set forth below); provided , however , that such counsel shall be satisfactory to the indemnified party. Notwithstanding the indemnifying party’s election to appoint counsel to represent the indemnified party in an action, the indemnified party shall have the right to employ separate counsel (including local counsel), and the indemnifying party shall bear the reasonable fees, costs and expenses of such separate counsel if (i) the use of counsel chosen by the indemnifying party to represent the indemnified party would present such counsel with a conflict of interest, (ii) the actual or potential defendants in, or targets of, any such action include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it and/or other indemnified parties that are different from or additional to those available to the indemnifying party, (iii) the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party within a reasonable time after notice of the institution of such action or (iv) the indemnifying party shall authorize the indemnified party to employ separate counsel at the expense of the indemnifying party. An indemnifying party will not, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned), settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any pending or threatened claim, action, suit or proceeding in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties to such claim or action) unless (i) such settlement, compromise or consent includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such claim, action, suit or proceeding and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party. If at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel, such indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 45 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least 30 days prior to such settlement being entered into and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed such indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement.

 

(d)          In the event that the indemnity provided in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section 8 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party for any reason, the Company and the Underwriters severally agree to contribute to the aggregate losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with investigating or defending the same) (collectively “ Losses ”) to which the Company and one or more of the Underwriters may be subject in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and by the Underwriters on the other from the Offering; provided , however , that in no case shall any Underwriter (except as may be provided in any agreement among underwriters relating to the Offering) be responsible for any amount in excess of the underwriting discount or commission applicable to the Securities purchased by such Underwriter hereunder. If the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is unavailable for any reason, the Company and the Underwriters severally shall contribute in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such Losses as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. Benefits received by the Company shall be deemed to be equal to the total net proceeds from the Offering (before deducting expenses) received by it, and benefits received by the Underwriters shall be deemed to be equal to the total underwriting discounts and commissions, in each case as set forth on the cover page of the Prospectus. Relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any untrue or any alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information provided by the Company on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution were determined by pro rata allocation or any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph (d), no person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. For purposes of this Section 8, each person who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act and each director, officer, employee and agent of an Underwriter shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act, each officer of the Company who shall have signed the Registration Statement and each director of the Company shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company, subject in each case to the applicable terms and conditions of this paragraph (d).

 

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(e)          In any proceeding relating to the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, the Prospectus or any supplement or amendment thereto, each party against whom contribution may be sought under this Section 8 hereby consents to the exclusive jurisdiction of (i) the federal courts of the United States of America located in the City and County of New York, Borough of Manhattan and (ii) the courts of the State of New York located in the City and County of New York, Borough of Manhattan (collectively, the “ Specified Courts ”), agrees that process issuing from such courts may be served upon it by any other contributing party and consents to the service of such process and agrees that any other contributing party may join it as an additional defendant in any such proceeding in which such other contributing party is a party.

 

(f)          Any losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses for which an indemnified party is entitled to indemnification or contribution under this Section 8 shall be paid by the indemnifying party to the indemnified party as such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses are incurred. The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in this Section 8 and the representations and warranties of the Company set forth in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect, regardless of (i) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, its directors or officers or any person controlling any Underwriter, the Company, its directors or officers or any persons controlling the Company, (ii) acceptance of any Securities and payment therefor hereunder, and (iii) any termination of this Agreement. A successor to any Underwriter, its directors or officers or any person controlling any Underwriter, or to the Company, its directors or officers, or any person controlling the Company, shall be entitled to the benefits of the indemnity, contribution and reimbursement agreements contained in this Section 8.

 

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9.           DEFAULT BY AN UNDERWRITER .

 

If any one or more Underwriters shall fail to purchase and pay for any of the Securities agreed to be purchased by such Underwriter or Underwriters hereunder and such failure to purchase shall constitute a default in the performance of its or their obligations under this Agreement, the remaining Underwriters shall be obligated severally to take up and pay for (in the respective proportions that the amount of Securities set forth opposite their names in Schedule I hereto bears to the aggregate amount of Securities set forth opposite the names of all the remaining Underwriters) the Securities that the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase; provided , however , that in the event that the aggregate amount of Securities that the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase shall exceed 10% of the Underwritten Securities, the remaining Underwriters shall have the right to purchase all, but shall not be under any obligation to purchase any, of the Securities. If within one Business Day after such default relating to more than 10% of the Underwritten Securities the remaining Underwriters do not arrange for the purchase of such Underwritten Securities, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of one Business Day within which to procure another party or parties reasonably satisfactory to you to purchase said Underwritten Securities. In the event that neither the remaining Underwriters nor the Company purchase or arrange for the purchase of all of the Underwritten Securities to which a default relates as provided in this Section 9, this Agreement will terminate without liability to any nondefaulting Underwriter or the Company. In the event of a default by any Underwriter as set forth in this Section 9, the Closing Date shall be postponed for such period, not exceeding five Business Days, as the Representative shall determine in order that the required changes in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements may be effected. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter of its liability, if any, to the Company and any nondefaulting Underwriter for damages occasioned by its default hereunder.

 

10.          TERMINATION .

 

This Agreement shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representative, by notice given to the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Securities, if at any time prior to such delivery and payment (i) trading in the Company’s Units, Common Stock or Warrants shall have been suspended by the Commission, or trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Capital Market shall have been suspended or limited or minimum prices shall have been established on such exchange or trading market, (ii) a banking moratorium shall have been declared either by Federal or New York State authorities, (iii) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war, or other national or international calamity or crisis (including, without limitation, an act of terrorism) or change in economic or political conditions the effect of which on financial markets is such as to make it, in the sole judgment of the Representative, impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Securities as contemplated by the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), (iv) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, any material adverse change or any development involving a prospective material adverse change in or affecting the earnings, business, management, properties, assets, rights, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, (v) the enactment, publication, decree or other promulgation of any statute, regulation, rule or order of any court or other governmental authority which in your opinion materially and adversely affects or may materially and adversely affect the business or operations of the Company, or (vi) the taking of any action by any governmental body or agency in respect of its monetary or fiscal affairs which in your opinion has a material adverse effect on the securities markets in the United States.

 

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11.          REPRESENTATIONS AND INDEMNITIES TO SURVIVE .

 

The respective agreements, representations, warranties, indemnities and other statements of the Company or its officers and of the Underwriters set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or the Company or any of the officers, directors, employees, agents or controlling persons referred to in Section 8 hereof, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Securities. The provisions of Sections 7 and 8 hereof shall survive the termination or cancellation of this Agreement.

 

12.          NOTICES .

 

All communications hereunder will be in writing and effective only on receipt, and, if sent to the Representative, will be mailed, delivered or telefaxed to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 60 Wall Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10005, Attention: Equity Capital Markets – Syndicate Desk, with a copy to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 60 Wall Street, 36th Floor, New York, New York 10005, Attention: General Counsel, fax: (212) 797-4561; or, if sent to the Company, will be mailed, delivered or telefaxed to RMG Acquisition Corp., 50 West Street, Suite 40C, New York, NY 10006, fax: [●]; Attention: [●], with a copy to the Company’s counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP, 811 Main Street, Suite 3700, Houston, TX 77002, Attention: Ryan J. Maierson and Debbie P. Yee.

 

13.          SUCCESSORS .

 

This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers, directors, employees, agents and controlling persons referred to in Section 8 hereof, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder.

 

14.          NO FIDUCIARY DUTY .

 

The Company hereby acknowledges that (a) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters and any affiliate through which it may be acting, on the other, (b) the Underwriters are acting as principal and not as an agent or fiduciary of the Company and (c) the Company’s engagement of the Underwriters in connection with the Offering and the process leading up to the Offering is as independent contractors and not in any other capacity. Furthermore, the Company agrees that it is solely responsible for making its own judgments in connection with the Offering (irrespective of whether any of the Underwriters has advised or is currently advising the Company on related or other matters). The Company agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters have rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owe an agency, fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.

 

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15.          INTEGRATION .

 

This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

 

16.          APPLICABLE LAW .

 

This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York applicable to contracts made and to be performed within the State of New York. Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby shall be instituted in the Specified Courts, and each party irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction (except for proceedings instituted in regard to the enforcement of a judgment of any such court, as to which such jurisdiction is non-exclusive) of such courts in any such suit, action or proceeding. Service of any process, summons, notice or document by mail to such party’s address set forth above shall be effective service of process for any suit, action or other proceeding brought in any such court. The parties irrevocably and unconditionally waive any objection to the laying of venue of any suit, action or other proceeding in the Specified Courts and irrevocably and unconditionally waive and agree not to plead or claim in any such court that any such suit, action or other proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

 

17.          WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL .

 

The Company hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

18.          COUNTERPARTS .

 

This Agreement may be signed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall constitute an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

 

19.          HEADINGS .

 

The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof

 

20.          DEFINITIONS .

 

The terms that follow, when used in this Agreement, shall have the meanings indicated.

 

Act ” shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.

 

Applicable Time ” shall mean 4:40 p.m. (New York time) on the date of this Agreement.

 

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BHC Act Affiliate ” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k).

 

Business Day ” shall mean any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or trust companies are authorized or obligated by law to close in New York City.

 

Commission ” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Covered Entity ” shall mean any of the following:

 

(i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b);

 

(ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or

 

(iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b).

 

Default Right ” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable.

 

Effective Date ” shall mean each date and time that the Registration Statement, any post-effective amendment or amendments thereto and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement became or becomes effective.

 

Exchange Act ” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.

 

Execution Time ” shall mean the date and time that this Agreement is executed and delivered by the parties hereto.

 

Free Writing Prospectus ” shall mean a free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405.

 

Liquidation ” shall mean the distributions of the Trust Account to the Public Stockholders in connection with the redemption of shares of Common Stock held by the Public Stockholders pursuant to the terms of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination.

 

Preliminary Prospectus ” shall mean any preliminary prospectus referred to in paragraph 1(a) above and any preliminary prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the Effective Date that omits Rule 430A Information.

 

Prospectus ” shall mean the prospectus relating to the Securities that is first filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) after the Execution Time.

 

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Registration Statement ” shall mean the registration statements referred to in paragraph 1(a) above, including exhibits and financial statements and any prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) and deemed part of such registration statement pursuant to Rule 430A, as amended at the Execution Time and, in the event any post-effective amendment thereto or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement becomes effective prior to the Closing Date, shall also mean such registration statement as so amended or such Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, as the case may be.

 

Rule 158 ”, “ Rule 163 ”, “ Rule 164 ”, “ Rule 172 ”, “ Rule 405 ”, “ Rule 415 ”, “ Rule 419 ”, “ Rule 424 ”, “ Rule 430A ”, “ Rule 433 ” and “ Rule 462 ” refer to such rules under the Act.

 

Rule 430A Information ” shall mean information with respect to the Securities and the offering thereof permitted to be omitted from the Registration Statement when it becomes effective pursuant to Rule 430A.

 

Rule 462(b) Registration Statement ” shall mean a registration statement and any amendments thereto filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) relating to the offering covered by the registration statement referred to in Section 1(a) hereof.

 

Statutory Prospectus ” shall mean (i) the Preliminary Prospectus dated [●], relating to the Securities and (ii) the Time of Delivery Information, if any, set forth on Schedule II hereto.

 

U.S. Special Resolution Regime ” shall mean each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

[remainder of page intentionally left blank]

 

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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign and return to us the enclosed duplicate hereof, whereupon it will become a binding agreement among the Company and the several Underwriters in accordance with its terms.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  RMG Acquisition Corp.
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:
     
  The foregoing Underwriting Agreement is hereby confirmed and accepted as of the date first above written.
   
  Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE I

 

Underwriters   Number of Underwritten
Securities to be Purchased
 
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.     17,400,000  
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated     2,600,000  
Total     20,000,000  

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE II

 

TIME OF DELIVERY INFORMATION

 

RMG Acquisition Corp. priced 20,000,000 units at $10.00 per unit plus an additional 3,000,000 units if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full.

 

The units will be issued pursuant to an effective registration statement that has been previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities law of any such state or jurisdiction.

 

Copies of the prospectus related to this offering may be obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Attn.: Prospectus Group, 60 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005-2836, email: prospectus.CPDG@db.com, tel: (800) 503-4611.

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE III

 

SCHEDULE OF WRITTEN TESTING-THE-WATERS COMMUNICATIONS

 

RMG Acquisition Corp., Investor Presentation, December 2018.

 

 

 

  

EXHIBIT A

 

Form of Press Release

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

 

[Date]

 

RMG Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) announced today that Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., the book-running manager and underwriter in the Company’s recent public sale of Units, is [waiving] [releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to shares of the Company’s [Class A Common Stock] [Warrants] [Units] held by [certain officers or directors] [an officer or director] of the Company. The [waiver] [release] will take effect on [Date], and the securities may be sold on or after such date.

 

This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

 

 

Exhibit 4.4

 

WARRANT AGREEMENT

 

THIS WARRANT AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”), dated as of [  ·  ], 2019, is by and between RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, a New York limited liability trust company, as warrant agent (the “ Warrant Agent ”, also referred to herein as the “ Transfer Agent ”).

 

WHEREAS, on December 17, 2018, the Company entered into that certain Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement with RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, effective January 16, 2019, pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 3,333,333 warrants (or up to 3,766,667 warrants if the Over-allotment Option (as defined below) in connection with the Offering (as defined below) is exercised in full) (or, in certain circumstances, 4,000,000 warrants (or up to 4,600,000 warrants if the Over-allotment Option in connection with the Offering is exercised in full) simultaneously with the closing of the Offering (and the closing of the Over-allotment Option, if applicable) bearing the legend set forth in Exhibit B hereto (the “ Private Placement Warrants ”) at a purchase price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant; and

 

WHEREAS, on January 16, 2019, the Company and certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. and Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC (together, the “Anchor Investors”) entered into certain subscription agreements pursuant to which the Anchor Investors agreed, subject to the satisfaction of certain terms and conditions, to purchase an aggregate of 666,667 Private Placement Warrants (or up to 833,333 Private Placement Warrants if the Over-allotment Option is exercised in full) in a private placement occurring simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering; and

 

WHEREAS, in order to finance the Company’s transaction costs in connection with an intended initial Business Combination (as defined below), 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 the Company may require, of which up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into up to an additional 1,000,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company is engaged in an initial public offering (the “ Offering ”) of units of the Company’s equity securities, each such unit comprised of one share of Common Stock (as defined below) and one-third of one Public Warrant (as defined below) (the “ Units ”) and, in connection therewith, has determined to issue and deliver up to 7,666,666 warrants (including up to 1,000,000 warrants subject to the Over-allotment Option) to public investors in the Offering (the “ Public Warrants ” and, together with the Private Placement Warrants, the “ Warrants ”). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (“ Common Stock ”), for $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) a registration statement on Form S-1, File No. 333-228849 (the “ Registration Statement ”) and prospectus (the “ Prospectus ”), for the registration, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”), of the Units and the Public Warrants and the Common Stock included in the Units; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company desires the Warrant Agent to act on behalf of the Company, and the Warrant Agent is willing to so act, in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption and exercise of the Warrants; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company desires to provide for the form and provisions of the Warrants, the terms upon which they shall be issued and exercised, and the respective rights, limitation of rights, and immunities of the Company, the Warrant Agent, and the holders of the Warrants; and

 

     

 

 

WHEREAS, all acts and things have been done and performed which are necessary to make the Warrants, when executed on behalf of the Company and countersigned by or on behalf of the Warrant Agent, as provided herein, the valid, binding and legal obligations of the Company, and to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:

 

Article I.

Appointment of Warrant Agent

 

The Company hereby appoints the Warrant Agent to act as agent for the Company for the Warrants, and the Warrant Agent hereby accepts such appointment and agrees to perform the same in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.

 

Article II.

Warrants

 

Section 2.01          Form of Warrant . Each Warrant shall be issued in registered form only.

 

Section 2.02          Effect of Countersignature . If a physical certificate is issued, unless and until countersigned by the Warrant Agent pursuant to this Agreement, a Warrant shall be invalid and of no effect and may not be exercised by the holder thereof.

 

Section 2.03          Registration .

 

(a)           Warrant Register. The Warrant Agent shall maintain books (the “ Warrant Register ”), for the registration of original issuance and the registration of transfer of the Warrants. Upon the initial issuance of the Warrants, the Warrant Agent shall issue and register the Warrants in the names of the respective holders thereof in such denominations and otherwise in accordance with instructions delivered to the Warrant Agent by the Company. Ownership of beneficial interests in the Public Warrants shall be shown on, and the transfer of such ownership shall be effected through, records maintained by institutions that have accounts with the Depository Trust Company (the “ Depositary ”) (such institution, with respect to a Warrant in its account, a “ Participant ”).

 

If the Depositary subsequently ceases to make its book-entry settlement system available for the Public Warrants, the Company may instruct the Warrant Agent regarding making other arrangements for book-entry settlement. In the event that the Public Warrants are not eligible for, or it is no longer necessary to have the Public Warrants available in, book-entry form, the Warrant Agent shall provide written instructions to the Depositary to deliver to the Warrant Agent for cancellation each book-entry Public Warrant, and the Company shall instruct the Warrant Agent to deliver to the Depositary definitive certificates in physical form evidencing such Warrants which shall be in the form annexed hereto as Exhibit A .

 

Physical certificates, if issued, shall be signed by, or bear the facsimile signature of, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary or other principal officer of the Company. In the event the person whose facsimile signature has been placed upon any Warrant shall have ceased to serve in the capacity in which such person signed the Warrant before such Warrant is issued, it may be issued with the same effect as if he or she had not ceased to be such at the date of issuance.

 

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(b)           Registered Holder . Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer of any Warrant, the Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the person in whose name such Warrant is registered in the Warrant Register (the “ Registered Holder ”) as the absolute owner of such Warrant and of each Warrant represented thereby (notwithstanding any notation of ownership or other writing on any physical certificate made by anyone other than the Company or the Warrant Agent), for the purpose of any exercise thereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary.

 

Section 2.04          Detachability of Warrants . The Common Stock and Public Warrants comprising the Units shall begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus or, if such 52nd day is not on a day, other than a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, on which banks in New York City are generally open for normal business (a “ Business Day ”), then on the immediately succeeding Business Day following such date, or earlier (the “ Detachment Date ”) with the consent of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as representative of the several underwriters, but in no event shall the Common Stock and the Public Warrants comprising the Units be separately traded until (A) the Company has filed a current report on Form 8-K with the Commission containing an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the gross proceeds of the Offering, including the proceeds received by the Company from the exercise by the underwriters of their right to purchase additional Units in the Offering (the “ Over-allotment Option ”), if the Over-allotment Option is exercised prior to the filing of the Form 8-K, and (B) the Company issues a press release and files with the Commission a current report on Form 8-K announcing when such separate trading shall begin.

 

Section 2.05          No Fractional Warrants Other Than as Part of Units . The Company shall not issue fractional Warrants other than as part of Units, each of which is comprised of one share of Common Stock and one-third of one Public Warrant. If, upon the detachment of Public Warrants from Units or otherwise, a holder of Warrants would be entitled to receive a fractional Warrant, the Company shall round down to the nearest whole number the number of Warrants to be issued to such holder.

 

Section 2.06          Private Placement Warrants .

 

(a)          The Private Placement Warrants shall be identical to the Public Warrants, except that so long as they are held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or any of their respective Permitted Transferees (as defined below) the Private Placement Warrants: (i) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, pursuant to subsection 3.03(a)(i) hereof, (ii) may not be transferred, assigned or sold until thirty (30) days after the completion by the Company of an initial Business Combination (as defined below), and (iii) shall not be redeemable by the Company; provided , however , that in the case of clause (ii), the Private Placement Warrants and any shares of Common Stock held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors any of their respective Permitted Transferees and issued upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants may be transferred by the holders thereof:

 

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(i)           to the Company’s officers, directors or advisors, any affiliates or family members of any of the Company’s officers, directors or advisors, any member(s) of the Sponsor or any affiliates of the Sponsor;

 

(ii)          in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family, to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family, or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization;

 

(iii)         in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual;

 

(iv)         in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order;

 

(v)          by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the Private Placement Warrants were originally purchased;

 

(vi)         in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination;

 

(vii)        by virtue of the laws of the state of Delaware or the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of the Sponsor;

 

(viii)       to the Anchor Investors’ affiliates, to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the Anchor Investors, or to any investment manager or investment advisor of the Anchor Investors or an affiliate of any such investment manager or investment advisor; or

 

(ix)         subsequent to the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, in the event of the Company’s liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property;

 

provided , however , that, in the case of clauses (i) through (viii), these transferees (the “ Permitted Transferees ”) must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by the transfer restrictions in this Agreement.

 

Article III.

Terms and Exercise of Warrants

 

Section 3.01          Warrant Price . Each Warrant shall, when countersigned by the Warrant Agent, entitle the Registered Holder thereof, subject to the provisions of such Warrant and of this Agreement, to purchase from the Company the number of shares of Common Stock stated therein, at the price of $11.50 per share, subject to the adjustments provided in Article IV hereof and in the last sentence of this Section 3.01 . The term “Warrant Price” as used in this Agreement shall mean the price per share at which shares of Common Stock may be purchased at the time a Warrant is exercised. The Company in its sole discretion may lower the Warrant Price at any time prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below) for a period of not less than twenty (20) Business Days; provided , that (i) the Company shall provide at least twenty (20) days’ prior written notice of such reduction to Registered Holders of the Warrants and (ii) that any such reduction shall be identical among all of the Warrants.

 

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Section 3.02          Duration of Warrants . A Warrant may be exercised only during the period (the “ Exercise Period ”) commencing on the later of: (i) the date that is thirty (30) days after the first date on which the Company completes a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Company and one or more businesses (a “ Business Combination ”), or (ii) the date that is twelve (12) months from the date of the closing of the Offering, and terminating at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the earlier to occur of: (w) the date that is five (5) years after the date on which the Company completes its Business Combination, (x) the liquidation of the Company in accordance with the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended from time to time, if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination, (y) other than with respect to the Private Placement Warrants then held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their respective Permitted Transferees, the Redemption Date (as defined below) as provided in Section 6.03 hereof or (z) the Alternative Redemption Date (as defined below) as provided in Section 6.03 hereof (the “ Expiration Date ”); provided , however , that the exercise of any Warrant shall be subject to the satisfaction of any applicable conditions, as set forth in subsection 3.03(b) below with respect to an effective registration statement. Except with respect to the right to receive the Redemption Price (as defined below) or the Alternative Redemption Price (as defined below) (other than with respect to a Private Placement Warrant then held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their respective Permitted Transferees) in the event of a redemption (as set forth in Article VI hereof), each outstanding Warrant (other than a Private Placement Warrant held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their respective Permitted Transferees in the event of a redemption) not exercised on or before the Expiration Date shall become void, and all rights thereunder and all rights in respect thereof under this Agreement shall cease at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Expiration Date. The Company in its sole discretion may extend the duration of the Warrants by delaying the Expiration Date; provided , that (1) the Company shall provide at least twenty (20) days’ prior written notice of any such extension to Registered Holders of the Warrants and (2) that any such extension shall be identical in duration among all the Warrants.

 

Section 3.03          Exercise of Warrants .

 

(a)           Payment . Subject to the provisions of the Warrant and this Agreement, a Warrant, when countersigned by the Warrant Agent, may be exercised by the Registered Holder thereof by surrendering it, at the office of the Warrant Agent, or at the office of its successor as Warrant Agent, in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, with the subscription form, as set forth in the Warrant, duly executed, and by paying in full the Warrant Price for each full share of Common Stock as to which the Warrant is exercised and any and all applicable taxes due in connection with the exercise of the Warrant, the exchange of the Warrant for the shares of Common Stock and the issuance of such shares of Common Stock, as follows:

 

(i)           in lawful money of the United States, in good certified check or good bank draft payable to the Warrant Agent;

 

(ii)          in the event of a redemption pursuant to Article VI hereof in which the Company’s board of directors (the “ Board ”) has elected to require all holders of the Warrants to exercise such Warrants on a “cashless basis,” by surrendering the Warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the “Fair Market Value”, as defined in this subsection 3.03(a)(ii) by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this subsection 3.03(a)(ii) , Section 6.02 and Section 6.04 , the “Fair Market Value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Common Stock for the ten (10) trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the Warrants pursuant to Article VI hereof;

 

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(iii)         with respect to any Private Placement Warrant, so long as such Private Placement Warrant is held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their respective Permitted Transferees, by surrendering the Warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the “Fair Market Value”, as defined in this subsection 3.03(a)(iii) , by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this subsection 3.03(a)(iii) , the “Fair Market Value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Common Stock for the ten (10) trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which notice of exercise of the Private Placement Warrant is sent to the Warrant Agent; or

 

(iv)         as provided in Section 7.04 hereof.

 

(b)           Issuance of Shares of Common Stock on Exercise . As soon as practicable after the exercise of any Warrant and the clearance of the funds in payment of the Warrant Price (if payment is pursuant to subsection 3.03(a)(i) ), the Company shall issue to the Registered Holder of such Warrant a book-entry position or certificate, as applicable, for the number of full shares of Common Stock to which he, she or it is entitled, registered in such name or names as may be directed by him, her or it, and if such Warrant shall not have been exercised in full, a new book-entry position or countersigned Warrant, as applicable, for the number of shares of Common Stock as to which such Warrant shall not have been exercised. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not be obligated to deliver any shares of Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of a Warrant and shall have no obligation to settle such Warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the Public Warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company’s satisfying its obligations under Section 7.04 . No Warrant shall be exercisable and the Company shall not be obligated to issue shares of Common Stock upon exercise of a Warrant unless the Common Stock issuable upon such Warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt from registration or qualification under the securities laws of the state of residence of the Registered Holder of the Warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a Warrant, the holder of such Warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such Warrant and such Warrant may have no value and expire worthless, in which case the purchaser of a Unit containing such Public Warrants shall have paid the full purchase price for the Unit solely for the shares of Common Stock underlying such Unit. The Company may require holders of Public Warrants to settle the Warrant on a “cashless basis” pursuant to Section 7.04 . If, by reason of any exercise of warrants on a “cashless basis”, the holder of any Warrant would be entitled, upon the exercise of such Warrant, to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company shall round down to the nearest whole number, the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to such holder.

 

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(c)           Valid Issuance . All shares of Common Stock issued upon the proper exercise of a Warrant in conformity with this Agreement shall be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

(d)           Date of Issuance . Each person in whose name any book-entry position or certificate, as applicable, for shares of Common Stock is issued shall for all purposes be deemed to have become the holder of record of such shares of Common Stock on the date on which the Warrant, or book-entry position representing such Warrant, was surrendered and payment of the Warrant Price was made, irrespective of the date of delivery of such certificate in the case of a certificated Warrant, except that, if the date of such surrender and payment is a date when the share transfer books of the Company or book-entry system of the Warrant Agent are closed, such person shall be deemed to have become the holder of such shares of Common Stock at the close of business on the next succeeding date on which the share transfer books or book-entry system are open.

 

(e)           Maximum Percentage . A holder of a Warrant may notify the Company in writing in the event it elects to be subject to the provisions contained in this subsection 3.03(e) ; however, no holder of a Warrant shall be subject to this subsection 3.03(e) unless he, she or it makes such election. If the election is made by a holder, the Warrant Agent shall not effect the exercise of the holder’s Warrant, and such holder shall not have the right to exercise such Warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person and any of its affiliates or any other person subject to aggregation with such person for purposes of the “beneficial ownership” test under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ”), or any “group” (within the meaning of Section 13 of the Exchange Act) of which such person is or may be deemed to be a part, would beneficially own (within the meaning of Section 13 of the Exchange Act) (or to the extent that for any reason the equivalent calculation under Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder would result in a higher ownership percentage, such higher percentage would be) in excess of 9.8% (as specified by the holder) (the “ Maximum Percentage ”) of the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. For purposes of the foregoing sentence, the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates or any such other person or group shall include the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant with respect to which the determination of such sentence is being made, but shall exclude shares of Common Stock that would be issuable upon (x) exercise of the remaining, unexercised portion of the Warrant beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates and (y) exercise or conversion of the unexercised or unconverted portion of any other securities of the Company beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates (including, without limitation, any convertible notes or convertible preferred stock or warrants) subject to a limitation on conversion or exercise analogous to the limitation contained herein. Except as set forth in the preceding sentence, for purposes of this paragraph, beneficial ownership shall be calculated in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act. For purposes of the Warrant, in determining the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock, the holder may rely on the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock as reflected in (1) the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, current report on Form 8-K or other public filing with the Commission as the case may be, (2) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (3) any other notice by the Company or the Transfer Agent setting forth the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding. For any reason at any time, upon the written request of the holder of the Warrant, the Company shall, within two (2) Business Days, confirm orally and in writing to such holder the number of shares of Common Stock then outstanding. In any case, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock shall be determined after giving effect to the conversion or exercise of equity securities of the Company by the holder and its affiliates since the date as of which such number of outstanding shares of Common Stock was reported. By written notice to the Company, the holder of a Warrant may from time to time increase or decrease the Maximum Percentage applicable to such holder to any other percentage specified in such notice; provided , however , that any such increase shall not be effective until the 61st day after such notice is delivered to the Company.

 

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Article IV.

Adjustments

 

Section 4.01          Stock Dividends .

 

(a)           Split-Ups . If after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of Section 4.06 below, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Warrant shall be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of the Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Common Stock at a price less than the “Fair Market Value” (as defined below) shall be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for the Common Stock) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Common Stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the Fair Market Value. For purposes of this subsection 4.01(a) , (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock, in determining the price payable for Common Stock, there shall be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) “Fair Market Value” means the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

 

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(b)           Extraordinary Dividends . If the Company, at any time while the Warrants are outstanding and unexpired, shall pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of the Common Stock on account of such shares of Common Stock (or other shares of the Company’s capital stock into which the Warrants are convertible), other than (i) as described in subsection 4.01(a) above, (ii) Ordinary Cash Dividends (as defined below), (iii) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of the Common Stock in connection with a proposed initial Business Combination, (iv) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Common Stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the shares of Common Stock included in the Units sold in the Offering if the Company does not complete the Business Combination within the time period set forth in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or (v) in connection with the redemption of the shares of Common Stock included in the Units sold in the Offering upon the failure of the Company to complete its initial Business Combination and any subsequent distribution of its assets upon its liquidation (any such non-excluded event being referred to herein as an “ Extraordinary Dividend ”), then the Warrant Price shall be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such Extraordinary Dividend, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value (as determined by the Board, in good faith) of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Common Stock in respect of such Extraordinary Dividend. For purposes of this subsection 4.01(b) , “ Ordinary Cash Dividends ” means any cash dividend or cash distribution which, when combined on a per share basis, with the per share amounts of all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Common Stock during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any of the events referred to in other subsections of this Article IV and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the Warrant Price or to the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Warrant) does not exceed $0.50 (being 5% of the offering price of the Units in the Offering).

 

Section 4.02          Aggregation of Shares . If after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of Section 4.06 hereof, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Warrant shall be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Common Stock.

 

Section 4.03          Adjustments in Exercise Price .

 

(a)          Whenever the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants is adjusted, as provided in subsection 4.01(a) or Section 4.02 above, the Warrant Price shall be adjusted (to the nearest cent) by multiplying such Warrant Price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which shall be the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which shall be the number of shares of Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

 

(b)          If, in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination, the Company issues additional shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock for capital raising purposes at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Common Stock, with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Board (and in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any shares of Common Stock issued prior to the Offering and held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “ Newly Issued Price ”), the Warrant Price shall be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the Newly Issued Price.

 

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Section 4.04          Replacement of Securities upon Reorganization, etc. In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (other than a change under subsections 4.01(a) or 4.01(b) or Section 4.02 hereof or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another entity or conversion of the Company as another entity (other than a consolidation or merger in which the Company is the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of the Company as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which the Company is dissolved, the holders of the Warrants shall thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the Warrants and in lieu of the shares of Common Stock of the Company immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the Warrants would have received if such holder had exercised his, her or its Warrant(s) immediately prior to such event (the “ Alternative Issuance ”); provided , however , that (i) if the holders of the Common Stock were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets constituting the Alternative Issuance for which each Warrant shall become exercisable shall be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by the holders of the Common Stock in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and (ii) if a tender, exchange or redemption offer shall have been made to and accepted by the holders of the Common Stock (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the Company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the Company as provided for in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the repurchase of shares of Common Stock by the Company if a proposed initial Business Combination is presented to the stockholders of the Company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act (or any successor rule)) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act (or any successor rule)) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act (or any successor rule)) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, the holder of a Warrant shall be entitled to receive as the Alternative Issuance, the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such Warrant holder had exercised the Warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Common Stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in this Article IV ; provided , further , that if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of the Common Stock in the applicable event is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the Registered Holder properly exercises the Warrant within thirty (30) days following the public disclosure of the consummation of such applicable event by the Company pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission, the Warrant Price shall be reduced by an amount (in dollars) equal to the difference of (i) the Warrant Price in effect prior to such reduction minus (ii) (A) the Per Share Consideration (as defined below) (but in no event less than zero) minus (B) the Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined below). The “ Black-Scholes Warrant Value ” means the value of a Warrant immediately prior to the consummation of the applicable event based on the Black-Scholes Warrant Model for a Capped American Call on Bloomberg Financial Markets (“ Bloomberg ”). For purposes of calculating such amount, (1)  Article VI of this Agreement shall be taken into account, (2) the price of each share of Common Stock shall be the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the effective date of the applicable event, (3) the assumed volatility shall be the ninety (90)-day volatility obtained from the HVT function on Bloomberg determined as of the trading day immediately prior to the day of the announcement of the applicable event, and (4) the assumed risk-free interest rate shall correspond to the U.S. Treasury rate for a period equal to the remaining term of the Warrant. “ Per Share Consideration ” means (i) if the consideration paid to holders of the Common Stock consists exclusively of cash, the amount of such cash per share of Common Stock, and (ii) in all other cases, the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the effective date of the applicable event. If any reclassification or reorganization also results in a change in shares of Common Stock covered by subsection 4.01(a) , then such adjustment shall be made pursuant to subsection 4.01(a) or Sections 4.02 , 4.03 and this Section 4.04 . The provisions of this Section 4.04 shall similarly apply to successive reclassifications, reorganizations, mergers or consolidations, sales or other transfers. In no event will the Warrant Price be reduced to less than the par value per share issuable upon exercise of the Warrant.

 

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Section 4.05          Notices of Changes in Warrant . Upon every adjustment of the Warrant Price or the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of a Warrant, the Company shall give written notice thereof to the Warrant Agent, which notice shall state the Warrant Price resulting from such adjustment and the increase or decrease, if any, in the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable at such price upon the exercise of a Warrant, setting forth in reasonable detail the method of calculation and the facts upon which such calculation is based. Upon the occurrence of any event specified in Sections 4.01 , 4.02 , 4.03 or 4.04 , the Company shall give written notice of the occurrence of such event to each holder of a Warrant, at the last address set forth for such holder in the Warrant Register, of the record date or the effective date of the event. Failure to give such notice, or any defect therein, shall not affect the legality or validity of such event.

 

Section 4.06          No Fractional Shares . Notwithstanding any provision contained in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company shall not issue fractional shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of Warrants. If, by reason of any adjustment made pursuant to this Article IV , the holder of any Warrant would be entitled, upon the exercise of such Warrant, to receive a fractional interest in a share, the Company shall, upon such exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to such holder.

 

Section 4.07          Form of Warrant . The form of Warrant need not be changed because of any adjustment pursuant to this Article IV , and Warrants issued after such adjustment may state the same Warrant Price and the same number of shares of Common Stock as is stated in the Warrants initially issued pursuant to this Agreement; provided , however , that the Company may at any time in its sole discretion make any change in the form of Warrant that the Company may deem appropriate and that does not affect the substance thereof, and any Warrant thereafter issued or countersigned, whether in exchange or substitution for an outstanding Warrant or otherwise, may be in the form as so changed.

 

Section 4.08          Other Events . In case any event shall occur affecting the Company as to which none of the provisions of the preceding subsections of this Article IV are strictly applicable, but which would require an adjustment to the terms of the Warrants in order to (i) avoid an adverse impact on the Warrants and (ii) effectuate the intent and purpose of this Article IV , then, in each such case, the Company shall appoint a firm of independent public accountants, investment banking or other appraisal firm of recognized national standing, which shall give its opinion as to whether or not any adjustment to the rights represented by the Warrants is necessary to effectuate the intent and purpose of this Article IV and, if they determine that an adjustment is necessary, the terms of such adjustment; provided , however , that under no circumstances shall the Warrants be adjusted pursuant to this Section 4.08 as a result of any issuance of securities in connection with a Business Combination. The Company shall adjust the terms of the Warrants in a manner that is consistent with any adjustment recommended in such opinion.

 

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Article V.

Transfer and Exchange of Warrants

 

Section 5.01          Registration of Transfer . The Warrant Agent shall register the transfer, from time to time, of any outstanding Warrant upon the Warrant Register, upon surrender of such Warrant for transfer, in the case of certificated warrants, properly endorsed with signatures properly guaranteed and accompanied by appropriate instructions for transfer. Upon any such transfer, a new Warrant representing an equal aggregate number of Warrants shall be issued and the old Warrant shall be cancelled by the Warrant Agent. In the case of certificated warrants, the Warrants so cancelled shall be delivered by the Warrant Agent to the Company from time to time upon request.

 

Section 5.02          Procedure for Surrender of Warrants . Warrants may be surrendered to the Warrant Agent, together with a written request for exchange or transfer, and thereupon the Warrant Agent shall issue in exchange therefor one or more new Warrants as requested by the Registered Holder of the Warrants so surrendered, representing an equal aggregate number of Warrants; provided , however , that in the event that a Warrant surrendered for transfer bears a restrictive legend (as in the case of the Private Placement Warrants), the Warrant Agent shall not cancel such Warrant and issue new Warrants in exchange thereof until the Warrant Agent has received an opinion of counsel for the Company stating that such transfer may be made and indicating whether the new Warrants must also bear a restrictive legend.

 

Section 5.03          Fractional Warrants . The Warrant Agent shall not be required to effect any registration of transfer or exchange which shall result in the issuance of a warrant certificate or book-entry position for a fraction of a warrant, except as part of the Units.

 

Section 5.04          Service Charges . No service charge shall be made for any exchange or registration of transfer of Warrants.

 

Section 5.05          Warrant Execution and Countersignature . The Warrant Agent is hereby authorized to countersign and to deliver, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Warrants required to be issued pursuant to the provisions of this Article V , and the Company, whenever required by the Warrant Agent, shall supply the Warrant Agent with Warrants duly executed on behalf of the Company for such purpose.

 

Section 5.06          Transfer of Warrants . Prior to the Detachment Date, the Public Warrants may be transferred or exchanged only together with the Unit in which such Warrant is included, and only for the purpose of effecting, or in conjunction with, a transfer or exchange of such Unit. Furthermore, each transfer of a Unit on the register relating to such Units shall operate also to transfer the Warrants included in such Unit. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this Section 5.06 shall have no effect on any transfer of Warrants on and after the Detachment Date.

 

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Article VI.

Redemption

 

Section 6.01          Redemption of Warrants for Cash . Subject to Sections 6.05 and 6.06 hereof, not less than all of the outstanding Warrants may be redeemed, at the option of the Company, at any time while they are exercisable and prior to their expiration, at the office of the Warrant Agent, upon notice to the Registered Holders of the Warrants, as described in Section 6.03 below, at the price of $0.01 per Warrant (the “ Redemption Price ”); provided that the last sales price of the Common Stock reported has been at least $18.00 per share (subject to adjustment in compliance with Article IV hereof), on each of twenty (20) trading days within the thirty (30) trading-day period ending on the third Business Day prior to the date on which notice of the redemption is given and provided that there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and a current prospectus relating thereto, available throughout the 30-day Redemption Period (as defined in Section 6.02 below) or the Company has elected to require the exercise of the Warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to subsection 3.03(a) ; provided , however , that if and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise such redemption right if the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or the Company is unable to effect such registration or qualification.

 

Section 6.02          Redemption of Warrants for Common Stock . Subject to Sections 6.05 and 6.06 hereof, not less than all of the outstanding Warrants may be redeemed, at the option of the Company, commencing ninety (90) days after they are first exercisable and prior to their expiration, at the office of the Warrant Agent, upon notice to the Registered Holders of the Warrants, as described in Section 6.03 below, at a price equal to a number of shares of Common Stock determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date (calculated for purposes of the table as the period to expiration of the Warrants) and the “Fair Market Value” (as such term is defined in Section 3.03(a)(ii) (the “Alternative Redemption Price”), provided that the last sales price of the Common Stock reported has been at least $10.00 per share (subject to adjustment in compliance with Article IV hereof), on the trading day prior to the date on which notice of the redemption is given and provided that there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and a current prospectus relating thereto, available throughout the 30-day Redemption Period (as defined in Section 6.03 below) or the Company has elected to require the exercise of the Warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to Section 3.03(a)(ii).

 

Redemption Date   Fair Market Value of Class A Common Stock  
(period to expiration of warrants)   $10.00     $11.00     $12.00     $13.00     $14.00     $15.00     $16.00     $17.00     $18.00  
57 months     0.257       0.277       0.294       0.310       0.324       0.337       0.348       0.358       0.365  
54 months     0.252       0.272       0.291       0.307       0.322       0.335       0.347       0.357       0.365  
51 months     0.246       0.268       0.287       0.304       0.320       0.333       0.346       0.357       0.365  
48 months     0.241       0.263       0.283       0.301       0.317       0.332       0.344       0.356       0.365  
45 months     0.235       0.258       0.279       0.298       0.315       0.330       0.343       0.356       0.365  
42 months     0.228       0.252       0.274       0.294       0.312       0.328       0.342       0.355       0.364  
39 months     0.221       0.246       0.269       0.290       0.309       0.325       0.340       0.354       0.364  
36 months     0.213       0.239       0.263       0.285       0.305       0.323       0.339       0.353       0.364  
33 months     0.205       0.232       0.257       0.280       0.301       0.320       0.337       0.352       0.364  
30 months     0.196       0.224       0.250       0.274       0.297       0.316       0.335       0.351       0.364  
27 months     0.185       0.214       0.242       0.268       0.291       0.313       0.332       0.350       0.364  
24 months     0.173       0.204       0.233       0.260       0.285       0.308       0.329       0.348       0.364  
21 months     0.161       0.193       0.223       0.252       0.279       0.304       0.326       0.347       0.364  
18 months     0.146       0.179       0.211       0.242       0.271       0.298       0.322       0.345       0.363  
15 months     0.130       0.164       0.197       0.230       0.262       0.291       0.317       0.342       0.363  
12 months     0.111       0.146       0.181       0.216       0.250       0.282       0.312       0.339       0.363  
9 months     0.090       0.125       0.162       0.199       0.237       0.272       0.305       0.336       0.362  
6 months     0.065       0.099       0.137       0.178       0.219       0.259       0.296       0.331       0.362  
3 months     0.034       0.065       0.104       0.150       0.197       0.243       0.286       0.326       0.361  
0 months                 0.042       0.115       0.179       0.233       0.281       0.323       0.361  

 

If the exact Fair Market Value and Redemption Date (as defined below) are between two values in the table above or the Redemption Date is between two redemption dates in the table above, the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued for each Warrant redeemed will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower Fair Market Values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365-day year.

 

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Section 6.03          Date Fixed for, and Notice of, Redemption . In the event that the Company elects to redeem all of the Warrants pursuant to Section 6.01 , the Company shall fix a date for the redemption (the “ Redemption Date ”). In the event that the Company elects to redeem all of the Warrants pursuant to Section 6.02 , the Company shall fix a date for redemption (the “ Alternative Redemption Date ”). Notice of redemption shall be mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by the Company not less than thirty (30) days prior to the Redemption Date (the “ 30-day Redemption Period ”) to the Registered Holders of the Public Warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they shall appear on the registration books. Any notice mailed in the manner herein provided shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly given whether or not the Registered Holder received such notice.

 

Section 6.04          Exercise After Notice of Redemption . The Warrants may be exercised, for cash (or on a “cashless basis” in accordance with subsection 3.03(a)(ii) of this Agreement) at any time after notice of redemption shall have been given by the Company pursuant to Section 6.03 hereof and prior to the Redemption Date. In the event that the Company determines to require all holders of Warrants to exercise their Warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to subsection 3.03(a)(ii) , the notice of redemption shall contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Common Stock to be received upon exercise of the Warrants, including the “Fair Market Value” (as such term is defined in subsection 3.03(a)(ii) hereof) in such case. On and after the Redemption Date, the record holder of the Warrants shall have no further rights except to receive, upon surrender of the Warrants, the Redemption Price or the Alternative Redemption Price, as applicable.

 

Section 6.05          Effect on Private Placement Warrants .

 

(a)          The Company agrees that the redemption rights provided in Sections 6.01 shall not apply to the Private Placement Warrants if at the time of the redemption such Private Placement Warrants continue to be held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their Permitted Transferees. However, once such Private Placement Warrants are transferred (other than to Permitted Transferees under Section 2.06 ), the Company may redeem the Private Placement Warrants pursuant to Sections 6.01 ; provided that the criteria for redemption are met, including the opportunity of the holder of such Private Placement Warrants to exercise the Private Placement Warrants prior to redemption pursuant to Sections 6.04 . Private Placement Warrants that are transferred to persons other than Permitted Transferees shall upon such transfer cease to be Private Placement Warrants and shall become Public Warrants under this Agreement.

 

(b)          The Company agrees that the redemption rights provided in Sections 6.02 shall apply to the Private Placement Warrants pari passu with the Public Warrants if at the time of the redemption such Private Placement Warrants continue to be held by the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors or their Permitted Transferees. Once such Private Placement Warrants are transferred (other than to Permitted Transferees under Section 2.06 ), the Company may redeem the Private Placement Warrants pursuant to Sections 6.02 ; if the criteria for redemption are met, including the opportunity of the holder of such Private Placement Warrants to exercise the Private Placement Warrants prior to redemption pursuant to Sections 6.04 .

 

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Section 6.06          Public Warrants held by the Company’s Officers or Directors . The Company agrees that if Public Warrants are held by any of the Company’s officers or directors, the Public Warrants held by such officers and directors will be subject to the redemption rights provided in Section 6.02, except that such officers and directors shall receive only “Fair Market Value” (“Fair Market Value” in this Section 6.06 shall mean the last sale price of the Public Warrants on the Alternative Redemption Date) for such Public Warrants so redeemed.

 

Article VII.

Other Provisions Relating to Rights of Holders of Warrants

 

Section 7.01          No Rights as Stockholder . A Warrant does not entitle the Registered Holder thereof to any of the rights of a stockholder of the Company, including, without limitation, the right to receive dividends, or other distributions, exercise any preemptive rights to vote or to consent or to receive notice as a stockholder in respect of the meetings of stockholders or the election of directors of the Company or any other matter.

 

Section 7.02          Lost, Stolen, Mutilated, or Destroyed Warrants . If any Warrant is lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed, the Company and the Warrant Agent may on such terms as to indemnity or otherwise as they may in their discretion impose (which shall, in the case of a mutilated Warrant, include the surrender thereof), issue a new Warrant of like denomination, tenor, and date as the Warrant so lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed. Any such new Warrant shall constitute a substitute contractual obligation of the Company, whether or not the allegedly lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed Warrant shall be at any time enforceable by anyone.

 

Section 7.03          Reservation of Common Stock . The Company shall at all times reserve and keep available a number of its authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock that shall be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Warrants issued pursuant to this Agreement.

 

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Section 7.04          Registration of Common Stock; Cashless Exercise at Company’s Option .

 

(a)           Registration of the Common Stock . The Company agrees that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) Business Days after the closing of its initial Business Combination, it shall use its reasonable best efforts to file with the Commission a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the Warrants in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. If any such registration statement has not been declared effective by the 60th Business Day following the closing of the Business Combination, holders of the Warrants shall have the right, during the period beginning on the 61st Business Day after the closing of the Business Combination and ending upon such registration statement being declared effective by the Commission, and during any other period when the Company shall fail to have maintained an effective registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, to exercise such Warrants on a “cashless basis,” by exchanging the Warrants (in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act (or any successor rule) or another exemption) for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the “Fair Market Value” (as defined below) by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this subsection 7.04(a) , “Fair Market Value” shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date that notice of exercise is received by the Warrant Agent from the holder of such Warrants or its securities broker or intermediary. The date that notice of cashless exercise is received by the Warrant Agent shall be conclusively determined by the Warrant Agent. In connection with the “cashless exercise” of a Public Warrant, the Company shall, upon request, provide the Warrant Agent with an opinion of counsel for the Company (which shall be an outside law firm with securities law experience) stating that (i) the exercise of the Warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with this subsection 7.04(a) is not required to be registered under the Securities Act and (ii) the shares of Common Stock issued upon such exercise shall be freely tradable under United States federal securities laws by anyone who is not an affiliate (as such term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act (or any successor rule)) of the Company and, accordingly, shall not be required to bear a restrictive legend. Except as provided in subsection 7.04(b) , for the avoidance of any doubt, unless and until all of the Warrants have been exercised, the Company shall continue to be obligated to comply with its registration obligations under the first three sentences of this subsection 7.04(a) .

 

(b)           Cashless Exercise at Company’s Option . If the Common Stock is at the time of any exercise of a Warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act (or any successor rule), the Company may, at its option, (i) require holders of Public Warrants who exercise Public Warrants to exercise such Public Warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act (or any successor rule) as described in subsection 7.04(a) and (ii) in the event the Company so elects, the Company shall not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary. If the Company does not elect at the time of exercise to require a holder of Public Warrants who exercises Public Warrants to exercise such Public Warrants on a “cashless basis,” it agrees to use its best efforts to register or qualify for sale the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrant under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the Public Warrants were initially offered by the Company of the exercising Public Warrant holder to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

Article VIII.

Concerning the Warrant Agent and Other Matters

 

Section 8.01          Payment of Taxes . The Company shall from time to time promptly pay all taxes and charges that may be imposed upon the Company or the Warrant Agent in respect of the issuance or delivery of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of the Warrants, but the Company shall not be obligated to pay any transfer taxes in respect of the Warrants or such shares of Common Stock.

 

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Section 8.02          Resignation, Consolidation, or Merger of Warrant Agent .

 

(a)           Appointment of Successor Warrant Agent . The Warrant Agent, or any successor to it hereafter appointed, may resign its duties and be discharged from all further duties and liabilities hereunder after giving sixty (60) days’ notice in writing to the Company. If the office of the Warrant Agent becomes vacant by resignation or incapacity to act or otherwise, the Company shall appoint in writing a successor Warrant Agent in place of the Warrant Agent. If the Company shall fail to make such appointment within a period of thirty (30) days after it has been notified in writing of such resignation or incapacity by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of a Warrant (who shall, with such notice, submit his, her or its Warrant for inspection by the Company), then the holder of any Warrant may apply to the Supreme Court of the State of New York for the County of New York for the appointment of a successor Warrant Agent at the Company’s cost. Any successor Warrant Agent, whether appointed by the Company or by such court, shall be a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, in good standing and having its principal office in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, and authorized under such laws to exercise corporate trust powers and subject to supervision or examination by federal or state authority. After appointment, any successor Warrant Agent shall be vested with all the authority, powers, rights, immunities, duties, and obligations of its predecessor Warrant Agent with like effect as if originally named as Warrant Agent hereunder, without any further act or deed; but if for any reason it becomes necessary or appropriate, the predecessor Warrant Agent shall execute and deliver, at the expense of the Company, an instrument transferring to such successor Warrant Agent all the authority, powers, and rights of such predecessor Warrant Agent hereunder; and upon request of any successor Warrant Agent the Company shall make, execute, acknowledge, and deliver any and all instruments in writing for more fully and effectually vesting in and confirming to such successor Warrant Agent all such authority, powers, rights, immunities, duties, and obligations.

 

(b)           Notice of Successor Warrant Agent . In the event a successor Warrant Agent shall be appointed, the Company shall give notice thereof to the predecessor Warrant Agent and the Transfer Agent for the Common Stock not later than the effective date of any such appointment.

 

(c)           Merger or Consolidation of Warrant Agent . Any corporation into which the Warrant Agent may be merged or with which it may be consolidated or any corporation resulting from any merger or consolidation to which the Warrant Agent shall be a party shall be the successor Warrant Agent under this Agreement without any further act.

 

Section 8.03          Expenses of Warrant Agent .

 

(a)           Remuneration . The Company agrees to pay the Warrant Agent reasonable remuneration for its services as such Warrant Agent hereunder and shall, pursuant to its obligations under this Agreement, reimburse the Warrant Agent upon demand for all expenditures that the Warrant Agent may reasonably incur in the execution of its duties hereunder.

 

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(b)           Further Assurances . The Company agrees to perform, execute, acknowledge, and deliver or cause to be performed, executed, acknowledged, and delivered all such further and other acts, instruments, and assurances as may reasonably be required by the Warrant Agent for the carrying out or performing of the provisions of this Agreement.

 

Section 8.04          Liability of Warrant Agent .

 

(a)           Reliance on Company Statement . Whenever in the performance of its duties under this Agreement, the Warrant Agent shall deem it necessary or desirable that any fact or matter be proved or established by the Company prior to taking or suffering any action hereunder, such fact or matter (unless other evidence in respect thereof be herein specifically prescribed) may be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary or Chairman of the Board of the Company and delivered to the Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent may rely upon such statement for any action taken or suffered in good faith by it pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.

 

(b)           Indemnity . The Warrant Agent shall be liable hereunder only for its own gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith (as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final and non-appealable judgment). The Company agrees to indemnify the Warrant Agent, its employees, officers and directors (each, an “ Indemnified Person” ), and save each Indemnified Person harmless against any and all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees, for anything done or omitted by the such Indemnified Person in the execution of this Agreement, except as a result of the Indemnified Person’s gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith (as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final and non-appealable judgment).

 

(c)           Exclusions . The Warrant Agent shall have no responsibility with respect to the validity of this Agreement or with respect to the validity or execution of any Warrant (except its countersignature thereof). The Warrant Agent shall not be responsible for any breach by the Company of any covenant or condition contained in this Agreement or in any Warrant. The Warrant Agent shall not be responsible to make any adjustments required under the provisions of Article IV hereof or responsible for the manner, method, or amount of any such adjustment or the ascertaining of the existence of facts that would require any such adjustment; nor shall it by any act hereunder be deemed to make any representation or warranty as to the authorization or reservation of any shares of Common Stock to be issued pursuant to this Agreement or any Warrant or as to whether any shares of Common Stock shall, when issued, be valid and fully paid and non-assessable.

 

Section 8.05          Acceptance of Agency . The Warrant Agent hereby accepts the agency established by this Agreement and agrees to perform the same upon the terms and conditions herein set forth and among other things, shall account promptly to the Company with respect to Warrants exercised and concurrently account for, and pay to the Company, all monies received by the Warrant Agent for the purchase of shares of Common Stock through the exercise of the Warrants.

 

Section 8.06          Waiver . The Warrant Agent has no right of set-off or any other right, title, interest or claim of any kind (“ Claim ”) in, or to any distribution of, the Trust Account (as defined in that certain Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and between the Company and the Warrant Agent as trustee thereunder) and hereby agrees not to seek recourse, reimbursement, payment or satisfaction for any Claim against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever. The Warrant Agent hereby waives any and all Claims against the Trust Account and any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account.

 

  18  

 

 

Article IX.

Miscellaneous Provisions

 

Section 9.01          Successors . All the covenants and provisions of this Agreement by or for the benefit of the Company or the Warrant Agent shall bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns.

 

Section 9.02          Notices . Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of any Warrant to or on the Company shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Company with the Warrant Agent), as follows:

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

50 West Street, Suite 40C

New York, NY 10006

Attention: Robert S. Mancini

Chief Executive Officer

 

Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the holder of any Warrant or by the Company to or on the Warrant Agent shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Warrant Agent with the Company), as follows:

 

American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC

6201 15 th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11219

Attention: Felix Orihuela

   

With a copy to:

American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC

48 Wall Street, 22 nd Floor

New York, NY 10005

Attention: Legal Department

Email: legalteamAST@astfinancial.com

  

Section 9.03          Applicable Law . The validity, interpretation, and performance of this Agreement and of the Warrants shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of or relating in any way to this Agreement shall 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 irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

 

Section 9.04          Persons Having Rights under this Agreement . Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to confer upon, or give to, any person or corporation other than the parties hereto and the Registered Holders of the Warrants any right, remedy, or claim under or by reason of this Agreement or of any covenant, condition, stipulation, promise, or agreement hereof. All covenants, conditions, stipulations, promises, and agreements contained in this Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the parties hereto and their successors and assigns and of the Registered Holders of the Warrants.

 

  19  

 

 

Section 9.05          Further Assurances . The Company agrees to perform, execute, acknowledge, and deliver or cause to be performed, executed, acknowledged, and delivered all such further and other acts, instruments, and assurances as may reasonably be required by the Warrant Agent for the carrying out or performing of the provisions of this Agreement.

 

Section 9.06          Examination of the Warrant Agreement . A copy of this Agreement shall be available at all reasonable times at the office of the Warrant Agent in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, for inspection by the Registered Holder of any Warrant. The Warrant Agent may require any such holder to submit such holder’s Warrant for inspection by the Warrant Agent.

 

Section 9.07          Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in any number of original or facsimile counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument.

 

Section 9.08          Effect of Headings . The section headings herein are for convenience only and are not part of this Agreement and shall not affect the interpretation thereof.

 

Section 9.09          Amendments . This Agreement may be amended by the parties hereto without the consent of any Registered Holder for the purpose of curing any ambiguity, or curing, correcting or supplementing any defective provision contained herein or adding or changing any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under this Agreement as the parties may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem shall not adversely affect the interest of the Registered Holders. All other modifications or amendments, including any amendment to increase the Warrant Price or shorten the Exercise Period and any amendment to the terms of only the Private Placement Warrants, shall require the vote or written consent of the Registered Holders of 50% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of this Agreement with respect to the Private Placement Warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company may lower the Warrant Price or extend the duration of the Exercise Period pursuant to Sections 3.01 and 3.02 , respectively, without the consent of the Registered Holders.

 

Section 9.10          Severability . This Agreement shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity or unenforceability of any term or provision hereof shall not affect the validity or enforceability of this Agreement or of any other term or provision hereof. Furthermore, in lieu of any such invalid or unenforceable term or provision, the parties hereto intend that there shall be added as a part of this Agreement a provision as similar in terms to such invalid or unenforceable provision as may be possible and be valid and enforceable.

 

Exhibit A Form of Warrant Certificate

 

Exhibit B Legend—Private Placement Warrants

 

  19  

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first above written.

 

  RMG ACQUISITION CORP.
     
  By:  
  Name: Robert S. Mancini
  Title: Chief Executive Officer
     
  AMERICAN STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY, LLC,
  as Warrant Agent
     
  By:  
  Name:  
  Title:  

 

[Signature Page to Warrant Agreement]

 

     

 

 

Exhibit A

 

[Form of Warrant Certificate]

 

[FACE]

 

Number

 

Warrants

 

THIS WARRANT SHALL BE VOID IF NOT EXERCISED PRIOR TO

THE EXPIRATION OF THE EXERCISE PERIOD PROVIDED FOR

IN THE WARRANT AGREEMENT DESCRIBED BELOW

 

RMG ACQUISITION CORP.

Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Delaware

 

CUSIP [  ·  ]

 

Warrant Certificate

 

THIS WARRANT CERTIFICATE CERTIFIES THAT [  ·  ], or registered assigns, is the registered holder of [  ·  ] warrant(s) evidenced hereby (the “ Warrants ” and each, a “ Warrant ”) to purchase shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 per value per share (“ Common Stock ”), of RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”). Each Warrant entitles the holder, upon exercise during the period set forth in the Warrant Agreement referred to below, to receive from the Company that number of fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock as set forth below, at the exercise price (the “ Exercise Price ”) as determined pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, payable in lawful money (or through “cashless exercise” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) of the United States of America upon surrender of this Warrant Certificate and payment of the Exercise Price at the office or agency of the Warrant Agent referred to below, subject to the conditions set forth herein and in the Warrant Agreement. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Each Warrant is initially exercisable for one fully paid and non-assessable share of Common Stock. The number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the Warrant Agreement.

 

The initial Exercise Price per share of Common Stock for any Warrant is equal to $11.50 per share. The Exercise Price is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Subject to the conditions set forth in the Warrant Agreement, the Warrants may be exercised only during the Exercise Period and to the extent not exercised by the end of such Exercise Period, such Warrants shall become void.

 

  A- 1  

 

 

Reference is hereby made to the further provisions of this Warrant Certificate set forth on the reverse hereof and such further provisions shall for all purposes have the same effect as though fully set forth at this place.

 

This Warrant Certificate shall not be valid unless countersigned by the Warrant Agent, as such term is used in the Warrant Agreement.

 

This Warrant Certificate shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflicts of laws principles thereof.

 

  A- 2  

 

 

  RMG ACQUISITION CORP.
     
  By:  
  Name: Robert S. Mancini
  Title: Chief Executive Officer
     
  AMERICAN STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY, LLC,
  as Warrant Agent
     
  By:  
  Name:  
  Title:  

 

  A- 3  

 

 

[Form of Warrant Certificate]

 

[Reverse]

 

The Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate are part of a duly authorized issue of Warrants entitling the holder on exercise to receive [  ·  ] shares of Common Stock and are issued or to be issued pursuant to a Warrant Agreement dated as of [  ·  ], 2019 (the “ Warrant Agreement ”), duly executed and delivered by the Company to American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, a New York limited liability trust company, as warrant agent (the “ Warrant Agent ”), which Warrant Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference in and made a part of this instrument and is hereby referred to for a description of the rights, limitation of rights, obligations, duties and immunities thereunder of the Warrant Agent, the Company and the holders (the words “holders” or “holder” meaning the Registered Holders or Registered Holder) of the Warrants. A copy of the Warrant Agreement may be obtained by the holder hereof upon written request to the Company. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Warrants may be exercised at any time during the Exercise Period set forth in the Warrant Agreement. The holder of Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate may exercise them by surrendering this Warrant Certificate, with the form of election to purchase set forth hereon properly completed and executed, together with payment of the Exercise Price as specified in the Warrant Agreement (or through “cashless exercise” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent. In the event that upon any exercise of Warrants evidenced hereby the number of Warrants exercised shall be less than the total number of Warrants evidenced hereby, there shall be issued to the holder hereof or his, her or its assignee, a new Warrant Certificate evidencing the number of Warrants not exercised.

 

Notwithstanding anything else in this Warrant Certificate or the Warrant Agreement, no Warrant may be exercised unless at the time of exercise (i) a registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock to be issued upon exercise is effective under the Securities Act and (ii) a prospectus thereunder relating to the shares of Common Stock is current, except through “cashless exercise” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement.

 

The Warrant Agreement provides that upon the occurrence of certain events the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants set forth on the face hereof may, subject to certain conditions, be adjusted. If, upon exercise of a Warrant, the holder thereof would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company shall, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to the holder of the Warrant.

 

Warrant Certificates, when surrendered at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent by the Registered Holder thereof in person or by legal representative or attorney duly authorized in writing, may be exchanged, in the manner and subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, but without payment of any service charge, for another Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants.

 

  A- 4  

 

 

Upon due presentation for registration of transfer of this Warrant Certificate at the office of the Warrant Agent a new Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor and evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants shall be issued to the transferee(s) in exchange for this Warrant Certificate, subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, without charge except for any tax or other governmental charge imposed in connection therewith.

 

The Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the Registered Holder(s) hereof as the absolute owner(s) of this Warrant Certificate (notwithstanding any notation of ownership or other writing hereon made by anyone), for the purpose of any exercise hereof, of any distribution to the holder(s) hereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary. Neither the Warrants nor this Warrant Certificate entitles any holder hereof to any rights of a stockholder of the Company.

 

  A- 5  

 

 

Election to Purchase

 

(To Be Executed Upon Exercise of Warrant)

 

The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, to receive [  ·  ] shares of Common Stock and herewith tenders payment for such shares of Common Stock to the order of RMG Acquisition Corp. (the “ Company ”) in the amount of $[  ·  ] in accordance with the terms hereof. The undersigned requests that a certificate for such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of [  ·  ], whose address is [  ·  ], and that such shares of Common Stock be delivered to [  ·  ] whose address is [  ·  ]. If said number of shares of Common Stock is less than all of the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder, the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of [  ·  ], whose address is [  ·  ], and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to [  ·  ], whose address is [  ·  ].

 

In the event that the Warrant has been called for redemption by the Company pursuant to Article VI of the Warrant Agreement and the Company has required cashless exercise pursuant to Section 6.03 of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with Section 3.03(a)(ii) and Section 6.03 of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant is a Private Placement Warrant that is to be exercised on a “cashless” basis pursuant to Section 3.03(a)(iii) of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with Section 3.03(a)(iii) of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant is to be exercised on a “cashless” basis pursuant to Section 7.04 of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with Section 7.04 of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant may be exercised, to the extent allowed by the Warrant Agreement, through cashless exercise (i) the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for would be determined in accordance with the relevant section of the Warrant Agreement which allows for such cashless exercise and (ii) the holder hereof shall complete the following: The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, through the cashless exercise provisions of the Warrant Agreement, to receive shares of Common Stock. If said number of shares is less than all of the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder (after giving effect to the cashless exercise), the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of [  ·  ], whose address is [  ·  ], and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to [  ·  ], whose address is [  ·  ].

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

  A- 6  

 

 

Date: [  ·  ], 20[  ·  ]

 

   
  (Signature)
   
   
   
   
   
   
  (Address)
   
   
  (Tax Identification Number)

 

Signature Guaranteed:

 

   

 

THE SIGNATURE(S) SHOULD BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15 (OR ANY SUCCESSOR RULE)).

 

  A- 7  

 

 

Exhibit B

      

Private Placement Warrants Legend

 

“THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF UNLESS REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION IS AVAILABLE. IN ADDITION, SUBJECT TO ANY ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER DESCRIBED IN THE LETTER AGREEMENT BY AND AMONG RMG ACQUISITION CORP. (THE “ COMPANY ”), RMG SPONSOR, LLC AND THE OTHER PARTIES THERETO, THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE MAY NOT BE SOLD OR TRANSFERRED PRIOR TO THE DATE THAT IS THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE DATE UPON WHICH THE COMPANY COMPLETES ITS INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION (AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE III OF THE WARRANT AGREEMENT REFERRED TO HEREIN) EXCEPT TO A PERMITTED TRANSFEREE (AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE II OF THE WARRANT AGREEMENT) WHO AGREES IN WRITING WITH THE COMPANY TO BE SUBJECT TO SUCH TRANSFER PROVISIONS.

 

SECURITIES EVIDENCED BY THIS CERTIFICATE AND SHARES OF CLASS A COMMON STOCK OF THE COMPANY ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF SUCH SECURITIES SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REGISTRATION RIGHTS UNDER A REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT TO BE EXECUTED BY THE COMPANY.”

 

  B- 1  

 

Exhibit 10.1

 

[Date]

 

RMG Acquisition Corp.

50 West Street, Suite 40C

New York, NY 10006

 

Re: Initial Public Offering

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

This letter agreement (this “ Letter Agreement ”) is being delivered to you in accordance with the Underwriting Agreement (the “ Underwriting Agreement ”) to be entered into by and between RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., as representative (the “ Representative ”) of the several underwriters (each, an “ Underwriter ” and collectively, the “ Underwriters ”), relating to an underwritten initial public offering (the “ Public Offering ”), of 23,000,000 of the Company’s units (including up to 3,000,000 units that may be purchased to cover over-allotments, if any) (the “ Units ”), each comprised of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”), and one-third of one warrant. Each whole Warrant (each, a “ Warrant ”) entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units shall be sold in the Public Offering pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 and prospectus (the “ Prospectus ”) filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) and the Company shall apply to have the Units listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Certain capitalized terms used herein are defined in paragraph 11 hereof.

 

In order to induce the Company and the Underwriters to enter into the Underwriting Agreement and to proceed with the Public Offering and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, RMG Sponsor, LLC (the “ Sponsor ”) and each of the undersigned individuals, each of whom is a member of the Company’s board of directors and/or management team (each, an “ Insider ” and collectively, the “ Insiders ”), hereby agrees with the Company as follows:

 

1.     The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a proposed Business Combination, then in connection with such proposed Business Combination, it, he or she shall (i) vote any shares of Capital Stock owned by it, him or her in favor of any proposed Business Combination and (ii) not redeem any shares of Common Stock owned by it, him or her in connection with such stockholder approval.

 

2.     The Sponsor and each Insider hereby agrees that in the event that the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, or such later period approved by the Company’s stockholders in accordance with the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the Sponsor and each Insider shall take all reasonable steps to cause the Company to (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the Common Stock sold as part of the Units in the Public Offering (the “ Offering Shares ”), at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its franchise and income taxes as well as any expenses related to the administration of the Trust Account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Offering Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish all of the Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. The Sponsor and each Insider agree not to propose any amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the Offering Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, unless the Company provides its Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Offering 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 not previously released to the Company to pay its franchise and income taxes as well as any expenses related to the administration of the Trust Account, divided by the number of then outstanding Offering Shares.

 

 

 

 

The Sponsor and each Insider acknowledges that it, he or she has no right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or any other asset of the Company as a result of any liquidation of the Company with respect to the Founder Shares held by it, him or her. The Sponsor and each Insider hereby further waives, with respect to any shares of Common Stock held by it, him or her, if any, any redemption rights it, he or she may have in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination, including, without limitation, any such rights available in the context of a stockholder vote to approve such Business Combination or in the context of a tender offer made by the Company to purchase shares of Common Stock (although the Sponsor, the Insiders and their respective affiliates shall be entitled to redemption and liquidation rights with respect to any Offering Shares it, he, she or they hold if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination within 24 months from the date of the closing of the Public Offering).

 

3.     During the period commencing on the effective date of the Underwriting Agreement and ending 180 days after such date, the Sponsor and each Insider shall not, without the prior written consent of the Representative, (i) sell, offer to sell, contract or agree to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agree to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder, with respect to any Units, shares of Common Stock, Founder Shares, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock owned by it, him or her, (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any Units, shares of Common Stock, Founder Shares, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock owned by it, him or her, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise, or (iii) publicly announce any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (i) or (ii). The Sponsor and each Insider acknowledges and agrees that, prior to the effective date of any release or waiver of the restrictions set forth in this paragraph 3 or paragraph 7 below, the Company shall announce the impending release or waiver, by press release through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver. Any release or waiver granted shall only be effective two business days after the publication date of such press release. The provisions of this paragraph will not apply if the release or waiver is effected solely to permit a transfer not for consideration and the transferee has agreed in writing to be bound by the same terms described in this Letter Agreement to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of the transfer.

 

  2  

 

 

4.     In the event of the liquidation of the Trust Account, the Sponsor (which for purposes of clarification shall not extend to any other shareholders, members or managers of the Sponsor) agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever (including, but not limited to, any and all legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, whether pending or threatened, or any claim whatsoever) to which the Company may become subject as a result of any claim by (i) any third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company or (ii) a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into an acquisition agreement (a “ Target ”); provided , however , that such indemnification of the Company by the Sponsor shall apply only to the extent necessary to ensure that such claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company or a Target do not reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.00 per Offering Share or (ii) such lesser amount per Offering Share held in the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, in each case, net of the amount of interest earned on the property in the Trust Account which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and expenses related to the administration of the Trust Account, except as to any claims by a third party (including a Target) who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the Underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In the event that any such executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against such third party, the Sponsor shall not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. The Sponsor shall have the right to defend against any such claim with counsel of its choice reasonably satisfactory to the Company if, within 15 days following written receipt of notice of the claim to the Sponsor, the Sponsor notifies the Company in writing that it shall undertake such defense.

 

5.     To the extent that the Underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 Units within 45 days from the date of the Prospectus (and as further described in the Prospectus), the Sponsor agrees to forfeit, at no cost, a number of Founder Shares in the aggregate equal to 750,000 multiplied by a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is 5,750,000 minus the number of Units purchased by the Underwriters upon the exercise of their over-allotment option, and (ii) the denominator of which is 5,750,000. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the Underwriters so that the Initial Stockholders will own an aggregate of 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of Capital Stock after the Public Offering.

 

  3  

 

 

6.     (a) The Sponsor and each Insider who is an officer of the Company hereby agrees not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company until the Company has entered into a definitive agreement regarding a Business Combination or, if no such definitive agreement has been entered into, unless the Company has failed to complete a Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Public Offering. Such restriction does not preclude any position as an officer or director of another blank check company held on the date hereof. For the avoidance of doubt, the Sponsor and each Insider who is an officer of the Company are allowed to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, another blank check company upon the Company entering into a definitive agreement with respect to a Business Combination.

 

(b) The Sponsor and each Insider hereby agrees and acknowledges that: (i) the Underwriters and the Company would be irreparably injured in the event of a breach by such Sponsor or Insider of its, his or her obligations under paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6(a), 7(a), 7(b), and 9 of this Letter Agreement, (ii) monetary damages may not be an adequate remedy for such breach and (iii) the non-breaching party shall be entitled to injunctive relief, in addition to any other remedy that such party may have in law or in equity, in the event of such breach.

 

7.     (a) The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that it, he or she shall not Transfer any Founder Shares (or shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion thereof) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Company’s initial Business Combination or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property (the “ Founder Shares Lock-up Period ”).

 

(b) The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that it, he or she shall not Transfer any Private Placement Warrants (or shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants), until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination (the “ Private Placement Warrants Lock-up Period ” and, together with the Founder Shares Lock-up Period, the “ Lock-up Periods ”).

 

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions set forth in paragraphs 7(a) and (b), Transfers of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise or conversion of the Private Placement Warrants or the Founder Shares, as applicable, and that are held by the Sponsor, an Insider or any of their permitted transferees (that have complied with this paragraph 7(c)), are permitted (a) to the Company’s officers, directors or members of its Advisory Board, any affiliates or family members of any of the Company’s officers, directors or members of its Advisory Board, any members of the Sponsor, or any affiliates of the Sponsor; (b) in the case of an individual, transfers by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family, to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, transfers by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) transfers by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) transfers in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to the completion of an initial Business Combination; (g) transfers by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware or the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of the Sponsor; (h) to the Anchor Investors’ (as defined below) affiliates, to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the Anchor Investors, or to any investment manager or investment advisor of the Anchor Investors or an affiliate of any such investment manager or investment advisor; and (i) in the event of the Company’s liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (h), these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by the restrictions herein.

 

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8.     The Sponsor and each Insider represents and warrants that it, he or she has never been suspended or expelled from membership in any securities or commodities exchange or association or had a securities or commodities license or registration denied, suspended or revoked. Each Insider’s biographical information furnished to the Company (including any such information included in the Prospectus) is true and accurate in all respects and does not omit any material information with respect to the Insider’s background. The questionnaire of the Sponsor and each Insider furnished to the Company is true and accurate in all respects. The Sponsor and each Insider represents and warrants that: it, he or she is not subject to or a respondent in any legal action for, any injunction, cease-and-desist order or order or stipulation to desist or refrain from any act or practice relating to the offering of securities in any jurisdiction; it, he or she has never been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, any crime (i) involving fraud, (ii) relating to any financial transaction or handling of funds of another person, or (iii) pertaining to any dealings in any securities and it, he or she is not currently a defendant in any such criminal proceeding.

 

9.     Except as disclosed in the Prospectus, neither the Sponsor nor any Insider nor any affiliate of the Sponsor or any Insider, nor any director or officer of the Company, shall receive from the Company any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any repayment of a loan or other compensation prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is), other than the following, none of which will be made from the proceeds held in the Trust Account prior to the completion of the initial Business Combination: (a) reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to the Company’s formation and Public Offering and to identifying, investigating and completing an initial Business Combination; (b) repayment of loans, if any, and on such terms as to be determined by the Company from time to time, made by the Sponsor or any of the Company’s officers, directors or members of its Advisory Board to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial Business Combination, provided, that, if the Company does not consummate an initial Business Combination, a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account may be used by the Company to repay such loaned amounts so long as no proceeds from the Trust Account are used for such repayment and (c) payments to the Sponsor, any Insiders or their respective affiliates in connection with the successful completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination. Up to $1,500,000 of the loans referenced in clause (b) above may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

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10.   The Sponsor and each Insider has full right and power, without violating any agreement to which it is bound (including, without limitation, any non-competition or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or former employer), to enter into this Letter Agreement and, as applicable, to serve as an officer and/or a director on the board of directors of the Company and hereby consents to being named in the Prospectus as an officer and/or director of the Company.

 

11.   As used herein, (i) “ Business Combination ” shall mean a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Company and one or more businesses; (ii) “ Capital Stock ” shall mean, collectively, the Common Stock and the Founder Shares; (iii) “ Founder Shares ” shall mean the 5,750,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, (of which 750,000 shares will be forfeited by the Sponsor if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the Underwriters) owned by the Initial Stockholders; (iv) “ Initial Stockholders ” shall mean the Sponsor, the Anchor Investors and other holders of Founder Shares immediately prior to the Public Offering; (v) “ Private Placement Warrants ” shall mean the warrants to purchase up to 4,000,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company (or 4,600,000 shares of Common Stock if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) that the Sponsor and certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. and Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC (together, the “Anchor Investors”) have agreed to purchase for an aggregate purchase price of $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,900,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), for $1.50 per warrant, in a private placement that shall occur simultaneously with the consummation of the Public Offering; (vi) “ Public Stockholders ” shall mean the holders of securities issued in the Public Offering; (vii) “ Trust Account ” shall mean the trust account into which a portion of the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants shall be deposited; and (viii) “ Transfer ” shall mean the (a) sale of, offer to sell, contract or agreement to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant of any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agreement to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establishment or increase of a put equivalent position or liquidation with respect to or decrease of a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder with respect to, any security, (b) entry into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any security, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise, or (c) public announcement of any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (a) or (b).

 

12.   This Letter Agreement constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto in respect of the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the parties hereto, written or oral, to the extent they relate in any way to the subject matter hereof or the transactions contemplated hereby. This Letter Agreement may not be changed, amended, modified or waived (other than to correct a typographical error) as to any particular provision, except by a written instrument executed by all parties hereto.

 

13.   No party hereto may assign either this Letter Agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the other parties. Any purported assignment in violation of this paragraph shall be void and ineffectual and shall not operate to transfer or assign any interest or title to the purported assignee. This Letter Agreement shall be binding on the Sponsor and each Insider and their respective successors, heirs and assigns and permitted transferees.

 

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14.   Nothing in this Letter Agreement shall be construed to confer upon, or give to, any person or corporation other than the parties hereto any right, remedy or claim under or by reason of this Letter Agreement or of any covenant, condition, stipulation, promise or agreement hereof. All covenants, conditions, stipulations, promises and agreements contained in this Letter Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the parties hereto and their successors, heirs, personal representatives and assigns and permitted transferees.

 

15.   This Letter Agreement may be executed in any number of original or facsimile counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument.

 

16.   This Letter Agreement shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity or unenforceability of any term or provision hereof shall not affect the validity or enforceability of this Letter Agreement or of any other term or provision hereof. Furthermore, in lieu of any such invalid or unenforceable term or provision, the parties hereto intend that there shall be added as a part of this Letter Agreement a provision as similar in terms to such invalid or unenforceable provision as may be possible and be valid and enforceable.

 

17.   This Letter Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The parties hereto (i) all agree that any action, proceeding, claim or dispute arising out of, or relating in any way to, this Letter Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts of New York City, in the State of New York, and irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction and venue, which jurisdiction and venue shall be exclusive and (ii) waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and venue or that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

 

18.   Any notice, consent or request to be given in connection with any of the terms or provisions of this Letter Agreement shall be in writing and shall be sent by express mail or similar private courier service, by certified mail (return receipt requested), by hand delivery or facsimile transmission.

 

19.   This Letter Agreement shall terminate on the earlier of (i) the expiration of the Lock-up Periods or (ii) the liquidation of the Company; provided, however, that this Letter Agreement shall earlier terminate in the event that the Public Offering is not consummated and closed by June 30, 2019; provided further that paragraph 4 of this Letter Agreement shall survive such liquidation.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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  Sincerely,
   
  RMG Acquisition Corp.
   
  By:  
  Name:
   
  RMG SPONSOR, LLC
   
  By: MKC Investments LLC, as Sole Managing Member of RMG Sponsor, LLC
  By:
  Name:
   
  INSIDERS:
   
  By:  
  Name: D. James Carpenter
   
  By:  
  Name: Robert S. Mancini
   
  By:  
  Name: Philip Kassin
   
  By:  
  Name: W. Grant Gregory
   
  By:  
  Name: Heinz C. Schimmelbusch

 

 

 

Exhibit 10.3

   

REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT

 

THIS REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”), dated as of [  ·  ], 2019, is made and entered into by and among RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), and the undersigned parties listed under Holder on the signature page hereto (each such party, together with the Sponsor and any person or entity who hereafter becomes a party to this Agreement pursuant to Section 5.02 of this Agreement, a “ Holder ” and collectively the “ Holders ”).

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Sponsor have entered into that certain Securities Subscription Agreement, dated as of November 6, 2018, pursuant to which the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,187,500 shares (the “ Founder Shares ”) of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;

 

WHEREAS, the Company subsequently effectuated an 0.8-for-1 reverse split of the Founder Shares, resulting in an aggregate outstanding amount of 5,750,000 Founder Shares;

 

WHEREAS, on January 16, 2019, the Sponsor forfeited 575,000 Founder Shares to the Company, and, pursuant to certain Subscription Agreements, dated as of January 16, 2019 (the “ Subscription Agreements ”), certain of the Holders purchased an aggregate of 575,000 Founder Shares from the Company;

 

WHEREAS, the Founder Shares are convertible into shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”), on the terms and conditions provided in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation;

 

WHEREAS, on January 16, 2019, the Company and the Sponsor entered into that certain Amendment No. 1 to the Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 17, 2018, pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 3,333,333 warrants (or up to 3,766,667 warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Company’s initial public offering is exercised in full) (the “Sponsor Private Placement Warrants ”), in a private placement transaction occurring simultaneously with the closing of the Company’s initial public offering;

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Subscription Agreements, certain of the Holders agreed to purchase an aggregate of 666,667 warrants (or up to 833,333 warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Company’s initial public offering is exercised in full) (the “ Anchor Private Placement Warrants ”, and, together with the Sponsor Private Placement Warrants, the “Private Placement Warrants”), in a private placement transaction occurring simultaneously with the closing of the Company’s initial public offering; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Holders desire to enter into this Agreement, pursuant to which the Company shall grant the Holders certain registration rights with respect to certain securities of the Company, as set forth in this Agreement.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the representations, covenants and agreements contained herein, and certain other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

  

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Article I.

Definitions

 

Section 1.01  Definitions . The terms defined in this Article I shall, for all purposes of this Agreement, have the respective meanings set forth below:

 

Adverse Disclosure ” shall mean any public disclosure of material non-public information, which disclosure, in the good faith judgment of the Chief Executive Officer or principal financial officer of the Company, after consultation with counsel to the Company, (i) would be required to be made in any Registration Statement or Prospectus in order for the applicable Registration Statement or Prospectus not to contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements contained therein (in the case of any prospectus and any preliminary prospectus, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made) not misleading, (ii) would not be required to be made at such time if the Registration Statement were not being filed, and (iii) the Company has a bona fide business purpose for not making such information public.

 

Agreement ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

 

Board ” shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company.

 

Business Combination ” shall mean any merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses, involving the Company.

 

Commission ” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Common Stock ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Company ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

 

Demand Registration ” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.01(a) .

 

Demanding Holder ” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.01(a) .

 

Exchange Act ” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as it may be amended from time to time.

 

Form S-1 ” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.01(a) .

 

Form S-3 ” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.03 .

 

Founder Shares ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto and shall be deemed to include the shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion thereof.

 

Founder Shares Lock-up Period ” shall mean, with respect to the Founder Shares, the period ending on the earlier of (A) one (1) year after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any twenty (20) trading days within any thirty (30)-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Company’s initial Business Combination or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

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Holder ” or “ Holders ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

 

Insider Letter ” shall mean that certain letter agreement, dated as of [  ·  ], 2019, by and among the Company, the Sponsor and each of the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees.

 

Maximum Number of Securities ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.01(d) .

 

Misstatement ” shall mean an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission to state a material fact required to be stated in a Registration Statement or Prospectus, or necessary to make the statements in a Registration Statement or Prospectus in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading.

 

Permitted Transferees ” shall mean any person or entity to whom a Holder of Registrable Securities is permitted to transfer such Registrable Securities prior to the expiration of the Founder Shares Lock-up Period or Private Placement Lock-up Period, as the case may be, under the Insider Letter and any other applicable agreement between such Holder and the Company, and to any transferee thereafter.

 

Piggyback Registration ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.02(a) .

 

Private Placement Lock-up Period ” shall mean, with respect to Private Placement Warrants that are held by the initial purchasers of such Private Placement Warrants or their Permitted Transferees, and any shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise or conversion of the Private Placement Warrants and that are held by the initial purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants or their Permitted Transferees, the period ending thirty (30) days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination.

 

Private Placement Warrants ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.          

 

Prospectus ” shall mean the prospectus included in any Registration Statement, as supplemented by any and all prospectus supplements and as amended by any and all post-effective amendments and including all material incorporated by reference in such prospectus.

 

Registrable Security ” shall mean (a) the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the conversion of any Founder Shares, (b) the Private Placement Warrants (including any shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any such Private Placement Warrants), (c) any outstanding share of Common Stock or any other equity security (including the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any other equity security) of the Company held by a Holder as of the date of this Agreement, (d) any equity securities (including the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any such equity security) of the Company issuable upon conversion of any working capital loans in an amount up to $1,500,000 made to the Company by a Holder, and (e) any other equity security of the Company issued or issuable with respect to any such share of Common Stock by way of a stock dividend or stock split or in connection with a combination of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation or reorganization; provided , however , that, as to any particular Registrable Security, such securities shall cease to be Registrable Securities when: (A) a Registration Statement with respect to the sale of such securities shall have become effective under the Securities Act and such securities shall have been sold, transferred, disposed of or exchanged in accordance with such Registration Statement; (B) such securities shall have been otherwise transferred, new certificates for such securities not bearing a legend restricting further transfer shall have been delivered by the Company and subsequent public distribution of such securities shall not require registration under the Securities Act; (C) such securities shall have ceased to be outstanding; (D) such securities may be sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission) (but with no volume or other restrictions or limitations); or (E) such securities have been sold to, or through, a broker, dealer or underwriter in a public distribution or other public securities transaction.

 

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Registration ” shall mean a registration effected by preparing and filing a registration statement or similar document in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Act, and the applicable rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and such registration statement becoming effective.

 

Registration Expenses ” shall mean the out-of-pocket expenses of a Registration, including, without limitation, the following:

 

(a) all registration and filing fees (including fees with respect to filings required to be made with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.) and any securities exchange on which the Common Stock is then listed;

 

(b) fees and expenses of compliance with securities or blue sky laws (including reasonable and customary fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with blue sky qualifications of Registrable Securities);

 

(c) printing, messenger, telephone and delivery expenses;

 

(d) reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company;

 

(e) reasonable fees and disbursements of all independent registered public accountants of the Company incurred specifically in connection with such Registration; and

 

(f) reasonable fees and expenses of one (1) legal counsel selected by the majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating a Demand Registration to be registered for offer and sale in the applicable Registration.

 

Registration Statement ” shall mean any registration statement that covers the Registrable Securities pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, including the Prospectus included in such registration statement, amendments (including post-effective amendments) and supplements to such registration statement, and all exhibits to and all material incorporated by reference in such registration statement.

 

Requesting Holder ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.01(a) .

 

Securities Act ” shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time.

 

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Sponsor ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble hereto.

 

Underwriter ” shall mean a securities dealer who purchases any Registrable Securities as principal in an Underwritten Offering and not as part of such dealer’s market-making activities.

 

Underwritten Registration ” or “ Underwritten Offering ” shall mean a Registration in which securities of the Company are sold to an Underwriter in a firm commitment underwriting for distribution to the public.

 

Article II.

Registrations

 

Section 2.01  Demand Registration .

 

(a)  Request for Registration . Subject to the provisions of subsection 2.01(d) and Section 2.04 hereof, at any time and from time to time on or after the date the Company consummates the Business Combination, the Holders of at least a majority in interest of the then-outstanding number of Registrable Securities (the “ Demanding Holders ”) may make a written demand for Registration of all or part of their Registrable Securities, which written demand shall describe the amount and type of securities to be included in such Registration and the intended method(s) of distribution thereof (such written demand a “ Demand Registration ”). The Company shall, within ten (10) days of the Company’s receipt of the Demand Registration, notify, in writing, all other Holders of Registrable Securities of such demand, and each Holder of Registrable Securities who thereafter wishes to include all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration (each such Holder that includes all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in such Registration, a “ Requesting Holder ”) shall so notify the Company, in writing, within five (5) days after the receipt by the Holder of the notice from the Company. Upon receipt by the Company of any such written notification from a Requesting Holder(s) to the Company, such Requesting Holder(s) shall be entitled to have their Registrable Securities included in a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration and the Company shall effect, as soon thereafter as practicable, but not more than forty-five (45) days immediately after the Company’s receipt of the Demand Registration, the Registration of all Registrable Securities requested by the Demanding Holders and Requesting Holders pursuant to such Demand Registration. Under no circumstances shall the Company be obligated to effect more than an aggregate of three (3) Registrations pursuant to a Demand Registration under this subsection 2.01(a) with respect to any or all Registrable Securities; provided , however , that a Registration shall not be counted for such purposes unless a Form S-1 or any similar long-form registration statement that may be available at such time (“ Form S-1 ”) has become effective and all of the Registrable Securities requested by the Requesting Holders to be registered on behalf of the Requesting Holders in such Form S-1 Registration have been sold, in accordance with Section 3.01 of this Agreement.

 

(b)  Effective Registration . Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 2.01(a) above or any other part of this Agreement, a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration shall not count as a Registration unless and until (i) the Registration Statement filed with the Commission with respect to a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration has been declared effective by the Commission and (ii) the Company has complied with all of its obligations under this Agreement with respect thereto; provided , further , that if, after such Registration Statement has been declared effective, an offering of Registrable Securities in a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration is subsequently interfered with by any stop order or injunction of the Commission, federal or state court or any other governmental agency the Registration Statement with respect to such Registration shall be deemed not to have been declared effective, unless and until, (x) such stop order or injunction is removed, rescinded or otherwise terminated, and (y) a majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating such Demand Registration thereafter affirmatively elect to continue with such Registration and accordingly notify the Company in writing, but in no event later than five (5) days, of such election; provided , further , that the Company shall not be obligated or required to file another Registration Statement until the Registration Statement that has been previously filed with respect to a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration becomes effective or is subsequently terminated.

 

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(c)  Underwritten Offering . Subject to the provisions of subsection 2.01(d) and Section 2.04 hereof, if a majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders so advise the Company as part of their Demand Registration that the offering of the Registrable Securities pursuant to such Demand Registration shall be in the form of an Underwritten Offering, then the right of such Demanding Holder or Requesting Holder (if any) to include its Registrable Securities in such Registration shall be conditioned upon such Holder’s participation in such Underwritten Offering and the inclusion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in such Underwritten Offering to the extent provided herein. All such Holders proposing to distribute their Registrable Securities through an Underwritten Offering under this subsection 2.01(c) shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the Underwriter(s) selected for such Underwritten Offering by the majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating the Demand Registration.

 

(d)  Reduction of Underwritten Offering . If the managing Underwriter or Underwriters in an Underwritten Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration, in good faith, advises the Company, the Demanding Holders and the Requesting Holders (if any) in writing that the dollar amount or number of Registrable Securities that the Demanding Holders and the Requesting Holders (if any) desire to sell, taken together with all other Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell and the Common Stock, if any, as to which a Registration has been requested pursuant to separate written contractual piggy-back registration rights held by any other stockholders who desire to sell, exceeds the maximum dollar amount or maximum number of equity securities that can be sold in the Underwritten Offering without adversely affecting the proposed offering price, the timing, the distribution method, or the probability of success of such offering (such maximum dollar amount or maximum number of such securities, as applicable, the “ Maximum Number of Securities ”), then the Company shall include in such Underwritten Offering, as follows: (i) first, the Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holders and the Requesting Holders (if any) (pro rata based on the respective number of Registrable Securities that each Demanding Holder and Requesting Holder (if any) has requested be included in such Underwritten Registration and the aggregate number of Registrable Securities that the Demanding Holders and Requesting Holders have requested be included in such Underwritten Registration (such proportion is referred to herein as “ Pro Rata ”)) that can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (ii) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (i), Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (iii) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii), Common Stock or other equity securities of other persons or entities that the Company is obligated to register in a Registration pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with such persons and that can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities.

 

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(e)  Demand Registration Withdrawal . A majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating a Demand Registration or a majority-in-interest of the Requesting Holders (if any), pursuant to a Registration under subsection 2.01(a) shall have the right to withdraw from a Registration pursuant to such Demand Registration for any or no reason whatsoever upon written notification to the Company and the Underwriter or Underwriters (if any) of their intention to withdraw from such Registration prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement filed with the Commission with respect to the Registration of their Registrable Securities pursuant to such Demand Registration. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration prior to its withdrawal under this subsection 2.01(e) .

 

Section 2.02  Piggyback Registration .

 

(a)  Piggyback Rights . If, at any time on or after the date the Company consummates a Business Combination, the Company proposes to file a Registration Statement under the Securities Act with respect to an offering of equity securities, or securities or other obligations exercisable or exchangeable for, or convertible into equity securities, for its own account or for the account of stockholders of the Company (or by the Company and by the stockholders of the Company including, without limitation, pursuant to Section 2.01 hereof), other than a Registration Statement (i) filed in connection with any employee stock option or other benefit plan, (ii) for an exchange offer or offering of securities solely to the Company’s existing stockholders, (iii) for an offering of debt that is convertible into equity securities of the Company or (iv) for a dividend reinvestment plan, then the Company shall give written notice of such proposed filing to all of the Holders of Registrable Securities as soon as practicable but not less than ten (10) days before the anticipated filing date of such Registration Statement, which notice shall (A) describe the amount and type of securities to be included in such offering, the intended method(s) of distribution, and the name of the proposed managing Underwriter or Underwriters, if any, in such offering, and (B) offer to all of the Holders of Registrable Securities the opportunity to register the sale of such number of Registrable Securities as such Holders may request in writing within five (5) days after receipt of such written notice (such Registration a “ Piggyback Registration ”). The Company shall, in good faith, cause such Registrable Securities to be included in such Piggyback Registration and shall use its best efforts to cause the managing Underwriter or Underwriters of a proposed Underwritten Offering to permit the Registrable Securities requested by the Holders pursuant to this subsection 2.02(a) to be included in a Piggyback Registration on the same terms and conditions as any similar securities of the Company included in such Registration and to permit the sale or other disposition of such Registrable Securities in accordance with the intended method(s) of distribution thereof. All such Holders proposing to distribute their Registrable Securities through an Underwritten Offering under this subsection 2.02(a) shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the Underwriter(s) selected for such Underwritten Offering by the Company.

 

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(b)  Reduction of Piggyback Registration . If the managing Underwriter or Underwriters in an Underwritten Registration that is to be a Piggyback Registration, in good faith, advises the Company and the Holders of Registrable Securities participating in the Piggyback Registration in writing that the dollar amount or number of shares of Common Stock that the Company desires to sell, taken together with (i) the shares of Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been demanded pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with persons or entities other than the Holders of Registrable Securities hereunder, (ii) the Registrable Securities as to which registration has been requested pursuant to Section 2.02 hereof, and (iii) the shares of Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been requested pursuant to separate written contractual piggy-back registration rights of other stockholders of the Company, exceeds the Maximum Number of Securities, then:

 

(i) If the Registration is undertaken for the Company’s account, the Company shall include in any such Registration (A) first, Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (B) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (A), the Registrable Securities of Holders exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to subsection 2.02(a) hereof, Pro Rata, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (C) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A) and (B), Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been requested pursuant to written contractual piggyback registration rights of other stockholders of the Company, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities;

 

(ii) If the Registration is pursuant to a request by persons or entities other than the Holders of Registrable Securities, then the Company shall include in any such Registration (A) first, Common Stock or other equity securities, if any, of such requesting persons or entities, other than the Holders of Registrable Securities, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (B) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (A), the Registrable Securities of Holders exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to subsection 2.02(a) , pro rata based on the number of Registrable Securities that each Holder has requested be included in such Underwritten Registration and the aggregate number of Registrable Securities that the Holders have requested to be included in such Underwritten Registration, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (C) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A) and (B), Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (D) fourth, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A), (B) and (C), Common Stock or other equity securities for the account of other persons or entities that the Company is obligated to register pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with such persons or entities, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities.

 

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(c)  Piggyback Registration Withdrawal . Any Holder of Registrable Securities shall have the right to withdraw from a Piggyback Registration for any or no reason whatsoever upon written notification to the Company and the Underwriter or Underwriters (if any) of his, her or its intention to withdraw from such Piggyback Registration prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement filed with the Commission with respect to such Piggyback Registration. The Company (whether on its own good faith determination or as the result of a request for withdrawal by persons pursuant to separate written contractual obligations) may withdraw a Registration Statement filed with the Commission in connection with a Piggyback Registration at any time prior to the effectiveness of such Registration Statement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with the Piggyback Registration prior to its withdrawal under this subsection 2.02(c) .

 

(d)  Unlimited Piggyback Registration Rights . For purposes of clarity, any Registration effected pursuant to Section 2.02 hereof shall not be counted as a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration effected under Section 2.01 hereof.

 

Section 2.03  Registrations on Form S-3 . The Holders of Registrable Securities may at any time, and from time to time, request in writing that the Company, pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission), register the resale of any or all of their Registrable Securities on Form S-3 or any similar short form registration statement that may be available at such time (“ Form S-3 ”); provided , however , that the Company shall not be obligated to effect such request through an Underwritten Offering. Within five (5) days of the Company’s receipt of a written request from a Holder or Holders of Registrable Securities for a Registration on Form S-3, the Company shall promptly give written notice of the proposed Registration on Form S-3 to all other Holders of Registrable Securities, and each Holder of Registrable Securities who thereafter wishes to include all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in such Registration on Form S-3 shall so notify the Company, in writing, within ten (10) days after the receipt by the Holder of the notice from the Company. As soon as practicable thereafter, but not more than twelve (12) days after the Company’s initial receipt of such written request for a Registration on Form S-3, the Company shall register all or such portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities as are specified in such written request, together with all or such portion of Registrable Securities of any other Holder or Holders joining in such request as are specified in the written notification given by such Holder or Holders; provided , however , that the Company shall not be obligated to effect any such Registration pursuant to Section 2.03 hereof if (i) a Form S-3 is not available for such offering; or (ii) the Holders of Registrable Securities, together with the Holders of any other equity securities of the Company entitled to inclusion in such Registration, propose to sell the Registrable Securities and such other equity securities (if any) at any aggregate price to the public of less than $10,000,000.

 

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Section 2.04  Restrictions on Registration Rights . If (A) during the period starting with the date sixty (60) days prior to the Company’s good faith estimate of the date of the filing of, and ending on a date one hundred and twenty (120) days after the effective date of, a Company initiated Registration and provided that the Company has delivered written notice to the Holders prior to receipt of a Demand Registration pursuant to subsection 2.01(a) and it continues to actively employ, in good faith, all reasonable efforts to cause the applicable Registration Statement to become effective; (B) the Holders have requested an Underwritten Registration and the Company and the Holders are unable to obtain the commitment of underwriters to firmly underwrite the offer; or (C) in the good faith judgment of the Board such Registration would be seriously detrimental to the Company and the Board concludes as a result that it is essential to defer the filing of such Registration Statement at such time, then in each case the Company shall furnish to such Holders a certificate signed by the Chairman of the Board stating that in the good faith judgment of the Board it would be seriously detrimental to the Company for such Registration Statement to be filed in the near future and that it is therefore essential to defer the filing of such Registration Statement. In such event, the Company shall have the right to defer such filing for a period of not more than thirty (30) days; provided , however , that the Company shall not defer its obligation in this manner more than once in any 12-month period. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, no Registration shall be effected or permitted and no Registration Statement shall become effective, with respect to any Registrable Securities held by any Holder, until after the expiration of the Founder Shares Lock-Up Period or the Private Placement Lock-Up Period, as the case may be.

 

Section 2.05. Waiver . Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, unless the Company is notified in writing to the contrary by [PURCHASER] or [PURCHASER], (A) each of [PURCHASER] and [PURCHASER] (collectively, the “ Anchor Investors ”) hereby waives any and all rights (i) to receive notice of a Demand Registration relating to any Underwritten Offering as provided for in this Section 2 or (ii) to participate in any such Underwritten Offering, and (B) the Company hereby agrees not to notify any of the Anchor Investors of any Underwritten Offering or provide any of the Anchor Investors with any information relating thereto.

 

Article III.

Company Procedures

 

Section 3.01  General Procedures . If at any time on or after the date the Company consummates a Business Combination the Company is required to effect the Registration of Registrable Securities, the Company shall use its best efforts to effect such Registration to permit the sale of such Registrable Securities in accordance with the intended plan of distribution thereof, and pursuant thereto the Company shall, as expeditiously as possible:

 

(a) prepare and file with the Commission as soon as practicable a Registration Statement with respect to such Registrable Securities and use its reasonable best efforts to cause such Registration Statement to become effective and remain effective until all Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement have been sold;

 

(b) prepare and file with the Commission such amendments and post-effective amendments to the Registration Statement, and such supplements to the Prospectus, as may be requested by the Holders or any Underwriter of Registrable Securities or as may be required by the rules, regulations or instructions applicable to the registration form used by the Company or by the Securities Act or rules and regulations thereunder to keep the Registration Statement effective until all Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement are sold in accordance with the intended plan of distribution set forth in such Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus;

 

(c) prior to filing a Registration Statement or prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, furnish without charge to the Underwriters, if any, and the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration, and such Holders’ legal counsel, copies of such Registration Statement as proposed to be filed, each amendment and supplement to such Registration Statement (in each case including all exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein), the Prospectus included in such Registration Statement (including each preliminary Prospectus), and such other documents as the Underwriters and the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration or the legal counsel for any such Holders may request in order to facilitate the disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by such Holders;

 

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(d) prior to any public offering of Registrable Securities, use its reasonable best efforts to (i) register or qualify the Registrable Securities covered by the Registration Statement under such securities or “blue sky” laws of such jurisdictions in the United States as the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement (in light of their intended plan of distribution) may request and (ii) take such action necessary to cause such Registrable Securities covered by the Registration Statement to be registered with or approved by such other governmental authorities as may be necessary by virtue of the business and operations of the Company and do any and all other acts and things that may be necessary or advisable to enable the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement to consummate the disposition of such Registrable Securities in such jurisdictions; provided , however , that the Company shall not be required to qualify generally to do business in any jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to qualify or take any action to which it would be subject to general service of process or taxation in any such jurisdiction where it is not then otherwise so subject;

 

(e) cause all such Registrable Securities to be listed on each securities exchange or automated quotation system on which similar securities issued by the Company are then listed;

 

(f) provide a transfer agent or warrant agent, as applicable, and registrar for all such Registrable Securities no later than the effective date of such Registration Statement;

 

(g) advise each seller of such Registrable Securities, promptly after it shall receive notice or obtain knowledge thereof, of the issuance of any stop order by the Commission suspending the effectiveness of such Registration Statement or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose and promptly use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order or to obtain its withdrawal if such stop order should be issued;

 

(h) at least five (5) days prior to the filing of any Registration Statement or Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to such Registration Statement or Prospectus or any document that is to be incorporated by reference into such Registration Statement or Prospectus, furnish a copy thereof to each seller of such Registrable Securities or its counsel;

 

(i) notify the Holders at any time when a Prospectus relating to such Registration Statement is required to be delivered under the Securities Act, of the happening of any event as a result of which the Prospectus included in such Registration Statement, as then in effect, includes a Misstatement, and then to correct such Misstatement as set forth in Section 3.04 hereof;

 

(j) permit a representative of the Holders, the Underwriters, if any, and any attorney or accountant retained by such Holders or Underwriter to participate, at each such person’s own expense, in the preparation of the Registration Statement, and cause the Company’s officers, directors and employees to supply all information reasonably requested by any such representative, Underwriter, attorney or accountant in connection with the Registration; provided , however , that such representatives or Underwriters enter into a confidentiality agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Company, prior to the release or disclosure of any such information;

 

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(k) obtain a “cold comfort” letter from the Company’s independent registered public accountants in the event of an Underwritten Registration, in customary form and covering such matters of the type customarily covered by “cold comfort” letters as the managing Underwriter may reasonably request, and reasonably satisfactory to a majority-in-interest of the participating Holders;

 

(l) on the date the Registrable Securities are delivered for sale pursuant to such Registration, obtain an opinion, dated such date, of counsel representing the Company for the purposes of such Registration, addressed to the Holders, the placement agent or sales agent, if any, and the Underwriters, if any, covering such legal matters with respect to the Registration in respect of which such opinion is being given as the Holders, placement agent, sales agent, or Underwriter may reasonably request and as are customarily included in such opinions and negative assurance letters, and reasonably satisfactory to a majority-in-interest of the participating Holders;

 

(m) in the event of any Underwritten Offering, enter into and perform its obligations under an underwriting agreement, in usual and customary form, with the managing Underwriter of such Underwritten Offering;

 

(n) make available to its security holders, as soon as reasonably practicable, an earnings statement covering the period of at least twelve (12) months beginning with the first day of the Company’s first full calendar quarter after the effective date of the Registration Statement which satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 thereunder (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission);

 

(o) if the Registration involves the Registration of Registrable Securities involving gross proceeds in excess of $50,000,000, use its reasonable best efforts to make available senior executives of the Company to participate in customary “road show” presentations that may be reasonably requested by the Underwriter in any Underwritten Offering; and

 

(p) otherwise, in good faith, cooperate reasonably with, and take such customary actions as may reasonably be requested by the Holders, in connection with such Registration.

 

Section 3.02  Registration Expenses . The Registration Expenses of all Registrations shall be borne by the Company. It is acknowledged by the Holders that the Holders shall bear all incremental selling expenses relating to the sale of Registrable Securities, such as Underwriters’ commissions and discounts, brokerage fees, Underwriter marketing costs and, other than as set forth in the definition of “Registration Expenses,” all reasonable fees and expenses of any legal counsel representing the Holders.

 

Section 3.03  Requirements for Participation in Underwritten Offerings . No person may participate in any Underwritten Offering for equity securities of the Company pursuant to a Registration initiated by the Company hereunder unless such person (a) agrees to sell such person’s securities on the basis provided in any underwriting arrangements approved by the Company and (b) completes and executes all customary questionnaires, powers of attorney, indemnities, lock-up agreements, underwriting agreements and other customary documents as may be reasonably required under the terms of such underwriting arrangements.

 

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Section 3.04  Suspension of Sales; Adverse Disclosure . Upon receipt of written notice from the Company that a Registration Statement or Prospectus contains a Misstatement, each of the Holders shall forthwith discontinue disposition of Registrable Securities until he, she or it has received copies of a supplemented or amended Prospectus correcting the Misstatement (it being understood that the Company hereby covenants to prepare and file such supplement or amendment as soon as practicable after the time of such notice), or until he, she or it is advised in writing by the Company that the use of the Prospectus may be resumed. If the filing, initial effectiveness or continued use of a Registration Statement in respect of any Registration at any time would require the Company to make an Adverse Disclosure or would require the inclusion in such Registration Statement of financial statements that are unavailable to the Company for reasons beyond the Company’s control, the Company may, upon giving prompt written notice of such action to the Holders, delay the filing or initial effectiveness of, or suspend use of, such Registration Statement for the shortest period of time, but in no event more than thirty (30) days, determined in good faith by the Company to be necessary for such purpose. In the event the Company exercises its rights under the preceding sentence, the Holders agree to suspend, immediately upon their receipt of the notice referred to above, their use of the Prospectus relating to any Registration in connection with any sale or offer to sell Registrable Securities. The Company shall immediately notify the Holders of the expiration of any period during which it exercised its rights under this Section 3.04 .

 

Section 3.05  Reporting Obligations . As long as any Holder shall own Registrable Securities, the Company, at all times while it shall be a reporting company under the Exchange Act, covenants to file timely (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act and to promptly furnish the Holders with true and complete copies of all such filings. The Company further covenants that it shall take such further action as any Holder may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time to enable such Holder to sell shares of Common Stock held by such Holder without registration under the Securities Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission), including providing any legal opinions. Upon the request of any Holder, the Company shall deliver to such Holder a written certification of a duly authorized officer as to whether it has complied with such requirements.

 

Article IV.

Indemnification and Contribution

 

Section 4.01  Indemnification .

 

(a) The Company agrees to indemnify, to the extent permitted by law, each Holder of Registrable Securities, its officers and directors and each person who controls such Holder (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) caused by any untrue or alleged untrue statement of material fact contained in any Registration Statement, Prospectus or preliminary Prospectus or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or any omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as the same are caused by or contained in any information furnished in writing to the Company by such Holder expressly for use therein. The Company shall indemnify the Underwriters, their officers and directors and each person who controls such Underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided in the foregoing with respect to the indemnification of the Holder.

 

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(b) In connection with any Registration Statement in which a Holder of Registrable Securities is participating, such Holder shall furnish to the Company in writing such information and affidavits as the Company reasonably requests for use in connection with any such Registration Statement or Prospectus and, to the extent permitted by law, shall indemnify the Company, its directors and officers and agents and each person who controls the Company (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any untrue statement of material fact contained in the Registration Statement, Prospectus or preliminary Prospectus or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or any omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, but only to the extent that such untrue statement or omission is contained in any information or affidavit so furnished in writing by such Holder expressly for use therein. The Holders of Registrable Securities shall indemnify the Underwriters, their officers, directors and each person who controls such Underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided in the foregoing with respect to indemnification of the Company. For the avoidance of doubt, the obligation to indemnify under this Section 4.01(b) shall be several, not joint and several, among the Holders of Registrable Securities, and the total indemnification liability of a Holder under this Section 4.01(b) shall be in proportion to and limited to the net proceeds received by such Holder from the sale of Registrable Securities pursuant to such Registration Statement.

 

(c) Any person entitled to indemnification herein shall (i) give prompt written notice to the indemnifying party of any claim with respect to which it seeks indemnification (provided that the failure to give prompt notice shall not impair any person’s right to indemnification hereunder to the extent such failure has not materially prejudiced the indemnifying party) and (ii) unless in such indemnified party’s reasonable judgment a conflict of interest between such indemnified and indemnifying parties may exist with respect to such claim, permit such indemnifying party to assume the defense of such claim with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party. If such defense is assumed, the indemnifying party shall not be subject to any liability for any settlement made by the indemnified party without its consent (but such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld). An indemnifying party who is not entitled to, or elects not to, assume the defense of a claim shall not be obligated to pay the fees and expenses of more than one counsel for all parties indemnified by such indemnifying party with respect to such claim, unless in the reasonable judgment of any indemnified party a conflict of interest may exist between such indemnified party and any other of such indemnified parties with respect to such claim. No indemnifying party shall, without the consent of the indemnified party, consent to the entry of any judgment or enter into any settlement which cannot be settled in all respects by the payment of money (and such money is so paid by the indemnifying party pursuant to the terms of such settlement) or which settlement does not include as an unconditional term thereof the giving by the claimant or plaintiff to such indemnified party of a release from all liability in respect to such claim or litigation.

 

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(d) The indemnification provided for under this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the indemnified party or any officer, director or controlling person of such indemnified party and shall survive the transfer of securities.

 

(e) If the indemnification provided under Section 4.01 hereof from the indemnifying party is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses referred to herein, then the indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying the indemnified party, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by the indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative fault of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative fault of the indemnifying party and indemnified party shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any action in question, including any untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact, was made by, or relates to information supplied by, such indemnifying party or indemnified party, and the indemnifying party’s and indemnified party’s relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such action; provided , however , that the liability of any Holder under this subsection 4.01(e) shall be limited to the amount of the net proceeds received by such Holder in such offering giving rise to such liability. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the losses or other liabilities referred to above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth in subsections 4.01(a) , 4.01(b) and 4.01(c) above, any legal or other fees, charges or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with any investigation or proceeding. The parties hereto agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection 4.01(e) were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation, which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this subsection 4.01(e) . No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution pursuant to this subsection 4.01(e) from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

Article V.

Miscellaneous

 

Section 5.01  Notices . Any notice or communication under this Agreement must be in writing and given by (a) deposit in the United States mail, addressed to the party to be notified, postage prepaid and registered or certified with return receipt requested, (b) delivery in person or by courier service providing evidence of delivery, or (c) transmission by hand delivery, electronic mail, telecopy, telegram or facsimile. Each notice or communication that is mailed, delivered, or transmitted in the manner described above shall be deemed sufficiently given, served, sent, and received, in the case of mailed notices, on the third business day following the date on which it is mailed and, in the case of notices delivered by courier service, hand delivery, electronic mail, telecopy, telegram or facsimile, at such time as it is delivered to the addressee (with the delivery receipt or the affidavit of messenger) or at such time as delivery is refused by the addressee upon presentation. Any notice or communication under this Agreement must be addressed, if to the Company, to: 50 West Street, Suite 40C, New York, NY 10006, Attention: Robert S. Mancini, and, if to any Holder, at such Holder’s address or facsimile number as set forth in the Company’s books and records. Any party may change its address for notice at any time and from time to time by written notice to the other parties hereto, and such change of address shall become effective thirty (30) days after delivery of such notice as provided in this Section 5.01 .

 

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Section 5.02  Assignment; No Third Party Beneficiaries .

 

(a) This Agreement and the rights, duties and obligations of the Company hereunder may not be assigned or delegated by the Company in whole or in part.

 

(b) Prior to the expiration of the Founder Shares Lock-up Period or the Private Placement Lock-up Period, as the case may be, no Holder may assign or delegate such Holder’s rights, duties or obligations under this Agreement, in whole or in part, except in connection with a transfer of Registrable Securities by such Holder to a Permitted Transferee.

 

(c) This Agreement and the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of each of the parties and its successors and the permitted assigns of the Holders, which shall include Permitted Transferees.

 

(d) This Agreement shall not confer any rights or benefits on any persons that are not parties hereto, other than as expressly set forth in this Agreement and Section 5.02 hereof.

 

(e) No assignment by any party hereto of such party’s rights, duties and obligations hereunder shall be binding upon or obligate the Company unless and until the Company shall have received (i) written notice of such assignment as provided in Section 5.01 hereof and (ii) the written agreement of the assignee, in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Company, to be bound by the terms and provisions of this Agreement (which may be accomplished by an addendum or certificate of joinder to this Agreement). Any transfer or assignment made other than as provided in this Section 5.02 shall be null and void.

 

Section 5.03  Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in multiple counterparts (including facsimile or PDF counterparts), each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute the same instrument, but only one of which need be produced.

 

Section 5.04  Governing Law; Venue . NOTWITHSTANDING THE PLACE WHERE THIS AGREEMENT MAY BE EXECUTED BY ANY OF THE PARTIES HERETO, THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AS APPLIED TO AGREEMENTS AMONG NEW YORK RESIDENTS ENTERED INTO AND TO BE PERFORMED ENTIRELY WITHIN NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO THE CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION AND THE VENUE FOR ANY ACTION TAKEN WITH RESPECT TO THE AGREEMENT SHALL BE ANY STATE OR FEDERAL COURT IN NEW YORK COUNTY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

 

16  

 

 

 

EACH PARTY HERETO ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT ANY CONTROVERSY WHICH MAY ARISE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IS LIKELY TO INVOLVE COMPLICATED AND DIFFICULT ISSUES, AND, THEREFORE, EACH SUCH PARTY HEREBY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY RIGHT SUCH PARTY MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT TO ANY ACTION DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF, UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THIS AGREEMENT.

 

Section 5.05  Amendments and Modifications . Upon the written consent of the Company and the Holders of at least a majority-in-interest of the Registrable Securities at the time in question, compliance with any of the provisions, covenants and conditions set forth in this Agreement may be waived, or any of such provisions, covenants or conditions may be amended or modified; provided , however , that notwithstanding the foregoing, (a) any amendment hereto or waiver hereof that adversely affects one Holder, solely in his, her or its capacity as a holder of the shares of capital stock of the Company, in a manner that is materially different from the other Holders (in such capacity) shall require the consent of the Holder so affected and (b) any amendment hereto or waiver hereof that adversely affects the right of any Anchor Investor shall require the consent of such entity. No course of dealing between any Holder or the Company and any other party hereto or any failure or delay on the part of a Holder or the Company in exercising any rights or remedies under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of any rights or remedies of any Holder or the Company. No single or partial exercise of any rights or remedies under this Agreement by a party shall operate as a waiver or preclude the exercise of any other rights or remedies hereunder or thereunder by such party.

 

Section 5.06  Other Registration Rights . The Company represents and warrants that no person, other than a Holder of Registrable Securities, has any right to require the Company to register any securities of the Company for sale or to include such securities of the Company in any Registration filed by the Company for the sale of securities for its own account or for the account of any other person. Further, the Company represents and warrants that this Agreement supersedes any other registration rights agreement or agreement with similar terms and conditions and in the event of a conflict between any such agreement or agreements and this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail.

 

Section 5.07  Term . This Agreement shall terminate upon the earlier of (a) the tenth anniversary of the date of this Agreement, (b) the date as of which (x) all of the Registrable Securities have been sold pursuant to a Registration Statement (but in no event prior to the applicable period referred to in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Rule 174 thereunder (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission)) or (y) the Holders of all Registrable Securities are permitted to sell the Registrable Securities under Rule 144 (or any similar provision) under the Securities Act without limitation on the amount of securities sold or the manner of sale or (c) with respect to a particular Holder, the date as of which all Registrable Securities held by such Holder have been sold (x) pursuant to a Registration Statement (but in no event prior to the applicable period referred to in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Rule 174 thereunder (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission)) or (y) under Rule 144 (or any similar provision) or another exemption from registration under the Securities Act. The provisions of Section 3.05 and Article IV shall survive any termination.

 

[Signature Pages Follow]

 

17  

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have caused this Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

 

  COMPANY :
     
  RMG ACQUISITION CORP. ,
  a Delaware corporation
     
  By:  
  Name:   Robert S. Mancini
  Title: Chief Executive Officer
     
  HOLDERS :
     
  RMG SPONSOR, LLC
  By: MKC Investments LLC, As Sole Managing Member of RMG Sponsor, LLC
     
     
  [PURCHASER]
  By: [BlackRock Financial Management Inc., in its capacity as investment advisor]
  By:  
  Name:  
     
  [PURCHASER]
  By:

 

 

  By:  
  Name:  

 

[Signature Page to Registration Rights Agreement]

 

 

 

Exhibit 10.5

 

AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE SECURITIES SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT

 

THIS AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE SECURITIES SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT, dated as of January 16, 2019 (this “ Amendment ”), is entered into by and between RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Purchaser ”).

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Purchaser entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement dated as of November 6, 2018 (the “ Original Agreement ”), pursuant to which the Purchaser purchased 7,187,500 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, for an aggregate price of $25,000;

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Purchaser desire to enter into this Amendment to amend the Original Agreement as provided herein.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained in this Agreement and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties to this Agreement hereby, intending legally to be bound, agree as follows:

 

Article I.
AMENDMENT TO ORIGINAL AGREEMENT

 

Section 3.01 of the Original Agreement shall be amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

 

“Section 3.01 Partial or No Exercise of the Over-allotment Option . In the event the Over-allotment Option granted to the underwriters of the IPO is not exercised in full, the Subscriber acknowledges and agrees that it (or, if applicable, it and any transferees of Shares) shall forfeit any and all rights to such number of Shares (up to an aggregate of 750,000 Shares) such that immediately following such forfeiture, the Subscriber (and all other initial stockholders prior to the IPO, if any) will own an aggregate number of Shares, not including any shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Common Stock” and, together with the Class B Common Stock, the “Common Stock”), issuable upon exercise of any warrants or any shares of Class A Common Stock purchased by Subscriber in the IPO or in the aftermarket, equal to twenty percent (20%) of the issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock immediately following the IPO.”

 

Article II.
Miscellaneous

 

Section 2.01 Benefit . All statements, representations, warranties, covenants and agreements in this Amendment shall be binding on the parties hereto and shall inure to the benefit of the respective successors and permitted assigns of each party hereto. Nothing in this Amendment shall be construed to create any rights or obligations except among the parties hereto, and no person or entity shall be regarded as a third-party beneficiary of this Amendment.

 

Section 2.02 Governing Law . This Amendment and the rights and obligations of the parties hereunder shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of New York applicable to contracts wholly performed within the borders of such state, without giving effect to the conflict of law principles thereof.

 

Section 2.03 Severability . In the event that any court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that any provision, or any portion thereof, contained in this Amendment shall be unreasonable or unenforceable in any respect, then such provision shall be deemed limited to the extent that such court deems it reasonable and enforceable, and as so limited shall remain in full force and effect. In the event that such court shall deem any such provision, or portion thereof, wholly unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Amendment shall nevertheless remain in full force and effect.

 

Section 2.04 Headings and Captions . The headings and captions of the various subdivisions of this Amendment are for convenience of reference only and shall in no way modify or affect the meaning or construction of any of the terms or provisions hereof.

 

Section 2.05 Counterparts . This Amendment may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to the other party, it being understood that both parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission or any other form of electronic delivery, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such signature page were an original thereof.

 

[ Signature Page Follows. ]

 

 

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have executed this Amendment to be effective as of the date first set forth above.

 

  SPONSOR:
     
  RMG SPONSOR, LLC
     
  By: MKC Investments LLC, as Sole Managing Member of RMG Sponsor, LLC
     
     
  By: /s/ Philip Kassin
  Name: Philip Kassin
  Title: President, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary
     
     
  COMPANY:
     
  RMG ACQUISITION CORP.
     
     
  By: /s/ Philip Kassin
  Name:   Philip Kassin
  Title: President, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary

  

 

 

Exhibit 10.6

 

THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 OR THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION. THERE ARE FURTHER RESTRICTIONS ON THE TRANSFERABILITY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

 

THE PURCHASE OF THE SECURITIES INVOLVES A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ONLY BY PERSONS WHO CAN BEAR THE RISK OF THE LOSS OF THEIR ENTIRE INVESTMENT.

 

SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT

 

This Subscription Agreement (this “ Agreement ”) is entered into as of January 16, 2019, by and among RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), and [PURCHASER], a [ ● ] (the “ Purchaser ”).

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS, the Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “ Business Combination ”);

 

WHEREAS, the Company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ SEC ”) a registration statement on Form S-1 (the “ Registration Statement ”) for its initial public offering (“ IPO ”) of units (the “ Units ”), at a price of $10.00 per Unit, each Unit comprised of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“ Class A Common Stock ”, and the shares of Class A Common Stock included in the Units, the “ Public Shares ”), and one-third of one warrant, where each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (the “ Warrants ”);

 

WHEREAS, proceeds from (i) the IPO and (ii) the sale of the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below), in an aggregate amount equal to the gross proceeds from the IPO will be deposited into a trust account for the benefit of the holders of the Public Shares (the “ Trust Account ”), as described in the Registration Statement;

 

WHEREAS, following the closing of the IPO (the “ IPO Closing ”), the Company will seek to identify and consummate a Business Combination;

 

WHEREAS, in connection with the IPO, the Sponsor and the Purchaser will purchase, in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the IPO Closing, warrants that are identical to the Warrants, except that they will not be redeemable for cash and will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor, the Purchaser or their respective permitted transferees (the “ Private Placement Warrants ”), for a purchase price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant;

 

WHEREAS, the parties wish to enter into this Agreement, pursuant to which the Purchaser shall subscribe for and purchase (i) a portion of the total number of shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (“ Founder Shares ” or “ Class B Common Stock ”, and collectively with the shares of Class A Common Stock, the “ Common Stock ”) to be issued prior to the IPO and (ii) Private Placement Warrants (together with the Founder Shares, the “ Subscribed Securities ”); and

 

 

 

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Sponsor have entered into or intend to concurrently with this Agreement enter into agreements (collectively, the “ Subscription Agreements ”) in the form of this Agreement with certain other parties (together with the Purchaser, the “ Subscribing Parties ”) for the purchase of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants as set forth therein.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises, representations, warranties and the mutual covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt, sufficiency and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:

 

AGREEMENT

 

Article I.
Sale and Purchase

 

Section 1.01         Securities .

 

(a)                Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, the Purchaser hereby irrevocably subscribes for and agrees to purchase from the Company, and the Company agrees to issue and sell to the Purchaser, the number of Subscribed Securities set forth on Schedule A hereto for the aggregate purchase price set forth on Schedule A hereto (the “ Purchase Price ”); provided, however , that the Purchaser’s subscription for and agreement to purchase, and the Company’s agreement to issue and sell, the Private Placement Warrants included in the Subscribed Securities are subject to the Subscribing Parties’ purchase of an aggregate of 2,530,000 Units in the IPO (the “ IPO Threshold ”); and provided further , that if the actual number of Units offered and sold in the IPO is less than 20,000,000 (without regard to the over-allotment option), then the IPO Threshold shall be automatically reduced on a pro rata basis, calculated as a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of Units sold in the IPO (without regard to the over-allotment option) and the denominator is 20,000,000. The Purchaser acknowledges that the Subscribed Securities, and any securities of the Company that may be distributed to the Purchaser on account of the Subscribed Securities (collectively, the “ Securities ”), will be subject to restrictions on transfer as set forth in this Agreement.

 

(b)                On the date hereof, (A) the Company shall issue to the Purchaser the number of Founder Shares set forth on Schedule A hereto, in consideration for the Purchaser’s payment of the portion of the Purchase Price applicable to such Founder Shares, as set forth on Schedule A hereto, by wire transfer of immediately available funds or other means approved by the Company, and (B) the Sponsor shall forfeit to the Company for cancellation, for no consideration, and have no further right, title or interest in, an equal number of Founder Shares. If the IPO Closing has not occurred by March 31, 2019, then the Company will promptly redeem the Purchaser’s Founder Shares issued pursuant to this Section 1.01(b) for a cash payment equal to the Purchase Price paid by the Purchaser in respect of such Founder Shares.

 

  2  

 

 

(c)                The Company shall notify the Purchaser in writing of the anticipated date of the effectiveness of the Registration Statement (the “ Effective Date ”) at least three (3) Business Days (as defined below) prior to the Effective Date, and the Purchaser shall remit the balance of the Purchase Price to the Company’s transfer agent (to be held in escrow pending the IPO Closing), by wire transfer of immediately available funds or other means approved by the Company, on the date that is one Business Day prior to the Effective Date, or such other date as the Company and the Purchaser may agree upon in writing. For purposed of this Agreement, “ Business Day ” means any day, other than a Saturday or a Sunday, that is neither a legal holiday nor a day on which banking institutions are generally authorized or required by law or regulation to close in the City of New York, New York. If the IPO Closing has not occurred by the date that is seven (7) Business Days after the date on which the Purchaser remitted the balance of its Purchase Price to the Company’s transfer agent, then, unless the Purchaser otherwise agrees in writing, the Company will promptly cause its transfer agent to return such amounts to the Purchaser.

 

(d)                On the date of the IPO Closing, and subject to the Subscribing Parties’ purchase of a number of Units in the IPO equal to or greater than the IPO Threshold, the Company shall issue to the Purchaser the number of Private Placement Warrants set forth on Schedule A hereto.

 

(e)                If the Subscribing Parties do not purchase a number of Units in the IPO equal to or greater than the IPO Threshold, then the Company will promptly (i) redeem the Purchaser’s Founder Shares issued pursuant to this Section 1.01(e) for a cash payment equal to the Purchase Price paid by the Purchaser in respect of such Founder Shares and (ii) cause its transfer agent to return to the Purchaser an amount equal to the Purchase Price paid by the Purchaser in respect of the Private Placement Warrants.

 

Section 1.02         Delivery of Securities .

 

(a)                The Company shall register the Purchaser as the owner of the Subscribed Securities with the Company’s transfer agent by book entry on or prior to the date of the IPO Closing (provided that prior to the date of the IPO Closing the Company shall register the Purchaser as the owner of such securities in the Company’s stock ledger upon issuance thereof).

 

(b)                Each register and book entry for the Securities shall contain a notation, and each certificate (if any) evidencing the Securities shall be stamped or otherwise imprinted with a legend, in substantially the following form:

 

“THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “ SECURITIES ACT ”), OR STATE SECURITIES LAWS AND CANNOT BE OFFERED, SOLD, OR TRANSFERRED IN THE ABSENCE OF REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS AND REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER. THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED BY THE REGISTERED OWNER HEREOF FOR INVESTMENT AND NOT WITH A VIEW TO OR FOR SALE IN CONNECTION WITH ANY DISTRIBUTION THEREOF IN VIOLATION OF THE SECURITIES ACT. THE SECURITIES MAY NOT BE SOLD, PLEDGED, TRANSFERRED OR ASSIGNED EXCEPT IN A TRANSACTION WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECURITIES ACT OR ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, OR PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT OR IN A TRANSACTION OTHERWISE IN COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE FEDERAL AND STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

 

  3  

 

 

THE SALE, PLEDGE, HYPOTHECATION, OR TRANSFER OF THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY ARE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF A CERTAIN SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT BY AND AMONG THE HOLDER AND THE OTHER PARTIES THERETO. COPIES OF SUCH AGREEMENT MAY BE OBTAINED UPON WRITTEN REQUEST TO THE SECRETARY OF THE COMPANY.”

 

Section 1.03         Registration Rights . On the Effective Date, the Company shall enter into a Registration Rights Agreement (the “ Registration Rights Agreement ”) with the Sponsor and the Subscribing Parties, in substantially the form provided to the Purchaser prior to the date hereof. The Registration Rights Agreement shall provide the Purchaser with registration rights with respect to the Subscribed Securities.

 

Article II.
Potential Forfeiture.

 

So long as the Subscribing Parties have purchased a number of Units in the IPO equal to or greater than the IPO Threshold, if (a) on the date of the vote by the Company’s stockholders to approve the Business Combination or (b) on the Business Day immediately prior to the scheduled closing of the Business Combination (each, a “ Determination Date ”), the Purchaser beneficially owns or holds, directly or indirectly, including through any firm commitments to purchase, a number of Public Shares (the lesser number of Public Shares so beneficially owned by the Purchaser on either Determination Date, the “ Determination Date Shares ”) that is less than the Forfeiture Threshold (as defined below), then the Purchaser shall automatically forfeit to the Company for no consideration, and have no further right, title or interest in, all of such Purchaser’s Founder Shares. For the avoidance of doubt, in calculating the number of Public Shares (if any) that the Purchaser beneficially owns or holds, directly or indirectly, for purposes of determining the number of Determination Date Shares, no Public Shares that are beneficially owned by any other Subscribing Party shall be counted (e.g., no Public Shares shall be double counted among Subscribing Parties). The Purchaser shall take all actions as may be reasonably necessary to consummate any forfeiture contemplated by this Article 2 , including entering into agreements and delivering certificates and instruments and consents as may be deemed by the Company to be necessary or appropriate (which shall not require the Purchaser to make any representations other than as to its clear title to the applicable Founder Shares and its power and authorization to effect the transactions contemplated by the applicable agreement or other instrument), and the Purchaser hereby grants to the Company and any representative designated by the Company without further action by the Purchaser a limited irrevocable power of attorney to effect any forfeiture contemplated hereby on behalf of the Purchaser, which power of attorney shall be deemed to be coupled with an interest.

 

  4  

 

 

As used herein, the “ Forfeiture Threshold ” shall initially mean [ ● ] 1 shares of Class A Common Stock; provided, that if the actual number of Units offered and sold in the IPO is less than 20,000,000 (without regard to the over-allotment option), then the Forfeiture Threshold shall be automatically reduced on a pro rata basis.

 

Article III.
Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser

 

The Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company as follows, as of the date hereof:

 

Section 3.01         Organization and Power . The Purchaser is duly organized, validly existing, and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its formation and has all requisite power and authority to carry on its business as presently conducted and as proposed to be conducted.

 

Section 3.02         Authorization . The Purchaser has full power and authority to enter into this Agreement. This Agreement, when executed and delivered by the Purchaser, will constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of the Purchaser, enforceable against the Purchaser in accordance with its terms, except (a) as limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, fraudulent conveyance and any other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally or (b) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies.

 

Section 3.03         Governmental Consents and Filings . No consent, approval, order or authorization of, or registration, qualification, designation, declaration or filing with, any federal, state or local governmental authority is required on the part of the Purchaser in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except for filings pursuant to applicable securities laws, rules or regulations.

 

Section 3.04         Compliance with Other Instruments . The execution, delivery and performance by the Purchaser of this Agreement and the consummation by the Purchaser of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in any violation or default (a) of any provisions of its organizational documents, (b) of any instrument, judgment, order, writ or decree to which it is a party or by which it is bound, (c) under any note, indenture or mortgage to which it is a party or by which it is bound, (d) under any lease, agreement, contract or purchase order to which it is a party or by which it is bound or (e) of any provision of federal or state statute, rule or regulation applicable to the Purchaser, in each case (other than clause (a)), which would have a material adverse effect on the Purchaser’s ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

Section 3.05          Purchase Entirely for Own Account . This Agreement is made with the Purchaser in reliance upon the Purchaser’s representation to the Company, which by the Purchaser’s execution of this Agreement, the Purchaser hereby confirms, that the Securities to be acquired by the Purchaser will be acquired for investment for the Purchaser’s own account, not as a nominee or agent, and not with a view to the resale or distribution of any part thereof in violation of any state or federal securities laws, and that the Purchaser has no present intention of selling, granting any participation in, or otherwise distributing the same in violation of law. By executing this Agreement, the Purchaser further represents that the Purchaser does not presently have any contract, undertaking, agreement or arrangement with any Person (other than the Company) to sell, transfer or grant participations to such Person or to any third Person, with respect to any of the Securities. For purposes of this Agreement, “ Person ” means an individual, a limited liability company, a partnership, a joint venture, a corporation, a trust, an unincorporated organization, any other entity or any government or any department or agency thereof. 

 

 

1 Note to Draft: The Forfeiture Threshold shall be equal to the number of Class A Shares purchased by the Purchaser in the IPO.

 

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Section 3.06         Disclosure of Information . The Purchaser has had an opportunity to discuss the Company’s business, management, financial affairs and the terms and conditions of the offering of the Securities, as well as the terms of the Company’s proposed IPO, with the Company’s management.

 

Section 3.07         Restricted Securities . The Purchaser understands that the offer and sale of the Securities to the Purchaser has not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, by reason of a specific exemption from the registration provisions of the Securities Act which depends upon, among other things, the bona fide nature of the investment intent and the accuracy of the Purchaser’s representations as expressed herein. The Purchaser understands that the Securities are “restricted securities” under applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws and that, pursuant to these laws, the Purchaser must hold the Securities indefinitely unless they are registered with the SEC and qualified by state authorities, or an exemption from such registration and qualification requirements is available. The Purchaser acknowledges that the Company has no obligation to register or qualify the Securities except pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement. The Purchaser further acknowledges that if an exemption from registration or qualification is available, it may be conditioned on various requirements including, but not limited to, the time and manner of sale, the holding period for the Securities, and on requirements relating to the Company which are outside of the Purchaser’s control, and which the Company is under no obligation and may not be able to satisfy. The Purchaser acknowledges that the Company has filed the Registration Statement for its proposed IPO. The Purchaser understands that the offering of Securities and transactions contemplated hereunder are not and are not intended to be part of the IPO, and that the Purchaser will not be able to rely on the protection of Section 11 of the Securities Act with respect to its purchase of Securities hereunder.

 

Section 3.08         No Public Market . The Purchaser understands that no public market now exists for the Securities, and that the Company has not made any assurances that a public market will ever exist for the Securities.

 

Section 3.09         High Degree of Risk . The Purchaser understands that the purchase of the Subscribed Securities involves a high degree of risk which could cause the Purchaser to lose all or part of its investment.

 

Section 3.10         Accredited Investor . The Purchaser is an accredited investor as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

 

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Section 3.11         No General Solicitation . Neither the Purchaser, nor any of its officers, directors, employees, agents, stockholders or partners has either directly or indirectly, including, through a broker or finder (a) to its knowledge, engaged in any general solicitation, or (b) published any advertisement in connection with the offer and sale of the Securities.

 

Section 3.12         Place of Investment Decision . The Purchaser’s investment decision was made in the office or offices located at the address of the Purchaser set forth in Section 6.01 .

 

Section 3.13         Adequacy of Financing . The Purchaser will, when such funds are due hereunder, have sufficient funds to satisfy its obligations under this Agreement.

 

Section 3.14         No Other Representations and Warranties; Non-Reliance . Except for the specific representations and warranties contained in this Article 3 and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, none of the Purchaser nor any person acting on behalf of the Purchaser nor any of the Purchaser’s affiliates (the “ Purchaser Parties ”) has made, makes or shall be deemed to make any other express or implied representation or warranty with respect to the Purchaser and this offering, and the Purchaser Parties disclaim any such representation or warranty. Except for the specific representations and warranties expressly made by the Company in Article 4 of this Agreement and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, the Purchaser Parties specifically disclaim that they are relying upon any other representations or warranties that may have been made by the Company, any person on behalf of the Company or any of the Company’s affiliates (collectively, the “ Company Parties ”) with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

Article IV.
Representations, Warranties AND COVENANTS of the Company

 

The Company represents, warrants and covenants to the Purchaser as follows:

 

Section 4.01         Organization and Corporate Power . The Company is incorporated and validly existing and in good standing as a corporation under the laws of Delaware and has all requisite corporate power and authority to carry on its business as presently conducted and as proposed to be conducted.

 

Section 4.02         Capitalization . As of the date hereof, the authorized share capital of the Company consists:

 

(a)                100,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, none of which are issued and outstanding;

 

(b)                10,000,000 shares of Class B Common Stock, 5,750,000 of which are issued and outstanding and held by the Sponsor. All of the outstanding 5,750,000 shares of Class B Common Stock have been duly authorized, are fully paid and nonassessable and were issued in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws.

 

(c)                1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, none of which are issued and outstanding.

 

  7  

 

 

Section 4.03         Authorization . All corporate action required to be taken by the Company’s Board of Directors and stockholders in order to authorize the Company to enter into this Agreement, and to issue the Subscribed Securities, has been taken on or prior to the date hereof. This Agreement, when executed and delivered by the Company, shall constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except (a) as limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, fraudulent conveyance, or other laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally or (b) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief, or other equitable remedies.

 

Section 4.04         Valid Issuance of Securities .

 

(a)                The Subscribed Securities, when issued, sold and delivered in accordance with the terms and for the consideration set forth in this Agreement, will be validly issued and fully paid, as applicable, and free of all preemptive or similar rights, taxes, liens, encumbrances and charges with respect to the issue thereof and restrictions on transfer other than restrictions on transfer specified under this Agreement, applicable state and federal securities laws and liens or encumbrances created by or imposed by the Purchaser. Assuming the accuracy of the representations of the Purchaser in this Agreement and subject to the filings described in  Section 4.05  below, the Subscribed Securities will be issued in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, rules and regulations.

 

(b)                No “bad actor” disqualifying event described in Rule 506(d)(1)(i)-(viii) of the Securities Act (a “Disqualification Event”) is applicable to the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any Company Covered Person (as defined below), except for a Disqualification Event as to which Rule 506(d)(2)(ii)-(iv) or (d)(3), is applicable. “Company Covered Person” means, with respect to the Company as an “issuer” for purposes of Rule 506 promulgated under the Securities Act, any Person listed in the first paragraph of Rule 506(d)(1).

 

Section 4.05         IPO .

 

(a)                The Company has provided to the Purchaser, and will at all times prior to the consummation of the IPO promptly provide to the Purchaser, copies of all correspondence sent by the Company to, or received by the Company from, the SEC.

 

(b)                The offers and sales of securities in the IPO will be made pursuant to an effective Registration Statement and otherwise in compliance with the Securities Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and applicable state securities laws, rules and regulations.

 

Section 4.06         Governmental Consents and Filings . Assuming the accuracy of the representations made by the Purchaser in this Agreement, no consent, approval, order or authorization of, or registration, qualification, designation, declaration or filing with, any federal, state or local governmental authority is required on the part of the Company in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except for filings pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act, applicable state securities laws, if any.

 

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Section 4.07         Compliance with Other Instruments . The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in any violation or default (a) of any provisions of the certificate of incorporation, bylaws or other governing documents of the Company, (b) of any instrument, judgment, order, writ or decree to which the Company is a party or by which it is bound, (c) under any note, indenture or mortgage to which the Company is a party or by which it is bound, (d) under any lease, agreement, contract or purchase order to which the Company is a party or by which it is bound or (e) of any provision of federal or state statute, rule or regulation applicable to the Company, in each case (other than clause (a)) which would have a material adverse effect on the Company or its ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

Section 4.08         Operations . As of the date hereof, the Company has not conducted, and prior to the IPO Closing the Company will not conduct, any operations other than organizational activities and activities in connection with offerings of the Securities.

 

Section 4.09         Foreign Corrupt Practices . Neither the Company, nor any director, officer, agent, employee or other Person acting on behalf of the Company has, in the course of its actions for, or on behalf of, the Company (a) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expenses relating to political activity; (b) made any direct or indirect unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee from corporate funds; (c) violated or is in violation of any provision of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended; or (d) made any unlawful bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee.

 

Section 4.10         Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Laws . The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements and all other applicable U.S. and non-U.S. anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, those of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the applicable money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “ Anti-Money Laundering Laws ”), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.

 

Section 4.11         Absence of Litigation . There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company or any of the Company’s officers or directors, whether of a civil or criminal nature or otherwise, in their capacities as such.

 

Section 4.12         No General Solicitation . Neither the Company, nor any of its officers, managers, employees, agents or members has either directly or indirectly, including, through a broker or finder (a) engaged in any general solicitation, or (b) published any advertisement in connection with the offer and sale of the Subscribed Securities.

 

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Section 4.13         Non-Public Information . The Company represents and warrants that, to its knowledge, none of the information conveyed to the Purchaser in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will constitute material non-public information of the Company upon the effectiveness of the Registration Statement.

 

Section 4.14         No Other Representations and Warranties; Non-Reliance . Except for the specific representations and warranties contained in this Article 4 and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, none of the Company Parties has made, makes or shall be deemed to make any other express or implied representation or warranty with respect to the Company or the offering of Securities hereunder, and the Company Parties disclaim any such representation or warranty. Except for the specific representations and warranties expressly made by the Purchaser in Article 3 of this Agreement and in any certificate or agreement delivered pursuant hereto, the Company Parties specifically disclaim that they are relying upon any other representations or warranties that may have been made by the Purchaser Parties.

 

Article V.
Additional Agreements and Acknowledgements of the Purchaser.

 

Section 5.01         Transfer Restrictions . The Purchaser agrees that it shall not Transfer (as defined below) (a) any Founder Shares until the earlier of (i) one year after the closing of a Business Combination (the “ Business Combination Closing ”) and (ii) subsequent to the Business Combination Closing (x) if the last sale price of the Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Business Combination Closing, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property and (b) any Private Placement Warrants and the Class A Common Stock underlying such Private Placement Warrants, until 30 days after the Business Combination Closing. Notwithstanding the first sentence hereinabove, Transfers of the Securities are permitted (i) to the Company’s officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of officer or director, any members of the Sponsor, or any affiliates of the Sponsor; (ii) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family, to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization; (iii) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (iv) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (v) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the applicable Securities were originally purchased; (vi) in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to the completion of a Business Combination; (vii) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of the Sponsor; (viii) to the Purchaser’s affiliates, to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the Purchaser, or to any investment manager or investment advisor of the Purchaser or an affiliate of any such investment manager or investment advisor or to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by such Persons; and (ix) in the event of completion of a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their Common Stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination (each of the foregoing, a “ Permitted Transferee ”); provided, however, that in the case of clauses (i) through (viii), these Permitted Transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement, including the forfeiture provisions of Article 2 and these transfer restrictions. As used in this Agreement, “ Transfer ” shall mean the (x) sale of, offer to sell, contract or agreement to sell, hypothecation, pledge, grant of any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agreement to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establishment or increase of a put equivalent position or liquidation with respect to or decrease of a call equivalent position (within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ”), and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder) with respect to, any of the Securities; (y) entry into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any of the Securities, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such Securities, in cash or otherwise, or (z) public announcement of any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (x) or (y); provided, that this Section 5.01 shall not prohibit the Purchaser from effecting a Short Sale (as defined below) with securities that do not constitute “Securities” under this Agreement.

 

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Section 5.02         Trust Account .

 

(a)                The Purchaser hereby acknowledges that it is aware that the Company will establish the Trust Account for the benefit of its public stockholders upon the IPO Closing. The Purchaser hereby agrees that it has no right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account, or any other asset of the Company as a result of any liquidation of the Company, except for redemption and liquidation rights, if any, the Purchaser may have in respect of any Public Shares held by it.

 

(b)                The Purchaser hereby agrees that it shall have no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind (“ Claim ”) to, or to any monies in, the Trust Account, and hereby irrevocably waives any Claim to, or to any monies in, the Trust Account that it may have now or in the future, except for redemption and liquidation rights, if any, the Purchaser may have in respect of any Public Shares held by it. In the event the Purchaser has any Claim against the Company under this Agreement, the Purchaser shall pursue such Claim solely against the Company and its assets outside the Trust Account and not against the property or any monies in the Trust Account, except for redemption and liquidation rights, if any, the Purchaser may have in respect of any Public Shares held by it.

 

Section 5.03         No Short Sales . The Purchaser hereby agrees that neither it, nor any person or entity acting on its behalf, will engage in any Short Sales with respect to securities of the Company prior to the Business Combination Closing. For purposes of this Article 5 , “ Short Sales ” shall include, without limitation, all “short sales” as defined in Rule 200 promulgated under Regulation SHO under the Exchange Act, and all types of direct and indirect stock pledges (other than pledges in the ordinary course of business as part of prime brokerage arrangements), forward sale contracts, options, puts, calls, swaps and similar arrangements (including on a total return basis).

 

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Section 5.04         Use of Purchaser’s Name . Neither the Company nor the Sponsor will, without the written consent of the Purchaser in each instance, use in advertising, publicity or otherwise the name of the Purchaser or any of its affiliates, or any director, officer or employee of the Purchaser, nor any trade name, trademark, trade device, service mark, symbol or any abbreviation, contraction or simulation thereof owned by the Purchaser or its affiliates or any information relating to the business or operations of the Purchaser or its affiliates (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any investment vehicles, funds or accounts managed thereby). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company may disclose (a) the Purchaser’s name and information concerning the Purchaser (i) to the extent required by law, regulation or regulatory request, including in the Registration Statement to the extent required by the rules or regulations of the SEC applicable thereto or pursuant to a request for such disclosure from the Staff of the SEC or FINRA or (ii) to the Company’s lawyers, independent accountants and to other advisors and service providers who reasonably require the Purchaser’s information in connection with the provision of services to the Company, are advised of the confidential nature of such information and are obligated to keep such information confidential, and (b) the Purchaser’s name and the terms of this Agreement to the other Subscribing Parties. The Company and the Sponsor agree to provide to the Purchaser for the Purchaser’s review any disclosure in any registration statement or other document in advance of the submission, filing or disclosure of such document in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement with respect to the Purchaser or any of their respective affiliates, and will not make any such submission, filing or disclosure without including any revisions reasonably requested by the Purchaser or if the Purchaser has a good faith objection to such submission, filing or disclosure.

 

Section 5.05         Stock Exchange Listing . The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to effect and maintain the listing of the Class A Common Stock and Warrants on the New York Stock Exchange (or another national securities exchange) until the third anniversary of the consummation of a Business Combination.

 

Article VI.
General Provisions.

 

Section 6.01         Notices . All notices and other communications given or made pursuant to this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed effectively given upon the earlier of actual receipt, or (a) personal delivery to the party to be notified, (b) when sent, if sent by electronic mail or facsimile (if any) during normal business hours of the recipient, and if not sent during normal business hours, then on the recipient’s next Business Day, (c) five (5) Business Days after having been sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, or (d) one (1) Business Day after deposit with a nationally recognized overnight courier, freight prepaid, specifying next Business Day delivery, with written verification of receipt. All communications sent to the Company shall be sent to: RMG Acquisition Corp., 50 West Street, Suite 40C, New York, NY 10006, Attention: Chief Executive Officer, Email: rmancini@rmginvestments.com, with a copy to Latham & Watkins LLP, 811 Main Street, Suite 3700, Houston, Texas 77002, Attention: Debbie P. Yee, Email: Debbie.yee@lw.com.

 

All communications to the Purchaser shall be sent to: [ ● ], Attn: [ ● ], with copies to (i) [ ● ], Attn: [ ● ], Email: [ ● ].

 

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Section 6.02         No Finder’s Fees . Each party represents that it neither is nor will be obligated for any finder’s fee or commission in connection with this transaction. The Purchaser agrees to indemnify and to hold harmless the Company from any liability for any commission or compensation in the nature of a finder’s or broker’s fee arising out of this transaction (and the costs and expenses of defending against such liability or asserted liability) for which the Purchaser or any of its officers, employees or representatives are responsible. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Purchaser from any liability for any commission or compensation in the nature of a finder’s or broker’s fee arising out of this transaction (and the costs and expenses of defending against such liability or asserted liability) for which the Company or any of its officers, employees or representatives are responsible.   

 

Section 6.03         Survival of Representations and Warranties . All of the representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

Section 6.04         Indemnification .

 

(a)                In consideration of the Purchaser’s execution and delivery of this Agreement and acquiring the Securities hereunder and in addition to all of the Company’s other obligations under this Agreement, the Company and the Sponsor shall, jointly and severally, defend, protect, indemnify and hold harmless the Purchaser and all of its stockholders, partners, members, officers, directors, employees and direct or indirect investors and any of the foregoing persons’ agents or other representatives (including, without limitation, those retained in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) (collectively, the “ Purchaser Indemnitees ”), from and against any and all actions, causes of action, suits, claims, losses, c osts, penalties, fees, liabilities and damages, and expenses in connection therewith (irrespective of whether any such Purchaser Indemnitee is a party to the action for which indemnification hereunder is sought), and including actual and reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements (the “ Purchaser Indemnified Liabilities ”), incurred by any Purchaser Indemnitee as a result of, or arising out of, or relating to (a) breach of any representation or warranty made by the Company in this Agreement, (b) any breach of any covenant, agreement or obligation of the Company contained in this Agreement or (c) any cause of action, suit or claim brought or made against such Purchaser Indemnitee by a third party (including for these purposes a derivative action brought on behalf of the Company) and arising out of or resulting from the execution, delivery, performance or enforcement of this Agreement, in each case except for any such losses, costs, penalties, fees, liabilities, damages, or expenses that have been found by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction to have solely resulted from the gross negligence, material breach or willful misconduct of such Purchaser Indemnitee. To the extent that the foregoing undertaking by the Company may be unenforceable for any reason, the Company shall make the maximum contribution to the payment and satisfaction of each of the Purchaser Indemnified Liabilities that is permissible under applicable law.

 

(b)                In consideration of the Company’s execution and delivery of this Agreement and the sale of the Securities hereunder and in addition to all of the Purchaser’s other obligations under this Agreement, the Purchaser shall defend, protect, indemnify and hold harmless the Company, the Sponsor and all of their respective stockholders, partners, members, officers, directors, employees and direct or indirect investors and any of the foregoing persons’ agents or other representatives (including, without limitation, those retained in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) (collectively, the “ Company Indemnitees ”), from and against any and all actions, causes of action, suits, claims, losses, c osts, penalties, fees, liabilities and damages, and expenses in connection therewith (irrespective of whether any such Company Indemnitee is a party to the action for which indemnification hereunder is sought), and including actual and reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements (the “ Company Indemnified Liabilities ”), incurred by any Company Indemnitee as a result of, or arising out of, or relating to (a) breach of any representation or warranty made by the Purchaser in this Agreement, or (b) any breach of any covenant, agreement or obligation of the Purchaser contained in this Agreement, in each case except for any such losses, costs, penalties, fees, liabilities, damages, or expenses that have been found by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction to have solely resulted from the gross negligence, material breach or willful misconduct of such Company Indemnitee. To the extent that the foregoing undertaking by the Purchaser may be unenforceable for any reason, the Purchaser shall make the maximum contribution to the payment and satisfaction of each of the Company Indemnified Liabilities that is permissible under applicable law.

 

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(c)                Each party hereby acknowledges and agrees that each Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, may have certain rights to indemnification, advancement of expenses and/or insurance provided by other sources. Each party hereby acknowledges and agrees (i) that it is the indemnitor of first resort (i.e., its obligations to a Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, are primary and any obligation of such other sources to advance expenses or to provide indemnification for the same expenses or liabilities incurred by such Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, are secondary) and (ii) that it shall be required to advance the full amount of expenses incurred by a Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, and shall be liable for the full amount of all expenses, judgments, penalties, fines and amounts paid in settlement to the extent legally permitted and as required by the terms of this Agreement without regard to any rights a Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, may have against such other sources. Each party further agrees that no advancement or payment by such other sources on behalf of a Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, with respect to any claim for which such Purchaser Indemnitee or Company Indemnitee, as the case may be, has sought indemnification, advancement of expenses or insurance from the Company or Purchaser, as the case may be, shall affect the foregoing, and that such other sources shall have a right of contribution and/or be subrogated to the extent of such advancement or payment to all of the rights of recovery of such Purchaser Indemnitee against the Company, or such Company Indemnitee against the Purchaser.

 

(d)                Except as otherwise set forth herein, the mechanics and procedures with respect to the rights and obligations under this Section 6.04 shall be the same as those set forth in Article IV of the Registration Rights Agreement.

 

Section 6.05         Entire Agreement . This Agreement, together with any other documents, instruments and writings that are delivered pursuant hereto or referenced herein, constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto in respect of its subject matter and supersedes all prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the parties hereto, written or oral, to the extent they relate in any way to the subject matter hereof or the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

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Section 6.06         Successors . All of the terms, agreements, covenants, representations, warranties, and conditions of this Agreement are binding upon, and inure to the benefit of and are enforceable by, the parties hereto and their respective successors. Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon any party other than the parties hereto or their respective successors and assigns any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities under or by reason of this Agreement, except as expressly provided in this Agreement.

 

Section 6.07         Assignments . Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, no party hereto may assign either this Agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written approval of the other party.

 

Section 6.08         Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.

 

Section 6.09         Headings . The section headings contained in this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and will not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.

 

Section 6.10         Governing Law . This Agreement, the entire relationship of the parties hereto, and any litigation between the parties (whether grounded in contract, tort, statute, law or equity) shall be governed by, construed in accordance with, and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to its choice of laws principles.

 

Section 6.11         Jurisdiction . The parties hereby irrevocably and unconditionally (a) submit to the jurisdiction of the state courts of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for the purpose of any suit, action or other proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement, (b) agree not to commence any suit, action or other proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement except in state courts of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (c) waive, and agree not to assert, by way of motion, as a defense, or otherwise, in any such suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not subject personally to the jurisdiction of the above-named courts, that its property is exempt or immune from attachment or execution, that the suit, action or proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum, that the venue of the suit, action or proceeding is improper or that this Agreement or the subject matter hereof may not be enforced in or by such court.

 

Section 6.12         WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL . THE PARTIES HERETO HEREBY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL IN CONNECTION WITH ANY LITIGATION PURSUANT TO THIS AGREEMENT AND THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.

 

Section 6.13         Amendments . This Agreement may not be amended, modified or waived as to any particular provision, except with the prior written consent of the Company and the Purchaser.

 

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Section 6.14         Severability . The provisions of this Agreement will be deemed severable and the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision will not affect the validity or enforceability of the other provisions hereof; provided that if any provision of this Agreement, as applied to any party hereto or to any circumstance, is adjudged by a governmental authority, arbitrator, or mediator not to be enforceable in accordance with its terms, the parties hereto agree that the governmental authority, arbitrator, or mediator making such determination will have the power to modify the provision in a manner consistent with its objectives such that it is enforceable, and/or to delete specific words or phrases, and in its reduced form, such provision will then be enforceable and will be enforced.

 

Section 6.15         Expenses . Each of the Company and the Purchaser will bear its own costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation, execution and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, including all fees and expenses of agents, representatives, financial advisors, legal counsel and accountants. The Company shall be responsible for the fees of its transfer agent, stamp taxes and all of The Depository Trust Company’s fees associated with the issuance of the Securities and the securities issuable upon conversion or exercise of the Securities.

 

Section 6.16         Construction . The parties hereto have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Agreement. If an ambiguity or question of intent or interpretation arises, this Agreement will be construed as if drafted jointly by the parties hereto and no presumption or burden of proof will arise favoring or disfavoring any party hereto because of the authorship of any provision of this Agreement. Any reference to any federal, state, local, or foreign law will be deemed also to refer to law as amended and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, unless the context requires otherwise. The words “include,” “includes,” and “including” will be deemed to be followed by “without limitation.” Pronouns in masculine, feminine, and neuter genders will be construed to include any other gender, and words in the singular form will be construed to include the plural and vice versa, unless the context otherwise requires. The words “this Agreement,” “herein,” “hereof,” “hereby,” “hereunder,” and words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular subdivision unless expressly so limited. The parties hereto intend that each representation, warranty, and covenant contained herein will have independent significance. If any party hereto has breached any representation, warranty, or covenant contained herein in any respect, the fact that there exists another representation, warranty or covenant relating to the same subject matter (regardless of the relative levels of specificity) which such party hereto has not breached will not detract from or mitigate the fact that such party hereto is in breach of the first representation, warranty, or covenant.

 

Section 6.17         Waiver . No waiver by any party hereto of any default, misrepresentation, or breach of warranty or covenant hereunder, whether intentional or not, may be deemed to extend to any prior or subsequent default, misrepresentation, or breach of warranty or covenant hereunder or affect in any way any rights arising because of any prior or subsequent occurrence.

 

Section 6.18         Specific Performance . Each party hereto agrees that irreparable damage may occur in the event any provision of this Agreement was not performed by the other party hereto in accordance with the terms hereof and that the such party shall be entitled to specific performance of the terms hereof, in addition to any other remedy at law or equity.

 

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Section 6.19         Confidentiality . Except as may be required by law, regulation or applicable stock exchange listing requirements (but subject in any case to the provisions of Section 5.04 hereof), unless and until the transactions contemplated hereby and the terms hereof are publicly announced or otherwise publicly disclosed by the Company, the parties hereto shall keep confidential and shall not publicly disclose the existence or terms of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Purchaser shall be permitted to disclose any information to its affiliates and its and their respective directors, officers, employees, advisors, director or indirect owners, agents and representatives, in each case so long as such person or entity has been advised of the confidentiality obligations hereunder; provided that the Purchaser shall be liable for any breach of such confidentiality obligations by any such person or entity.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the undersigned have executed this Agreement to be effective as of the date first set forth above.

 

  COMPANY:
   
  RMG ACQUISITION CORP.
   
  By:                                                                                    
  Name:
  Title:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Signature Page to Subscription Agreement]

 

 

 

  PURCHASER:
   
  [PURCHASER]
   
  By:                                                                                   
  Name:
  Title:

 

 

 

 

 

[Signature Page to Subscription Agreement]

 

 

 

  SPONSOR:
   
  RMG SPONSOR, LLC
  By: MKC Investments LLC, as Sole Managing
  Member of RMG Sponsor, LLC
   
  By:  
  Name:
  Title:

 

 

 

 

 

[Signature Page to Subscription Agreement]

 

 

 

SCHEDULE A

 

 

Founder Shares

to be Purchased

     

Founder Shares

Purchase Price

     

Warrants

to be Purchased*

     

Warrants

Purchase Price

 
                             
 

[ ● ]  

     

$[ ● ]

     

[ ● ]

     

$[ ● ]

 

 

 

*In the event that the over-allotment option is exercised, the Purchaser agrees to purchase up to an additional $[ ● ] 2 of Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant (or up to [ ● ] Private Placement Warrants), in the same proportion as the amount of the over-allotment option that is exercised.

 

 

2 Note to Draft: Amount to equal the Purchaser’s portion of the Subscribing Parties’ aggregate $250,000 commitment.

 

Schedule A- 1  

 

 

Exhibit 10.8

 

 

AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE SPONSOR WARRANTS PURCHASE AGREEMENT

 

THIS AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE SPONSOR WARRANTS PURCHASE AGREEMENT, dated as of January 16, 2019 (this “ Amendment ”), is entered into by and between RMG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and RMG Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Purchaser ”).

 

WHEREAS, the Company intends to consummate a public offering (the “ Public Offering ”) of the Company’s units (the “ Units ”), each Unit consisting of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (a “ Share ”), and one-third of one warrant, each whole warrant exercisable for one Share at an exercise price of $11.50 per Share, as set forth in the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 related to the Public Offering (the “ Registration Statement ”);

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Purchaser entered into a Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement dated as of December 17, 2018 (the “ Original Agreement ”), wherein the Purchaser agreed to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 warrants (or up to 4,400,000 warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Public Offering is exercised in full); and

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Purchaser desire to enter into this Amendment to amend the Original Agreement as provided herein.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained in this Agreement and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties to this Agreement hereby, intending legally to be bound, agree as follows:

 

Article I.
AMENDMENT TO ORIGINAL AGREEMENT

 

Section 1.02 of the Original Agreement shall be amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

   

“Section 1.02  Purchase and Sale of the Sponsor Warrants .

 

(a) As payment in full for the 3,333,333 Sponsor Warrants being purchased under this Agreement, Purchaser shall pay $5,000,000 (the “ Purchase Price ”), by wire transfer of immediately available funds or by such other method as may be reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the trust account (the “ Trust Account ”) at a financial institution to be chosen by the Company, maintained by Citibank, N.A., with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, on the closing date of the Public Offering or such earlier date as the Company and the Purchaser shall agree.

 

(b) Solely in the event that certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. and certain fund and accounts managed by Alta Fundamental Advisers LLC (collectively, the “ Anchor Investors ”) do not collectively purchase at least 2,530,000 Units in the Public Offering, Purchaser shall purchase an additional 666,667 Sponsor Warrants (the “ Additional Sponsor Warrants ”) and as payment in full for the Additional Sponsor Warrants being purchased under this Agreement, Purchaser shall pay $1,000,000, by wire transfer of immediately available funds or by such other method as may be reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the Trust Account, on the closing date of the Public Offering or such earlier date as the Company and the Purchaser shall agree.

 

(c) In the event that the over-allotment option is exercised in full or in part, (i) if the Anchor Investors have collectively purchased at least 2,530,000 Units in the Public Offering, Purchaser shall purchase up to an additional 433,334 Sponsor Warrants, or (ii) if the Anchor Investors have not collectively purchased at least 2,530,000 Units in the Public Offering, Purchaser shall purchase up to an additional 600,000 Sponsor Warrants (such Warrants, the “ Option Sponsor Warrants ”), in the same proportion as the amount of the over-allotment option that is exercised. Simultaneously with such purchase of Option Sponsor Warrants, as payment in full for the Option Sponsor Warrants being purchased hereunder, and at least one (1) business day prior to the closing of all or any portion of the over-allotment option, Purchaser shall pay $1.50 per Option Sponsor Warrant, up to an aggregate amount of $650,000 (in the event the Anchor Investors have collectively purchased at least 2,530,000 Units in the Public Offering) or $900,000 (in the event the Anchor Investors have not collectively purchased at least 2,530,000 Units in the Public Offering), by wire transfer of immediately available funds or by such other method as may be reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the Trust Account.

 

(d) The closing of the purchase and sale of the Sponsor Warrants and Additional Sponsor Warrants, if applicable, shall take place simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering (the “ Initial Closing Date ”). The closing of the purchase and sale of the Option Sponsor Warrants, if applicable, shall take place simultaneously with the closing of all or any portion of the over-allotment option (such closing date, together with the Initial Closing Date, the “ Closing Dates ” and each, a “ Closing Date ”). The closing of the purchase and sale of each of the Sponsor Warrants, the Additional Sponsor Warrants and the Option Warrants, as applicable, shall take place at the offices of Latham & Watkins LLP, 811 Main Street, Suite 3700, Houston, Texas, 77002, or such other place as may be agreed upon by the parties hereto.”

 

 

 

  

Article II.
Miscellaneous

 

Section 2.01  Successors and Assigns . Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, all covenants and agreements contained in this Amendment by or on behalf of any of the parties hereto shall bind and inure to the benefit of the respective successors of the parties hereto whether so expressed or not.

 

Section 2.02  Severability . Whenever possible, each provision of this Amendment shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Amendment is held to be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective only to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of this Amendment.

 

Section 2.03  Counterparts . This Amendment may be executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, none of which need contain the signatures of more than one party, but all such counterparts taken together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

 

Section 2.04  Descriptive Headings; Interpretation . The descriptive headings of this Amendment are inserted for convenience only and do not constitute a substantive part of this Amendment. The use of the word “including” in this Amendment shall be by way of example rather than by limitation.

 

Section 2.05  Governing Law . This Amendment shall be deemed to be a contract made under the laws of the State of Delaware and for all purposes shall be construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Delaware.

  

[Signature page follows]

 

 

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Amendment to be effective as of the date first set forth above.

 

  COMPANY :
   
  RMG ACQUISITION CORP.
     
  By: /s/ Philip Kassin
  Name: Philip Kassin
  Title: President, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary
     
  RMG SPONSOR, LLC
   
  By: MKC Investments LLC, As Sole Managing Member of RMG Sponsor, LLC
     
  By: /s/ Philip Kassin
  Name: Philip Kassin
  Title: President, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 23.1

 

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

We have issued our report dated November 15, 2018 (except for Note 5, as to which the date is December 17, 2018), with respect to the financial statements of RMG Acquisition Corp. contained in the Registration Statement and Prospectus. We consent to the use of the aforementioned report in the Registration Statement and Prospectus, and to the use of our name as it appears under the caption “Experts.”

 

/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP

 

New York, New York

January 16, 2019