Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4)
Registration No. 333-257517
PROSPECTUS
$150,000,000
Black Spade Acquisition Co
15,000,000 Units
Black Spade Acquisition Co is a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or any region, we are focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the extensive collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products, or services and entertainment media (the Target Sectors). While we intend to pursue opportunities globally, we will focus on opportunities with existing or future growth potential underpinned by the transformative consumption forces in Asia, an area in which we believe our founder and management team can contribute significantly with their extensive network, knowledge and experience.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. 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 our liquidation, as described herein. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to an additional 2,250,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination 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 taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding Class A ordinary shares that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.
Our sponsor, Black Spade Sponsor LLC, has committed to purchase an aggregate of 6,000,000 warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
Our initial shareholders, which include our sponsor, currently own an aggregate of 4,312,500 Class B ordinary shares, up to 562,500 of which will be surrendered to us for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates), which will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to the adjustments described herein. Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. On any other matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, holders of the Class B ordinary shares and holders of the Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, except as required by law.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants. We have been approved to list our units on The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol BSAQU. We expect that our units will be listed on NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Citigroup Global Markets Inc., the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions as described further herein. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NYSE under the symbols BSAQ and BSAQWS, respectively.
We are an emerging growth company under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See Risk Factors beginning on page 39 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
No offer or invitation to subscribe for securities may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands.
Per Unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 150,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) |
$ | 0.55 | $ | 8,250,000 | ||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to Black Spade Acquisition Co |
$ | 9.45 | $ | 141,750,000 |
(1) |
$0.20 per unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate (or $3,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), is payable upon the closing of this offering. Includes $0.35 per unit, or $5,250,000 in the aggregate (or up to $6,037,500 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States and released to the underwriters only upon the completion of an initial business combination. See also Underwriting for a description of underwriting compensation payable to the underwriters. |
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $150,000,000, or $172,500,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $3,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $3,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $3,000,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission 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.
The units will be ready for delivery on or about July 20, 2021.
Global Coordinator and Sole Book-running Manager
Citigroup |
Co-managers
JonesTrading | Loop Capital Markets |
The date of this prospectus is July 15, 2021
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F-1 |
We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different from or inconsistent with that contained in this prospectus. 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.
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under Risk Factors and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
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amended and restated memorandum and articles of association are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the company in place upon the consummation of this offering; |
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Companies Act are to the Companies Act (2021 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
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equity linked securities are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt; |
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founder shares are to Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and Class B ordinary shares received from a share capitalization prior to this offering and which are currently held by our sponsor and certain of our directors, officers, members of advisory committee and employees, and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described herein (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be public shares); |
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initial shareholders are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering (including certain of our directors, officers, members of advisory committee and employees of sponsors affiliates who received 950,000 in aggregate founder shares from our sponsor); |
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management or our management team are to our officers and directors; |
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ordinary shares are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
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private placement warrants are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; |
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public shareholders are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial shareholders and management team to the extent our initial shareholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial shareholders and member of our management teams status as a public shareholder will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
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public shares are to Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
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public warrants are to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
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sponsor are to Black Spade Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company; |
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warrants are to our public warrants and private placement warrants; and |
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we, us, company or our company are to Black Spade Acquisition Co, a Cayman Islands exempted company; |
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Any conversion of the Class B ordinary shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any forfeiture of shares, and all references to forfeiture of shares, described in this prospectus shall take effect as a surrender of shares for no consideration as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividend described in this prospectus will take effect as a share capitalization as a matter of Cayman Islands law.
Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.
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General
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under Risk Factors starting on page 39 and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
We are a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have generated no revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues at the earliest until we consummate 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 with respect to an initial business combination with us.
We are focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products, or services, and entertainment media (the Target Sectors).
We believe Chinas growing middle class population of more than 350 million people (larger than the entire U.S. population), with its rapidly evolving consumption patterns and increasing spending power, will continue to shape multiple industries in Asia and across the globe. Therefore, while we intend to pursue opportunities globally, we will focus on opportunities with existing or future growth potential underpinned by the transformative consumption forces in Asia, an area in which we believe our founder and management team can contribute significantly with their network, knowledge and experience.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are not limited to a particular industry and geographic region and may consummate a business combination with a target business in any industry or any region if we believe the business combination is attractive to our company and stockholders. If we consummate a business combination with a target business that is not operating in the entertainment industry, certain information contained in this prospectus will not be relevant.
Initial business combination opportunities will be sourced from our founder and our management teams proprietary network of executives, investors and advisors. Our management team will employ a disciplined and highly selective identification process, and expect to add value to a target business through leveraging the networks, relationship and experience of our founder and management team and executing add-on acquisitions, capital structure optimization and operational improvements.
With decades of operating and investment experience globally including in Greater China, we believe our operations and customer-centric background will distinguish us from other SPACs that are founded and / or sponsored by financial investors. We believe this not only creates unique deal sourcing channels but also positions us as an attractive partner to potential target businesses, thereby enhancing our ability to complete a successful business combination.
Our Founder and Our Sponsor
Black Spade Capital Limited (Black Spade Capital) is the private investment arm of Mr. Lawrence Ho and an affiliate of our sponsor. Mr. Ho is a visionary entrepreneur and a globally recognized leader within the leisure and entertainment industry. Mr. Ho has been the chairman and chief executive officer since March 2006 of Melco International Development Limited, a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (collectively with its subsidiaries, Melco International, or Melco Group). Mr. Ho is also currently the chairman and chief executive officer of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, a company listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and a director of Studio City International Holdings Limited, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, both listed subsidiaries of Melco International.
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Melco Groups rapid transformation into a global leisure and entertainment powerhouse is a clear testament to Mr. Hos dynamic entrepreneurship and strategic vision. Under his leadership, Mr. Ho completely transformed his flagship listed company Melco International from a small collection of unrelated assets (which included a restaurant and passive property portfolio) 20 years ago into a leading player in the entertainment industry.
Mr. Ho spearheaded Melco Groups foray into the leisure and entertainment sector, and redefined the premium mass gaming segment in Macau, which subsequently anchored Melco Groups position as a leading developer, owner and operator of gaming and integrated resort facilities with presence in Macau, Philippines and Cyprus (opening in 2022). Melco Internationals net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA reached HK$45 billion and HK$12.5 billion respectively in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Mr. Hos inspiration, Melco Group has continued to add world-class leisure and entertainment elements to its integrated resorts portfolio and has been widely recognized as a pioneer in this regard. It has acquired the last of Macaus six existing gaming licenses.
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City of Dreams Macau was opened in 2009 and has been at the forefront of creating the premium mass market. The iconic show House of Dancing Waters, a masterpiece of legendary creative director Franco Dragone, has attracted more than 6 million spectators since its debut in 2010, and was awarded Asias Best Integrated Resorts Non-Gaming Attraction at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia Awards 2019. |
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Studio City Macau is a cinematically themed integrated resort with highly differentiated non-gaming attractions, including the worlds first figure-8 Ferris wheel and a 4-D Batman flight simulator. Melco Group was also the first Macau gaming operator to set up a dedicated eSports stadium, the Macau E-Stadium at Studio City. |
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City of Dreams Manila offers DreamPlay by DreamWorks, which is the worlds first DreamWorks-themed, indoor interactive play and creativity center. |
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City of Dreams Mediterranean, a project under development in Cyprus, is expected to be the largest and premier integrated resort in Europe upon opening expected in 2022. |
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Restaurants in Melco Groups resorts were awarded 10 Michelin stars in both 2019 and 2020, placing Melco Group as the worlds integrated resort operator with the most Michelin stars. In addition, Melco Groups hotels, restaurants and spas have been honored by 2021 Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) with a total of 97 Stars, including 17 Five-Star awards, leading among Asias integrated resort operators. |
Under Mr. Hos leadership, Melco Group completed transformational marquee M&A transactions that created significant value for shareholders, including the majority stake acquisition of Studio City in 2011 and the acquisition of Crown Resorts equity interest in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in 2016. Melco Group has also established a strong track record of long-term value creation and working with strategic and financial partners, such as the development of City of Dreams with Crown Resorts, one of Australias largest gaming and entertainment groups to date, which started in 2005, the development of City of Dreams Manila with SM Group, a Philippine conglomerate founded by Henry Sy who was named the richest man in the Philippines multiple times, which started in 2012, and the development of Studio City with Silver Point Capital LP and Oaktree Capital Group LP which started in 2011. Mr. Ho was involved in more than 10 public equity capital raises and more than 15 bond issuances across various entities of the Melco Group with combined fundraises exceeding $25 billion across the equity and bond markets.
Black Spade Capital, headquartered in Hong Kong, runs a global portfolio consisting of a wide spectrum of cross-border investments, and consistently seeks to add new investment projects and opportunities to its portfolio. Black Spade Capitals investment strategy covers all geographic regions and sectors whilst maintaining a portfolio of diversified asset classes, including equities (including SPAC and pre-IPO investments), fixed income and real estate. In 2018, Black Spade Capital became the first ever issuer of bonds denominated in Macaus local currency patacas with its MOP$2 billion bond issuance.
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Our Senior Executives
Our founder and management team are industry leaders and professionals with highly complementary backgrounds. With an average of over 20 years of individual experience, our founder and management team have a diverse set of skills that include operating and leading public companies, founding and growing private companies, and structuring and negotiating complex corporate transactions. Over the course of their careers, they have developed deep and broad networks of entrepreneurs, business owners and operating executives in our Target Sectors, senior-level investment, private equity, venture capital and growth equity professionals, as well as board members, family office principals, investment bankers and institutional investors. Our founder and management team are complemented by our advisors to the Board and four independent directors, each with substantial leisure, entertainment, lifestyle, media and technology expertise and extensive industry relationships. We believe our founder and management team are well-positioned to identify and evaluate targets across the leisure, entertainment, and lifestyle ecosystem given their extensive experience operating and growing businesses and broad network of relationships. We also believe that the experience of our founder and management team will make us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, enhance our ability to complete a successful business combination and bring enduring value to the business following its initial business combination.
Black Spade Acquisition Co will be led by Chairman and Co-CEO Dennis Tam, Co-CEO Kester Ng and President and CFO Francis Ng.
Dennis Tam, or Chi Wai Dennis Tam, our Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, serves as President and CEO of Black Spade Capital with more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, accounting, financial control and mergers & acquisitions. Prior to joining Black Spade Capital, Mr. Tam was the Group Finance Director of Melco International from 2006 to 2017. He has also held senior management positions with various local listed and multinational companies throughout his career. He has been the chairman of the board for Greater China for the Institute of Certified Management Accountants since 2014, a member of the Institute of Public Accountants since 2013, a member of CPA Australia since 2000. Mr. Tam was awarded Asias Best CFO (Investor Relations) at the Asian Excellence Awards by Corporate Governance Asia magazine in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Mr. Tam obtained his Master Degree in Accounting from Monash University, and was trained at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Kester Ng, or Shing Joe Kester Ng, our Co-Chief Executive Officer, also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of GRE Investment Advisors Limited, a company providing Private Equity investment advisory and asset management services to institutions, ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices. GRE is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) to provide investment advisory and asset management services, under type 4 (Advising on Securities) and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses. Mr. Ng is also a Managing Director of the NM Strategic Focus Fund I and II, which are both private equity funds with a focus on making direct investments and providing growth capital to companies in the areas of technology, fintech, health care and consumer services in the Greater China region. Private Equity Investee companies include the likes of Lufax (LU US EQUITY) and Ping An Health and Technology (1833 HK). Before joining GRE Investment Advisors Limited in 2014, Mr. Ng worked at J.P. Morgan from 2006 to 2013 where he was the Chairman and Head of Equity Capital & Derivatives Markets for the whole Asia Pacific region, responsible for raising capital for both public and private companies via initial public offerings, equity-linked offerings and pre-IPO transactions. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Mr. Ng served as the Managing Director and Head of Greater China Equity Capital Markets at Merrill Lynch and worked there from 1995 to 2006 in London and Hong Kong. Over his professional career, Mr. Ng is one of the most senior ECM bankers in the Asia Pacific Region, having completed a significant number of IPOs, equity and equity-linked transactions. His experience includes more than 100 IPOs, pre-IPOs and equity linked transactions for Greater China companies, raising over $100 billion on the major stock exchanges globally, including Hong Kong, NYSE, NASDAQ, London and Singapore. He completed the Agricultural Bank of Chinas $22 billion dual listed Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO in 2010, which was the largest IPO globally ever at the time. Mr. Ng also served as a director of the boards of both J.P Morgan Securities
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(Asia Pacific) Limited and J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited. In addition, he also previously served as a Hong Kong SFC Responsible Officer as well as a Hong Kong Monetary Authority Executive Officer. Mr. Ng has a Bachelor of Medicine Degree from the University of Nottingham Medical School, United Kingdom.
Francis Ng, or Francis Chi Yin Ng, our President and Chief Financial Officer, has over 13 years of fixed income and real estate investment experience globally, and has invested over $500 million across different types of capital structure transactions including structured financing, mezzanine debt and distressed assets. Mr. Ng is currently the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Pacific Aegis Capital Management (HK) Limited, a Hong Kong based investment firm that specializes in real estate private credit and private equity investments globally (collectively with its affiliates, Pacific Aegis Group). Mr. Ng has been serving as a director in the Pacific Aegis Group since 2018. Prior to his role in the Pacific Aegis Group, Mr. Ng served as the Vice President of Tianli Financial Holdings from 2017 to 2018 where he was responsible for co-managing the companys $400 million Global Private Debt Fund. Prior to his role at Tianli Financial Holdings, he was the Vice President at SBI Hong Kong Holdings Co., Limited, a Hong Kong subsidiary of SBI Group (known as Softbank Investment Corporation until 2006) from 2014 to 2016. Before joining SBI Group, Mr. Ng held various roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management from 2011 to 2012 and UBS AG from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Ng holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Airport Management and Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics from the University of North Dakota. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a Certified Management Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants, and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants.
Our Independent Directors
Our management team will be further supported by our independent directors Russell Galbut, Robert Moore, Patsy Chan and Sammy Hsieh.
Russell Galbut, or Russell William Galbut has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Galbut currently serves as the Chairman of the board of directors of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, a leading cruise line operator listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for which he has served as an independent director since November 2015. Mr. Galbut is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Crescent Heights, a leading urban real estate firm, specializing in the development, ownership, and operation of architecturally distinctive, mixed-use high-rises in major cities across the United States. Prior to founding Crescent Heights in 1989, he served as a senior real estate consultant at Laventhal and Horwath for two years. Mr. Galbut also serves on the Deans Advisory Board for the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Robert Moore, or Robert Steven Moore has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Moore is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of P1 Esports LLC, an e-sports organization which scouts and develops elite talent to compete in world-class tournaments under the Sentinel team brand. Prior to co-founding P1 Esports LLC in 2017, he served as Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures from 2005 to 2016. Prior to joining Paramount Pictures, he was a founding partner at Revolution Studios, an independent production company, which he co-founded in 2000. Prior to Revolution Studios, Mr. Moore spent 13 years at Walt Disney Studios beginning in 1987, where he last served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Moore holds a Bachelors degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Accounting from Pepperdine University.
Patsy Chan, or Po Yi Patsy Chan has served as our independent director since July 2021. Ms. Chan is the Chief Operating Officer of Richemont Luxury (Singapore), where she is responsible for overseeing the Southeast Asia and Oceania operations of Richemont Luxury Group, a leading luxury goods company which owns brands such as Cartier, Piaget and Montblanc. Prior to her 24-year tenure at Richemont Luxury Group, Ms. Chan served as the financial controller at Marsh & McLennan, a global professional services firm. Ms. Chan has been a Certified Practising Accountant of CPA Australia since 1992. Ms. Chan holds a Bachelor Degree of Commerce in Accounting from the University of New South Wales and has completed the Luxury Brand Management Executive Program at ESSEC Business School.
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Sammy Hsieh, or Wing Hong Sammy Hsieh has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Hsieh is the Founder and Chairman for iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited, a leading independent online marketing and enterprise data solutions provider in China listed on the NASDAQ. Prior to founding iClick Interactive Limited in 2009, he served as the General Manager of the Asia Pacific region for Efficient Frontier, a firm which was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2011, from 2008 to 2009. Prior to his role at Efficient Frontier, he was a Director of Search Marketing for Yahoo Hong Kong from 2000 to 2008, where he led and managed the companys business operations including sales, marketing, business development and product management. Mr. Hsieh holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Our Advisory Committee Members
Our advisory committee members, Betty Liu and Richard Taylor, will provide additional support to our management and directors.
Betty Liu will serve as a member of our advisory committee following the completion of this offering. Ms. Liu was the Executive Vice Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and Chief Experience Officer for Intercontinental Exchange. Through her role at the New York Stock Exchange, Ms. Liu was actively involved in numerous initial public offerings, including entertainment and social media leaders such as Uber, Pinterest and Tencent Music. Ms. Liu is also the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of D and Z Media Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2021. Prior to her role at the New York Stock Exchange, Ms. Liu served as the Founder and CEO of Radiate, an online, subscription-based, ed-tech content company for millennial managers and executives, from 2016 to 2018. She scaled the ed-tech platform from concept to more than 20,000 monthly active professional subscribers in less than 2 years. From 2007 to 2018, Ms. Liu served as a leading anchor and editor-at-large for Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio in New York City. Before joining Bloomberg, Ms. Liu was an anchor for CNBC Asia based in Hong Kong from 2005 to 2007, serving as part of the leadership group which helped build CNBC Asia into a market-leading news network within the region. Prior to 2004, Ms. Liu was the Atlanta Bureau Chief for the Financial Times and served as the Taiwan Bureau Chief for Dow Jones Newswire. In 1997, she received a Dow Jones Newswires Award for her coverage of the Asian financial crisis. Ms. Liu earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
Richard Taylor will serve as a member of our advisory committee following the completion of this offering. Mr. Taylor currently serves as Managing Director at GRE Investment Advisors Limited, an SFC licensed investment advisory and management services company in Hong Kong with a focus on the technology, healthcare and new consumer sectors. He has held this position since September 2020. Prior to joining GRE, Mr. Taylor pursued a 30-year Investment Banking career in London from 1988 to 1993 with Daiwa Securities, and in Hong Kong from 1993 to 1996 before joining CLSA in Hong Kong in 1996 to lead, manage and build out the Hong Kong and regional investment banking business of the group. In this position, he served in a number of roles, including Head of Investment Banking and Head of Corporate Finance and Capital Markets, managing a team in 11 Asian regional offices advising on and raising capital for companies and institutional investors in the private and public capital markets. In addition to Hong Kong and Greater China, key markets of focus have been Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India, as well as the frontier markets of Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Mr. Taylor had a particular focus on the gaming, technology, healthcare and consumer sectors. Selected transactions completed include the initial public offerings of Singapore Telecom, Tenaga Nasional, Prada, LOccitane, Fosun Tourism, Xiaomi, Bloomberry Resorts, Sa Sa and Genting Singapore. Mr. Taylor served as a Board Director and Executive Committee member of various CLSA companies, as well as a member of the Risk and Underwriting Committees. Mr. Taylor holds BA and MA degrees from Oxford University and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
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Market Opportunity
We are a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have generated no revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues at the earliest until we consummate 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 with respect to an initial business combination with us.
We are focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the extensive collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on the Target Sectors.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entertainment landscape immensely, creating immediate pressure and accelerating changes, some permanently, on many fundamentally sound businesses. Numerous sectors, including media production, live events, sports, lifestyle brands, as well as the products or services that support these industries are experiencing financial and operating challenges. This market dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic creates opportunities to support these businesses with capital and additional know-how in order to help them stabilize and to achieve on their longer-term market potential.
On the other hand, certain entertainment businesses have flourished during this period, benefiting from a historical paradigm shift to online channels or platforms accelerated by the pandemic, such as e-content streaming, eCommerce and eSports. As these businesses experienced significant growth within a compressed period of time, many are seeking value adding partners to sustain their new trajectory and pursue new consumer or growth markets.
We aim to capitalize on these trends by seeking to provide capital and expertise to targets in the entertainment industry with solid business fundamentals and attractive valuations, which have the potential for growth and to benefit from our local network, access and know-how.
These potential targets may exhibit a broad range of business models and financial characteristics that range from very high growth innovative companies to more mature businesses with established recurring revenues and strong cash flows. Many sub-segments in the entertainment industry are large and fast-growing, but highly fragmented with many privately owned businesses. We believe the Target Sectors provide ample business combination opportunities:
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Enabling Technology: The landscape in the entertainment industry is dynamic and rapidly evolving as new means of consumption and delivery continue to generate opportunities for monetization. Developments in technology continues to redefine how consumers experience and respond to entertainment content and formats as consumers become more interconnected through mobile devices. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality are allowing consumers to experience content in ways that are increasingly bespoke, while 5G is enabling these experiences to take place with lower latency. 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality open up new avenues of entertainment, with promises of different ways to experience live events and entertainment products. Rapid growth of digital devices is enabling the proliferation of entertainment options. We believe a growing appetite for technology from consumers, alongside continued technological advancements, will continue to allow innovative technologies, contents and business models to emerge and pioneer in the entertainment industry, presenting excellent opportunities for our management team. |
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Lifestyle Brands, Products and Services: The lifestyle segment is composed of many verticals, including beauty and cosmetics, luxury apparel, high street fashion, wellness and fitness, and travel and lodging. Lifestyle brands engage customers with unique product, experience and aspiration, often with a singular image, strong philosophy and unique style. Consumers are increasingly connecting to brands through e-commerce, digital content, online communities and influencer-driven recommendations. The Millennial and Generation Z demographic groups, in particular, often live in a highly connected and digital world, spending their time interacting through different mediums, and respond to brands in which these interactions build an emotional connection. Some traditional players are undergoing omni-channel transformation, while others could benefit from innovative ways for consumers to connect and to experience their brand. We will pursue companies that offer differentiated experiences based on high quality and premium product offerings across different channels. |
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Entertainment Media: The entertainment media space is composed of many verticals, including sports, eSports, social media, content-streaming, live events / shows. There has been significant disruption and change in the types of entertainment media products and services consumers need and the form in which they are packaged and delivered in recent years. We believe that this sub-segment is poised for continuous change, growth and opportunities as new entrants seek to accelerate growth and legacy businesses by adapting their historically strong brands to evolving consumer preferences. We will pursue companies that we believe possess distinguished competitiveness in content and means of engagement or delivery. |
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a company that can benefit from the collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team and that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on the Target Sectors, pursuant to our Target Combination Criteria (see next section). We intend to focus on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management teams operational expertise. We believe that the operating background of our founder and management team distinguishes us from other special purpose acquisition companies that are founded / sponsored by financial investors, which provides us with unique deal-sourcing and makes us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, thereby enhancing our ability to complete a successful business combination. We expect to play a pivotal role as a business builder and platform facilitator by maximizing value for all shareholders. Our selection process will leverage our founder and our management teams broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and deal-sourcing capabilities, which we believe will provide us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our founder and management have experience in:
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investing and building businesses in leisure, entertainment and lifestyle related sectors with distinctive market, policy and macroeconomic insights; |
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introducing products and services to and engaging with Greater China consumers; |
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managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting talent; |
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developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses; |
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executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains; |
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sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets; |
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partnering with other industry-leading companies to improve competitive position; |
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deep understanding of Greater China regulations and regulatory bodies; |
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fostering relationships with consumers, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and |
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accessing the equity and debt capital markets, including capital sources in Asia, Europe and North America, across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership. |
Business Combination Criteria
We expect to seek to identify companies that we believe have significant 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 into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We expect that no individual criteria will entirely determine a decision to pursue a particular target. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:
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can utilize the extensive network, relationships and experience of our founder and management team to propel growth; |
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possess disruptive technology and / or business models with strong and sustainable growth potential; |
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have defensible market positions with sustainable competitive advantages; |
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have dislocated valuations with fundamentally sound business model and sector, and a need for capital; |
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own durable or established IP (e.g., contents, brands) with scalable monetization potential; |
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are managed by experienced management team with the ability to oversee a larger organization; |
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established entrepreneurial culture of disruption, and adaptability to changing sector dynamics; |
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have ability to scale and enhance growth with further M&A roll-up; and |
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can benefit from being a publicly traded company with access to broader capital markets. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation of 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 team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information which will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience. Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes and value creation methods are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC. Our search for a business combination, ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business
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combination, may be materially adversely affected by factors beyond our control. For example, see Risk FactorsThe COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on business and debt and equity markets could have a material adverse effect on our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination.
The rules of NYSE and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts previously disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions held in the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the targets assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to NYSE rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, (the Investment Company Act). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
Other Acquisition Considerations
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
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Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, or our Board of Directors 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, another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the business judgment of our Board of Directors, which will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of the target or targets, and different methods of valuation may vary greatly in outcome from one another. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Members of our management team and our independent directors own or will own, directly or indirectly, founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering which securities will be worthless if we fail to complete a business combination and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our directors and officers presently has, and in the future may further have, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present acquisition opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an acquisition opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such acquisition opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person in their capacity as a director or officer of the company and the opportunity is one the company is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the company to pursue. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
There is no restriction in the geographic location of targets we can pursue, although we intend to initially prioritize Asia as the geographical focus. We will seek to identify targets that are likely to provide attractive financial returns through business combinations. However, we have yet to determine a time frame, an investment amount or any other criteria, which would trigger our search for business opportunities outside of Asia. We believe our founder and management team can contribute significantly with their extensive network, knowledge and experience.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at Suite 2902, 29/F, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, our telephone number is +852 3955 1316, and our email is info@blackspadeacquisition.com.
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated on March 3, 2021. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cabinet Office of the Cayman Islands that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from March 11, 2021, no law which is thereafter enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision).
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the JOBS Act). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to emerging growth company will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (ii) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
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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, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled Risk Factors.
Securities offered: |
15,000,000 units (or 17,250,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of: |
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one Class A ordinary share; and |
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one-half of one redeemable warrant. |
NYSE symbols: |
Units: BSAQU |
Class A Ordinary Shares: BSAQ |
Warrants: BSAQWS |
Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants |
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Citigroup Global Markets 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 Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. |
Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K |
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form |
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8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which closing 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.
Units:
Number outstanding before this offering |
0 |
Number outstanding after this offering |
15,000,000(1) |
Ordinary shares:
Number outstanding before this offering |
4,312,500(2)(3) |
Number outstanding after this offering |
18,750,000(1)(3) |
Warrants:
Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
6,000,000(1) |
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement |
13,500,000(1)(4) |
Exercisability |
Each whole warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. |
We structured each unit to contain one-half of one warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, as compared to units issued by some other similar special purpose acquisition companies which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination as compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. |
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(1) |
Assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and 562,500 founder shares are surrendered to us for no consideration. |
(2) |
Includes up to 562,500 founder shares that will be surrendered to us for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). |
(3) |
Comprised of 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units to be sold in this offering and 3,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (or founder shares) assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option. Founder shares are currently classified as Class B ordinary shares, which shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights. |
(4) |
Comprised of 7,500,000 public warrants included in the units to be sold in this offering and 6,000,000 private placement warrants to be sold in the private placement. |
Exercise price |
$11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein. |
In addition, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the Newly Issued Price), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20-trading-day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial business combination (such price, the Market Value) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described adjacent to Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 and Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. |
Exercise period |
The warrants will become exercisable on the later of: |
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30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and |
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12 months from the closing of this offering; |
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provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or holders are permitted to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement as a result of (i) our failure to have an effective registration statement by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial business combination as described in the immediately following paragraph or (ii) our delivery of a notice of redemption described below under Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a covered security under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. |
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
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Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 |
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
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in whole and not in part; |
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at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
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upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and |
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if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the Reference Value) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). |
We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. Any such exercise would not be on a cashless basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised. 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. |
Except as set forth below, none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. |
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 |
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
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in whole and not in part; |
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at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table set forth under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders Warrants based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below); |
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if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00) equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
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if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the private placement warrants must also concurrently be called for redemption on the same terms (except as described herein with respect to a holders ability to cashless exercise its warrants) as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
The fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares shall mean the volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-day trading period described above ends. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). |
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders Warrants for additional information. |
Founder shares |
On March 4, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On June 28, 2021, our sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which our sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. |
Prior to this offering, our sponsor intends to transfer an aggregate of 950,000 of its founder shares to our directors, officers, advisory committee members and certain employees of sponsors affiliates. Up to 123,913 shares of these 950,000 shares will be subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised.
Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per-share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was |
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determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 17,250,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding shares immediately after this offering. Up to 562,500 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial shareholders, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares described herein will take effect as a redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. |
The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
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only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination; |
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the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
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the founder shares are entitled to registration rights; |
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our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business |
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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 initial business combination within the prescribed time frame; and (iv) vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 5,625,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 937,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two-thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company; and |
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the founder shares are automatically convertible into our Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described below adjacent to the caption Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights. |
Transfer restrictions on founder shares |
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other |
similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A
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ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances as described herein under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (a) the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading-day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (b) if we consummate a transaction after our initial business combination which results in our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights |
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with the consummation of or immediately following our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus (iii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination (including securities issued or issuable pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering but excluding the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans, minus (iv) the number of Class A ordinary shares redeemed by public shareholders; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. |
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Appointment of Directors; Voting; |
Holders of record of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or as required by the Companies Act or stock exchange rules, an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company is generally required to approve any matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two-thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company, and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, meaning, following our initial business combination, the holders of more than 50% of our ordinary shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint directors may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of the founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open |
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market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. |
As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 5,625,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 937,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) of the 15,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. |
Private placement warrants |
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. 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 of this offering $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 if the underwriters exercise its over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. The private placement warrants will be identical to the warrants sold in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants (i) will not be redeemable by us (except as set forth under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsRedemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00); (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. |
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Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants |
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described herein under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants. |
Proceeds to be held in trust account |
NYSE rules 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 we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $150,000,000, or $172,500,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be initially deposited with J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and then transferred for the duration of the transaction into a segregated trust account at Citibank, NA, NY located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $3,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $3,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $3,000,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $5,250,000 (or up to $6,037,500 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 taxes, if any, 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 (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (a) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders. |
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Anticipated expenses and funding sources |
Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes and / or to redeem our public shares in connection with an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as described above. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $150,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year; however we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from such interest withdrawn from the trust account and: |
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the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which initially will be approximately $2,000,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $1,000,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and |
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any loans or additional investments from our 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; 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. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, at the option of the lender. |
Conditions to completing our initial business combination |
The rules of NYSE and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discounts and commissions held in the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the targets assets |
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or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to NYSE rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above, 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 transactions together as our initial business combination for purposes of seeking shareholder approval or conducting a tender offer, as applicable. |
Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates |
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as |
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amended, or the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities for a description of how our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. |
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. |
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred |
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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 their founder shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. |
Manner of conducting redemptions |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE, we will be required to comply with NYSEs shareholder approval rules. |
The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the |
opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two-thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote.
If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a shareholder meeting, we will: |
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conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
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file proxy materials with the SEC. |
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If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of a majority of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our initial shareholders will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 5,625,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) or 937,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two-thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the shareholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction. |
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons; we will: |
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conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and |
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file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under |
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Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1 under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. |
We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Companys DWAC (Deposit / Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares. |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than |
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$5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements. |
Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold shareholder vote |
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holders shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability |
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to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination. |
Release of funds in the trust account on closing of our initial business combination |
On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. |
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month 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 initial shareholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month 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 within 24 months from the closing of this offering and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares. |
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described above under Limitations on redemptions. For example, our board of directors may propose such an amendment if it determines that additional time is necessary to complete our initial business combination. In such event, we will conduct a proxy solicitation and distribute proxy materials pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act seeking shareholder approval of such proposal, and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon shareholder approval of such amendment. |
Limited payments to insiders |
There will be no finders fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the |
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following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, and, if made prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account: |
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repayment of up to an aggregate of $250,000 in loans made to us by an affiliate of our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
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repayment to our sponsor or an affiliate of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to us; |
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reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; |
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reimbursement of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the independent directors in connection with fulfilling their roles as directors; and |
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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. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
Audit Committee |
We have established and will maintain an audit committee. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled ManagementCommittees of the Board of DirectorsAudit Committee. |
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RISKS
We are a blank check company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see Proposed BusinessComparison 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 entitled Risk Factors, including, among others, the following:
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Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination. |
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Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
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The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on business and debt and equity markets could have a material adverse effect on our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination. |
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
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The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
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The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
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The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares. |
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders. |
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Certain other affiliates of the Sponsor have similar or overlapping investment objectives and guidelines, and we may not be presented investment opportunities that may otherwise be suitable for us. |
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If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us. |
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Corporate governance standards in non-U.S. countries may not be as strict or developed as in the United States and such weakness may hid issues and operational practices that are detrimental to a target business. |
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If the government of the country in which we effect our initial business combination finds that the agreements we entered into to acquire control of a target business through contractual arrangements with one or more operating businesses do not comply with local governmental restrictions on foreign investment, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to significant penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. |
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The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
March 4, 2021 | March 31, 2021 | |||||||||||
Actual
(Audited) |
Actual
(Unaudited) |
As Adjusted | ||||||||||
Balance Sheets Data: |
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Working capital (deficiency) (1) |
$ | (76,530 | ) | $ | (163,561 | ) | $ | 146,761,847 | ||||
Total assets (2) |
94,715 | 175,408 | 152,011,847 | |||||||||
Total liabilities (3) |
76,530 | 163,561 | 24,285,000 | |||||||||
Value of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption (4) |
| 122,726,840 | ||||||||||
Shareholders equity (5) |
18,185 | 11,847 | 5,000,007 |
(1) |
The as adjusted calculation includes $150,000,000 of cash held in trust account from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $2,000,000 of cash held outside the trust account, plus $11,847 of actual shareholders equity on March 31, 2021, less $5,250,000 of deferred underwriting commissions. |
(2) |
The as adjusted calculation includes $150,000,000 of cash held in trust account from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $2,000,000 of cash held outside the trust account, plus $11,847 of actual shareholders equity on March 31, 2021. |
(3) |
The as adjusted calculation equals $5,250,000 of deferred underwriting commissions and the fair value of derivative warrants of $19,035,000, assuming the overallotment option is not exercised. |
(4) |
The as adjusted calculation equals the as adjusted total assets, less the as adjusted total liabilities, less the as adjusted shareholders equity, which is set to approximate the minimum net tangible assets threshold of at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination. |
(5) |
Excludes 12,272,684 Class A ordinary shares 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 the Class A ordinary shares that may be converted in connection with our initial business combination ($10.00 per share). |
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Ability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands 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. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section entitled Proposed BusinessShareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination for additional information.
Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on business and debt and equity markets could have a material adverse effect on our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination.
Since late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruption to global economies and markets and the virus has continued to spread on a global scale. A significant outbreak of the COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, including the resurgence or variants thereof, could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, business operations and the conduct of commerce generally and could have a material adverse effect on the business of any potential target business with which we complete a business combination. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to the COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target companys personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and complete a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which the outbreak of COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions to contain the COVID-19 or treat its impact, the possibility of its resurgence, among others. If the disruptions posed by the COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, it could have a material adverse effect on our ability to complete a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately complete a business combination.
In addition, our ability to complete a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing and the COVID-19 and other related events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise adequate financing.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders will own 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 5,625,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 937,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
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The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, 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. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination 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 24 months after the closing of this offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the COVID-19 outbreak could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public float of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions
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and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled Proposed BusinessDelivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights.
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You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We have been approved to list our units on NYSE. We expect that our units will be listed on NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be separately listed on NYSE. 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 NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, following our initial public offering, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with NYSEs initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than NYSEs continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, the aggregate market value of publicly held shares would be required to be at least $100.0 million and we would be required to have at least 300 round lot shareholders. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If 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:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
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reduced liquidity for our securities; |
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a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a penny stock which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
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a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
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a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
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The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as covered securities. Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination, NYSE may consider us to be a controlled company within the meaning of NYSEs rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that would otherwise provide protection to shareholders of other companies.
After completion of this offering, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. As a result, NYSE may consider us to be a controlled company within the meaning of NYSEs corporate governance standards. Under NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, a group or another company is a controlled company and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
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we have a board that includes a majority of independent directors, as defined under NYSE rules; |
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we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committees purpose and responsibilities; and |
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we have independent director oversight of our director nominations. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of NYSE, subject to applicable phase in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of NYSEs corporate governance requirements.
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 completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see Proposed BusinessComparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a group of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. See If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share and other risk factors herein.
Affiliates of our sponsor have similar or overlapping investment objectives and guidelines, and we may not be presented investment opportunities that may otherwise be suitable for us.
Affiliates of our sponsor currently invest and plan to continue to invest in, incubate, and grow successful businesses in sectors such as leisure, entertainment and lifestyle. There may be overlap of investment
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opportunities with affiliates of our sponsor that are actively investing and similar overlap with future affiliates. This overlap could create conflicts of interest. In particular, investment opportunities that may otherwise be suitable for us may not be presented to us by our sponsor. This overlap could also create conflicts in determining to which entity a particular investment 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.
Certain members of our management team may be involved in and have a greater financial interest in the performance of other entities affiliated with our sponsor, and such activities may create conflicts of interest in making decisions on our behalf.
Certain members of our management team may be subject to a variety of conflicts of interest relating to their responsibilities to our sponsor and its other affiliates. Such individuals may serve as members of management or a board of directors (or in similar such capacity) to various other affiliated entities. Such positions may create a conflict between the advice and investment opportunities provided to such entities and the responsibilities owed to us. The other entities in which such individuals may become involved may have investment objectives that overlap with ours. Furthermore, certain of our principals and employees may have a greater financial interest in the performance of such other affiliated entities than our performance. Such involvement may create conflicts of interest in sourcing investment opportunities on our behalf and on behalf of such other entities. See ManagementConflict of Interest.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
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 expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Managements plans to address this need for capital through this offering and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.
Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only $2,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon 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 or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as
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a result of such increase or decrease. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our independent registered public accounting firms report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability continue as a going concern.
As of March 31, 2021, we had $0 of cash and a working capital deficit of $163,561. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our finance and acquisition plans. Managements plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled Managements 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.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third partys engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of this offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsors only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we do not to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholders investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
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If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a preferential transfer or a fraudulent conveyance. As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
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restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
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restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
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registration as an investment company; |
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adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
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reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading investment securities constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
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We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States government securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an investment company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This 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 either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such to 24 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata
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portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine of $18,292.68 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to elect directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is elected as a single class with concurrent terms of two years. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration 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
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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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of covered securities under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; (ii) if we have so elected and the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of covered securities under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act; and (iii) if we have so elected and we call the public warrants for redemption. If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis, you would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined in the next sentence) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The fair market value is the volume-weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary
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shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of securities that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such units, shares, warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target businesss operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or any region, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business or businesses that can benefit from our management teams established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors, including the leisure, lifestyle and entertainment sectors. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prohibits us from effectuating a 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 businesss operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Past performance by our management team, our sponsor and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team, our sponsor and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance by our management team and their
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affiliates and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experience of our management team, our sponsor and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team, our sponsor or their affiliates. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
The prior investment track records of our management team, our sponsor and their affiliates may not be available on publicly available sources or may be subject to confidentiality agreements.
As the prior investment track records of our management team, our sponsor and their affiliates, including the investments and transactions in which they have participated in and businesses with which they have been associated with, are primarily private transactions, information regarding their involvement with such transactions may not be publicly available or is subject to confidentiality terms. This may limit the availability of information to our investors and potential target businesses pertaining to our teams past track record which in turn may adversely affect our marketing efforts and ability to generate attractive business combination opportunities for our company.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our managements areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our managements areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our 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 a business combination outside of the areas of our managements expertise, our managements expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our managements expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that
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requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share and other risk factors below.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors. 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.
With limited exceptions, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 2,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 185,000,000 and 16,250,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 562,500 Class B ordinary shares) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants, or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares or pursuant to any forward purchase or backstop arrangement we may enter into prior to or following the consummation of this offering. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically
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convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination; provided that such conversion of Class B ordinary shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. Immediately after this offering, there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares to redeem the warrants as described in Description of SecuritiesWarrantsRedemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
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may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering; |
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may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
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could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus (iii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination (including securities issued or issuable pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering but excluding the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans, minus (iv) the number of Class A ordinary shares redeemed by public shareholders; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
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Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. investor in our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. investor may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception (see the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules). Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year (and, in the case of the start-up exception, potentially not until after the two taxable years following our current taxable year). Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. investor a PFIC Annual Information Statement in order to enable the U.S. investor to make and maintain a qualified electing fund election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. U.S. investors should consult their tax advisers regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules. For a more detailed explanation of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders, see the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax ConsiderationsPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. See the section titled TaxationUnited States Federal Income Tax Considerations for a summary of material U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisers with respect to the tax consequences of owning and disposing of our securities.
Our initial business combination or transactions relating thereto may result in taxes imposed on us and our shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval by special resolution under the Companies Act, merge with another company, or reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or another jurisdiction. Tax structuring considerations are
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complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. A shareholder or warrant holder may be required to recognize taxable income with respect to our business combination or transactions relating thereto in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. In the event of a reincorporation or merger, any tax liability may attach prior to any consummation of redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Shareholders and warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after our business combination. In addition, we could be treated as tax resident in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located, which could result in adverse tax consequences to us (e.g., taxation on our worldwide income in such jurisdiction) and to our shareholders or warrant holders (e.g., withholding taxes on dividends and taxation of disposition gains).
We may effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations in multiple jurisdictions. If we effect such a business combination, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in other jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by taxing authorities. This additional complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition.
A majority of our directors and officer live outside the United States, and after our initial business combination, it is possible that all or a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
A majority of our directors and officers live outside of the United States, and it is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory
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positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnels retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target businesss management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target businesss management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target businesss management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination targets key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidates 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 candidates management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that key personnel, including members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business
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combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in 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. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers and directors other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers and directors other business affairs, please see ManagementOfficers and Directors.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
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. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person in their capacity as a director or officer of the company and the opportunity is one the company is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the company to pursue. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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 ManagementOfficers and Directors, ManagementConflicts 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, 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. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
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The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors and officers discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders rights. See the section titled Description of SecuritiesCertain Differences in Corporate LawShareholder Suits for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arms length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriters compensation in connection with this offering. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters or their respective affiliates financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise with respect to our business combinations and certain other transactions. Any salary or fee in connection with such engagement may be conditioned upon the completion of such transactions. This financial interest in the completion of such transactions may influence the advice such entity provides.
We may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such person or entity a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions. Pursuant to any such engagement, such person or entity may earn its salary or fee upon closing of the initial business combination. The payment of such salary or fee would likely be conditioned upon the completion of the initial business combination. Therefore, such persons or entities may have additional financial interests in the completion of the initial business combination. These financial interests may influence the advice such entity provides us, which advice would contribute to our decision on whether to pursue a business combination with any particular target.
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, directors or existing holders. Our directors
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also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under ManagementConflicts 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 initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in Proposed BusinessEffecting our initial business combinationSelection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On March 4, 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our expenses in exchange for 5,750,000 founder shares. On June 28, 2021, our sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which our sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. Prior to this offering, our sponsor intends to transfer an aggregate of 950,000 of its founder shares to our directors, officers, advisory committee members and certain employees of sponsors affiliates. 123,913 shares out of these 950,000 shares will be subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the initial shareholders, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 17,250,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Up to 562,500 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) for an aggregate purchase price of $6,000,000 (or $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per warrant. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month anniversary of the closing of this offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt
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to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
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default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
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acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
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our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
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our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
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our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
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using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
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limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
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limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
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.
The net proceeds from this offering and the private placement of warrants will provide us with $144,750,000 (or $166,462,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $5,250,000, or up to $6,037,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or |
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence 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.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the companys shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business. If this were to occur, 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.
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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require a special resolution under the Companies Act, which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and private placement warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants (except for provisions of the warrant agreement enabling amendments without shareholder or warrant holder approval that are necessary in the good faith determination of our board of directors (taking into account then existing market precedents) to allow for the warrants to be classified as equity in our financial statements; provided that such amendment shall not increase the warrant price or shorten the exercise period). In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months of the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
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The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of the votes cast by our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, under the Companies Act which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of the votes cast by our ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 185 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriters). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to
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its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of this offering, our initial shareholders will own 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial shareholders purchase any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is and will be elected as a single class and serve for a concurrent term for two years. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors are likely to continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. Prior to the initial business combination, only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors.
Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.006 per founder share and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary share and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value
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per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 92.3% (or $9.23 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering of $0.77 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and private placement warrants, or for amendments necessary for the warrants to be classified as equity. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision or to make any amendments that are necessary in the good faith determination of our board of directors (taking into account then existing market precedents) to allow for the warrants to be classified as equity in our financial statements (provided that such amendment shall not increase the warrant price or shorten the exercise period), but otherwise requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and private placement 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 (i) in a manner adverse to a holder of public warrants if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and private placement warrants approve of such amendment or (ii) to the extent necessary for the warrants in the good faith determination of our board of directors (taking into account then existing market precedents) to allow for the warrants to be classified as equity in our financial statements without the consent of any shareholder or warrant holder; provided that this clause (ii) shall not allow any amendment that would increase the warrant price or shorten the exercise period. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and private placement warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the
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federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of our warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a foreign action) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an enforcement action), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holders counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holders ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (iii) the Market Value of our Class A ordinary shares is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Following the consummation of this offering and the concurrent private placement of warrants, we will issue an aggregate of 13,500,000 warrants in connection with this offering (comprised of the 7,500,000 warrants included in the units and the 6,000,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised). We expect to account for these as a warrant liability and will record at fair value upon issuance any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings as determined us based upon a valuation report obtained from its independent third party valuation firm. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, potential targets may seek a special purpose acquisition company that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary
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shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption to the warrants holders and provided certain other conditions are met. We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 7,500,000 of our Class A ordinary shares (or up to 8,625,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $1.00 per warrant. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert those loans into up to an additional 2,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. Our public warrants are also redeemable by us for Class A ordinary shares as described in Description of SecuritiesWarrantsRedemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00. To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
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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 ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
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the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
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prior offerings of those companies; |
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our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; |
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a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
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our capital structure; |
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an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
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general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and |
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other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering size, price and terms of the Units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Shareholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IFRS) depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB). These financial
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statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the
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event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Appleby, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference 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.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries in General
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
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costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
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rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
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complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
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laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
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exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
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tariffs and trade barriers; |
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regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
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local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
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unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
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challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
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longer payment cycles; |
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tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
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currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
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rates of inflation; |
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challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
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cultural and language differences; |
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employment regulations; |
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underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
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corruption; |
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protection of intellectual property; |
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social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
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regime changes and political upheaval; |
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terrorist attacks and wars; and |
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deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Corporate governance standards in non-US countries may not be as strict or developed as in the United States and such weakness may hide issues and operational practices that are detrimental to a target business.
General corporate governance standards in non-US countries are weaker than those in the United States. This could result in unfavorable related party transactions, over-leveraging, improper accounting, family company interconnectivity and poor management. Local laws often do not go far enough to prevent improper business practices. Therefore, shareholders may not be treated impartially and equally as a result of poor management practices, asset shifting, conglomerate structures that result in preferential treatment to some parts of the overall company, and cronyism. The lack of transparency and ambiguity in the regulatory process also may result in inadequate credit evaluation and weakness that may precipitate or encourage financial crisis. In our evaluation of a business combination we will have to evaluate the corporate governance of a target and the business environment, and in accordance with United States laws for reporting companies take steps to implement practices that will cause compliance with all applicable rules and accounting practices. Notwithstanding these intended efforts, there may be endemic practices and local laws that could add risk to an investment we ultimately make and that result in an adverse effect on our operations and financial results.
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If the government of the country in which we effect our initial business combination finds that the agreements we entered into to acquire control of a target business through contractual arrangements with one or more operating businesses do not comply with local governmental restrictions on foreign investment, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to significant penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.
Some countries in Asia currently prohibit and/or restrict foreign ownership in certain important industries, including technology, entertainment and others. There are uncertainties under certain regulations whether obtaining a majority interest through contractual arrangements will comply with regulations prohibiting or restricting foreign ownership in certain industries. In addition, there can be restrictions on the foreign ownership of businesses that are determined from time to time to be in important industries that may affect the national economic security or those having famous brand names or well-established brand names.
If we or any of our potential future target businesses are found to be in violation of any existing or future local laws or regulations (for example, if we are deemed to be holding equity interests in certain of our affiliated entities in which direct foreign ownership is prohibited), the relevant regulatory authorities might have the discretion to:
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revoke the business and operating licenses of the potential future target business; |
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confiscate relevant income and impose fines and other penalties; |
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discontinue or restrict the operations of the potential future target business; |
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require us or the potential future target business to restructure the relevant ownership structure or operations; |
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restrict or prohibit our use of the proceeds of this offering to finance our businesses and operations in the relevant jurisdiction; or |
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impose conditions or requirements with which we or the potential future target business may not be able to comply. |
Many of the economies in Asia are experiencing substantial inflationary pressures which may prompt the governments to take action to control the growth of the economy and inflation that could lead to a significant decrease in our profitability following our initial business combination.
While many of the economies in Asia have experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, they have also experienced inflationary pressures. As governments take steps to address inflationary pressures, there may be significant changes in the availability of bank credits, interest rates, limitations on loans, restrictions on currency conversions and foreign investment. There also may be imposition of price controls. If prices for the products of our ultimate target business rise at a rate that is insufficient to compensate for the rise in the costs of supplies, it may have an adverse effect on our profitability. If these or other similar restrictions are imposed by a government to influence the economy, it may lead to a slowing of economic growth. Because we are not limited to any specific industry, the ultimate industry that we operate in may be affected more severely by such a slowing of economic growth.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
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After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such countrys economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target businesss ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
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We may be exposed to liabilities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and any determination that we violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, or FCPA, and other laws that prohibit improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials and political parties by U.S. persons and issuers as defined by the statute for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We will have operations, agreements with third parties and make sales in Asia, which may experience corruption. Our proposed activities in Asia create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of the employees, consultants, or sales agents of our Company, because these parties are not always subject to our control. It will be our policy to implement safeguards to discourage these practices by our employees. Also, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and the employees, consultants, or sales agents of our Company may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, the government may seek to hold our Company liable for successor liability FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire.
We employ a mail forwarding service, which may delay or disrupt our ability to receive mail in a timely manner.
Mail addressed to the Company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by Company to be dealt with. None of the Company, its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the Cayman Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused in mail reaching the forwarding address, which may impair your ability to communicate with us.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management teams 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:
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our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
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our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
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our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
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our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
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our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
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our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
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our pool of prospective target businesses; |
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our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
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the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
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our public securities potential liquidity and trading; |
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the lack of a market for our securities; |
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the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
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the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
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our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading Risk Factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 15,000,000 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 Exercised |
|||||||
Gross proceeds |
||||||||
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) |
$ | 150,000,000 | $ | 172,500,000 | ||||
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement |
$ | 6,000,000 | $ | 6,450,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total gross proceeds |
$ | 156,000,000 | $ | 178,950,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Offering expenses(2) |
||||||||
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3) |
$ | 3,000,000 | $ | 3,450,000 | ||||
Legal fees and expenses |
300,000 | 300,000 | ||||||
Printing and engraving expenses |
25,000 | 25,000 | ||||||
Accounting fees and expenses |
97,000 | 97,000 | ||||||
SEC/FINRA Expenses |
45,195 | 45,195 | ||||||
Travel and road show |
25,000 | 25,000 | ||||||
NYSE listing and filing fees |
85,000 | 85,000 | ||||||
Miscellaneous |
422,805 | 422,805 | ||||||
Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) |
$ | 1,000,000 | $ | 1,000,000 | ||||
Proceeds after offering expenses |
$ | 152,000,000 | $ | 174,500,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Held in trust account(3) |
$ | 150,000,000 | $ | 172,500,000 | ||||
% of public offering size |
100% | 100% | ||||||
Not held in trust account |
$ | 2,000,000 | $ | 2,000,000 | ||||
|
|
|
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The following table shows the use of the approximately $2,000,000 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) |
650,000 | 32.5% | ||||||
Payment for office space, utilities, administrative and support services |
400,000 | 20.0% | ||||||
Directors and officers insurance |
480,000 | 24.0% | ||||||
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations |
175,000 | 8.8% | ||||||
NYSE and other regulatory fees |
75,000 | 3.8% | ||||||
Consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during search for initial business combination target |
35,000 | 1.8% | ||||||
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses |
185,000 | 9.3% | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total |
$ | 2.000,000 | 100.0% |
(1) |
Includes amounts payable to public shareholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. |
(2) |
A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from an affiliate of our sponsor of up to $250,000 as described in this prospectus. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering |
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expenses other than underwriting commissions. 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. |
(3) |
The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon and concurrently with the completion of our initial business combination, up to $5,250,000, which constitutes the underwriters deferred commissions (or up to $6,037,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account. See Underwriting. The remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming shareholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. |
(4) |
These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. |
(5) |
Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a no shop provision and commitment fees for financing. |
NYSE rules 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 $156,000,000 in gross proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, or $178,950,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, $150,000,000 ($10.00 per unit), or $172,500,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit), will be deposited into a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $3,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $3,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $3,000,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $150,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. We expect that the interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay income taxes. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, as applicable, if any, until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity.
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The net proceeds released to us from the trust account upon the closing of our initial business combination may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may use the balance of the cash released from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination.
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 business combination, 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 any of their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.
We will pay sponsor or an affiliate of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Prior to the closing of this offering, an affiliate of our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $250,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our 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 to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our 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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We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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The difference between the public offering price per Class A ordinary share, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
At March 31, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $(163,561), or approximately $(0.04) per ordinary share. After giving effect to the sale of 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 17,250,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at March 31, 2021 would have been $5,000,007 or $0.77 per share (or $5,000,007 or $0.68 per share if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of 12,272,684 Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash, or 14,221,859 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.81 per share (or $0.72 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial shareholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution to public shareholders from this offering of $10.00 per share. Total dilution to public shareholders from this offering will be $9.23 per share (or $9.32 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public shareholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
No exercise of over-
allotment option |
Exercise of over-allotment
option in full |
|||||||
Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | ||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
(0.04) | (0.04) | ||||||
Increase attributable to public shareholders |
0.81 | 0.72 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants |
0.77 | 0.68 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Dilution to public shareholders |
$ | 9.23 | $ | 9.32 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Percentage of dilution to public shareholders |
92.3 | % | 93.2 | % |
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 $122,726,840 because holders of up to approximately 81.8% 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 business days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or shareholders meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes), divided by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering.
The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial shareholders and the public shareholders:
Purchased | Total Consideration |
Average
Price Per Share |
||||||||||||||||||
Number | Percentage | Amount | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||
Initial shareholders(1) |
3,750,000 | 20 | $ | 25,000 | 0.02 | $ | 0.007 | |||||||||||||
Public shareholders |
15,000,000 | 80 | $ | 150,000,000 | 99.98 | $ | 10.00 | |||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
Total |
18,750,000 | 100 | $ | 150,025,000 | 100.00 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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(1) |
Assumes that 562,500 founder shares are surrendered to us for no consideration after the closing of this offering in the event the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). |
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering (assuming that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option) is calculated as follows:
Without Over-
allotment |
With Over-
allotment |
|||||||
Numerator: |
||||||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
$ | (163,561 | ) | $ | (163,561 | ) | ||
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants(1) |
152,000,000 | 174,500,000 | ||||||
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering |
175,408 | 175,408 | ||||||
Less: Derivative warrant liability(2) |
(19,035,000 | ) | (21,255,750 | ) | ||||
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions |
(5,250,000 | ) | (6,037,500 | ) | ||||
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption(3) |
(122,726,840 | ) | (142,218,590 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
$ | 5,000,007 | $ | 5,000,007 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Denominator: |
||||||||
Class B ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering |
4,312,500 | 4,312,500 | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised(4) |
(562,500 | ) | | |||||
Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered |
15,000,000 | 17,250,000 | ||||||
Less: Ordinary shares subject to redemption |
(12,272,684 | ) | (14,221,859 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
6,477,316 | 7,340,641 | |||||||
|
|
|
|
(1) |
Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $1,000,000 and underwriting commissions of $3,000,000 (excluding deferred underwriting fees). See Use of Proceeds. |
(2) |
The 13,500,000 warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised) are expected to be accounted for as derivative securities in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statements of operations. The warrants are also subject to re-evaluation of the proper classification and accounting treatment at each reporting period. |
(3) |
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities. |
(4) |
Assumes that 562,500 founder shares are surrendered to us for no consideration (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). |
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at March 31, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the sale of our units in this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option:
March 31, 2021 | ||||||||
Actual | As Adjusted | |||||||
Notes payable to related party(1) |
$ | | $ | | ||||
Derivative warrant liability(2) |
| 19,035,000 | ||||||
Deferred underwriting commissions |
| 5,250,000 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Class A ordinary shares, subject to redemption, 0 and 12,272,684 shares which are subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively(3) |
| 122,726,840 | ||||||
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 2,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively |
| | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized; 0 and 2,727,316 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively |
| 273 | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized, 4,312,500 and 3,750,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(4) |
431 | 375 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
24,569 | 5,716,156 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(13,153 | ) | (716,797 | ) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total shareholders equity |
$ | 11,847 | $ | 5,000,007 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total capitalization |
$ | 11,847 | $ | 152,011,847 | ||||
|
|
|
|
(1) |
Our sponsor may loan us up to $250,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The as adjusted information gives effect to the repayment of any loans received from our sponsor out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As of March 31, 2021, we had no borrowings under the promissory note. |
(2) |
The 13,500,000 warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised) are expected to be accounted for as derivative securities in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statements of operations. The warrants are also subject to re-evaluation of the proper classification and accounting treatment at each reporting period. |
(3) |
Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per-share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein whereby redemptions cannot cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. |
(4) |
Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and forfeiture of an aggregate of 562,500 founder shares. |
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MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on March 3, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into prior to or following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
The issuance of additional shares in connection with a business combination to the owners of the target or other investors:
|
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
|
may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
|
could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
|
may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and |
|
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the 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 Class A ordinary shares; |
|
using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
|
limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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|
increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
|
limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at March 31, 2021, we had no cash and deferred offering costs of $175,408. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
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 payment of $25,000 from our sponsor to cover for certain expenses on our behalf in exchange for the issuance of the 4,312,500 founder shares, and up to $250,000 in loans available from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor.
We estimate that the net proceeds from the sale of the units in this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $6,000,000 (or $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), after deducting offering expenses of approximately $1,000,000 and underwriting commissions of $3,000,000 (or $3,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $5,250,000, or $6,037,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $152,000,000 (or $174,500,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full). $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes the deferred underwriting commissions described above. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The remaining approximately $2,000,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions) net of any redemptions, to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our income
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taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us approximately $2,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds to primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our 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 $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our 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 $400,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; up to $650,000 for office space, utilities, directors and officers insurance, administrative and support services payments; $175,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $75,000 for NYSE and other regulatory fees; $35,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during the search for a business combination target; and approximately $165,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying for $10,000 monthly payments associated with office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team.
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.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or
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because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. 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 certify the effectiveness of our 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, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm 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 initial 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 |
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documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls.
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Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our managements report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target businesss internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or 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.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of March 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an emerging growth company and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an emerging growth company, we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an independent registered public accounting firms 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 report of the independent registered public accounting firm 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 CEOs 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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Introduction
We are a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have generated no revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues at the earliest until we consummate 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 with respect to an initial business combination with us.
We are focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the extensive collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products, or services, and entertainment media (the Target Sectors). Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region and may consummate a business combination with a target business in any industry or any region if we believe the business combination is attractive to our company and stockholders. If we consummate a business combination with a target business that is not operating in the Target Sectors, certain of the information contained in this prospectus will not be relevant.
We believe Chinas growing middle class population of more than 350 million people (larger than the entire U.S. population), with its rapidly evolving consumption patterns and increasing spending power, will continue to shape multiple industries in Asia and across the globe. Therefore, while we intend to pursue opportunities globally, we will focus on opportunities with existing or future growth potential underpinned by the transformative consumption forces in Asia, an area in which we believe our founder and management team can contribute significantly with their extensive network, knowledge and experience.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are not limited to a particular industry and geographic region and may consummate a business combination with a target business in any industry or any region if we believe the business combination is attractive to our company and stockholders. If we consummate a business combination with a target business that is not operating in the entertainment industry, certain information contained in this prospectus will not be relevant.
Initial business combination opportunities will be sourced from our founder and our management teams proprietary network of operating executives, investors and advisors. Our management team will employ a disciplined and highly selective process, and expect to add value to a target business through leveraging the extensive networks, relationship and experience of our founder and management team and executing add-on acquisitions, capital structure optimization and operational improvements.
With decades of operating and investment experience globally including in Greater China, we believe our operations and customer-centric background will distinguish us from other special purpose acquisition companies that are founded and / or sponsored by financial investors. We believe this not only creates unique deal sourcing channels but also positions us as an attractive partner to potential target businesses, thereby enhancing our ability to complete a successful business combination.
Our Founder and Our Sponsor
Black Spade Capital Limited (Black Spade Capital) is the private investment arm of Mr. Lawrence Ho and an affiliate of our sponsor. Mr. Ho is a visionary entrepreneur and a globally recognized leader within the leisure and entertainment industry. Mr. Ho has been the chairman and chief executive officer since March 2006
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of Melco International Development Limited, a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong collectively with its subsidiaries, (Melco International, or Melco Group). Mr. Ho is also currently the chairman and chief executive officer of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, a company listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and a director of Studio City International Holdings Limited, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, both listed subsidiaries of Melco International.
Melco Groups rapid transformation into a global leisure and entertainment powerhouse is a clear testament to Mr. Hos dynamic entrepreneurship and strategic vision. Under his leadership, Mr. Ho completely transformed his flagship listed company Melco International from a small collection of unrelated assets (which included a restaurant and passive property portfolio) 20 years ago into a leading player in the entertainment industry.
Mr. Ho spearheaded Melco Groups foray into the leisure and entertainment sector, and redefined the premium mass gaming segment in Macau, which subsequently anchored Melco Groups position as a leading developer, owner and operator of gaming and integrated resort facilities with presence in Macau, Philippines and Cyprus (commencement of operation expected in 2022). Melco Internationals net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA reached HK$45 billion and HK$12.5 billion respectively in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Mr. Hos inspiration Melco Group has continued to add world-class leisure and entertainment elements to its integrated resorts portfolio and has been widely recognized as a pioneer in this regard.
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City of Dreams Macau was opened in 2009 and has been at the forefront of creating the premium mass market. The iconic show House of Dancing Waters, a masterpiece of legendary creative director Franco Dragone, has attracted more than 6 million spectators since its debut in 2010, and was awarded Asias Best Integrated Resorts Non-Gaming Attraction at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia Awards 2019. |
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Studio City Macau is a cinematically-themed integrated resort with highly differentiated non-gaming attractions, including the worlds first figure-8 Ferris wheel and a 4-D Batman flight simulator. Melco Group was also the first Macau gaming operator to set up a dedicated eSports stadium, the Macau E-Stadium at Studio City. |
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City of Dreams Manila offers DreamPlay by DreamWorks, which is the worlds first DreamWorks- themed, indoor interactive play and creativity center. |
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City of Dreams Mediterranean, a project under development in Cyprus, is expected to be the largest and premier integrated resort in Europe upon opening expected in 2022. |
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Restaurants in Melco Groups resorts were awarded 10 Michelin stars in both 2019 and 2020, placing Melco Group as the worlds integrated resort operator with the most Michelin stars. In addition, Melco Groups hotels, restaurants and spas have been honored by 2021 Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) with a total of 97 Stars, including 17 Five-Star awards, leading among Asias integrated resort operators. |
Under Mr. Hos leadership, Melco Group completed transformational marquee M&A transactions that created significant value for shareholders, including the majority stake acquisition of Studio City in 2011 and the acquisition of Crown Resorts equity interest in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in 2016. Melco Group has also established a strong track record of long-term value creation and working with strategic and financial partners, such as the development of City of Dreams with Crown Resorts, one of Australias largest gaming and entertainment groups to date, which started in 2005, the development of City of Dreams Manila with SM Group, a Philippine conglomerate founded by Henry Sy who was named the richest man in the Philippines multiple times, which started in 2012, and the development of Studio City with Silver Point Capital LP and Oaktree Capital Group LP which started in 2011. Mr. Ho was involved in more than 10 public equity capital raises and more than 15 bond issuances across various entities of the Melco Group with combined fundraises exceeding $25 billion across the equity and bond markets.
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Black Spade Capital, headquartered in Hong Kong, runs a global portfolio consisting of a wide spectrum of cross-border investments, and consistently seeks to add new investment projects and opportunities to its portfolio. Black Spade Capitals investment strategy covers all geographic regions and sectors whilst maintaining a portfolio of diversified asset classes, including equities (including special purpose acquisition companies and pre-IPO investments), fixed income and real estate. In 2018, Black Spade Capital became the first ever issuer of bonds denominated in Macaus local currency patacas with its MOP$2 billion bond issuance.
Our Senior Executives
Our founder and management team are industry leaders and professionals with highly complementary backgrounds. With an average of over 20 years of individual experience, our founder and management team have a diverse set of skills that include operating and leading public companies, founding and growing private companies, and structuring and negotiating complex corporate transactions. Our founder and management team are complemented by our advisors to the Board and four independent directors, each with direct leisure, entertainment, lifestyle, media and technology expertise and extensive industry relationships. We believe our founder and management team are well-positioned to identify and evaluate targets across the leisure, entertainment, and lifestyle ecosystem given their extensive experience operating and growing businesses and broad network of relationships. Over the course of their careers, they have developed deep and broad networks of entrepreneurs, business owners and operating executives in our Target Sectors, senior-level investment, private equity, venture capital and growth equity professionals, as well as board members, family office principals, investment bankers and institutional investors. We also believe that the experience of our founder and management team will make us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, enhance our ability to complete a successful business combination and bring enduring value to the business following its initial business combination.
Black Spade Acquisition Co will be led by Chairman and Co-CEO Dennis Tam, Co-CEO Kester Ng, and President and CFO Francis Ng.
Dennis Tam, or Chi Wai Dennis Tam, our Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, serves as President and CEO of Black Spade Capital with more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, accounting, financial control and mergers & acquisitions. Prior to joining Black Spade, Mr. Tam was the Group Finance Director of Melco International from 2006 to 2017. He has also held senior management positions with various local listed and multinational companies throughout his career. He has been the chairman of the board for Greater China for the Institute of Certified Management Accountants since 2014, a member of the Institute of Public Accountants since 2013, a member of CPA Australia since 2000. Mr. Tam was awarded Asias Best CFO (Investor Relations) at the Asian Excellence Awards by Corporate Governance Asia magazine in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Mr. Tam obtained his Master Degree in Accounting from Monash University, and was trained at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Kester Ng, or Shing Joe Kester Ng, our Co-Chief Executive Officer, also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of GRE Investment Advisors Limited, a company providing Private Equity investment advisory and asset management services to institutions, ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices. GRE is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) to provide investment advisory and asset management services, under type 4 (Advising on Securities) and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses. Mr. Ng is also a Managing Director of the NM Strategic Focus Fund I and II, which are both private equity funds with a focus on making direct investments and providing growth capital to companies in the areas of technology, fintech, health care and consumer services in the Greater China region. Private Equity Investee companies include the likes of Lufax (LU US EQUITY) and Ping An Health and Technology (1833 HK). Before joining GRE Investment Advisors Limited in 2014, Mr. Ng worked at J.P. Morgan from 2006 to 2013 where he was the Chairman and Head of Equity Capital & Derivatives Markets for the whole Asia Pacific region, responsible for raising capital for both public and private companies via initial public offerings, equity-linked offerings and pre-IPO transactions. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Mr. Ng served as the Managing Director and Head of Greater China Equity
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Capital Markets at Merrill Lynch and worked there from 1995 to 2006 in London and Hong Kong. Over his professional career, Mr. Ng is one of the most senior ECM bankers in the Asia Pacific Region, having completed a significant number of IPOs, equity and equity-linked transactions. His experience includes more than 100 IPOs, pre-IPOs and equity linked transactions for Greater China companies, raising over $100 billion on the major stock exchanges globally, including Hong Kong, NYSE, NASDAQ, London and Singapore. He completed the Agricultural Bank of Chinas $22 billion dual listed Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO in 2010, which was the largest IPO globally ever at the time. Mr. Ng also served as a director of the boards of both J.P Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited and J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited. In addition, he also previously served as a Hong Kong SFC Responsible Officer as well as a Hong Kong Monetary Authority Executive Officer. Mr. Ng has a Bachelor of Medicine Degree from the University of Nottingham Medical School, United Kingdom.
Francis Ng, or Francis Chi Yin Ng, our President and Chief Financial Officer, has over 13 years of fixed income and real estate investment experience globally, and has invested over $500 million across different types of capital structure transactions including structured financing, mezzanine debt and distressed assets. Mr. Ng is currently the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Pacific Aegis Capital Management (HK) Limited, a Hong Kong based investment firm that specialises in real estate private credit and private equity investments globally (collectively with its affiliates, Pacific Aegis Group). Mr. Ng has been serving as a director in the Pacific Aegis Group since 2018. Prior to his role in the Pacific Aegis Group, Mr. Ng served as the Vice President of Tianli Financial Holdings from 2017 to 2018 where he was responsible for co-managing the companys $400 million Global Private Debt Fund. Prior to his role at Tianli Financial Holdings, he was the Vice President at SBI Hong Kong Holdings Co., Limited, a Hong Kong subsidiary of SBI Group (known as Softbank Investment Corporation until 2006) from 2014 to 2016. Before joining SBI Group, Mr. Ng held various roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management from 2011 to 2012 and UBS AG from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Ng holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Airport Management and Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics from the University of North Dakota. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a Certified Management Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants, and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants.
Our Independent Directors
Our management team will be further supported by our independent directors Russell Galbut, Robert Moore, Patsy Chan and Sammy Hsieh.
Russell Galbut, or Russell William Galbut has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Galbut currently serves as the Chairman of the board of directors of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, a leading cruise line operator listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for which he has served as an independent director since November 2015. Mr. Galbut is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Crescent Heights, a leading urban real estate firm, specializing in the development, ownership, and operation of architecturally distinctive, mixed-use high-rises in major cities across the United States. Prior to founding Crescent Heights in 1989, he served as a senior real estate consultant at Laventhal and Horwath for two years. Mr. Galbut also serves on the Deans Advisory Board for the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Robert Moore, or Robert Steven Moore has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Moore is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of P1 Esports LLC, an e-sports organization which scouts and develops elite talent to compete in world-class tournaments under the Sentinel team brand. Prior to co-founding P1 Esports LLC in 2017, he served as Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures from 2005 to 2016. Prior to joining Paramount Pictures, he was a founding partner at Revolution Studios, an independent production company, which he co-founded in 2000. Prior to Revolution Studios, Mr. Moore spent 13 years at Walt Disney Studios beginning in 1987, where he last served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Moore holds a Bachelors degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Accounting from Pepperdine University.
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Patsy Chan, or Po Yi Patsy Chan has served as our independent director since July 2021. Ms. Chan is the Chief Operating Officer of Richemont Luxury (Singapore), where she is responsible for overseeing the Southeast Asia and Oceania operations of Richemont Luxury Group, a leading luxury goods company which owns brands such as Cartier, Piaget and Montblanc. Prior to her 24 year tenure at Richemont Luxury Group, Ms. Chan served as the financial controller at Marsh & McLennan, a global professional services firm. Ms. Chan has been a Certified Practising Accountant of CPA Australia since 1992. Ms. Chan holds a Bachelor Degree of Commerce in Accounting from the University of New South Wales and has completed the Luxury Brand Management Executive Program at ESSEC Business School.
Sammy Hsieh, or Wing Hong Sammy Hsieh has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Hsieh is the Founder and Chairman for iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited, a leading independent online marketing and enterprise data solutions provider in China listed on the NASDAQ. Prior to founding iClick Interactive Limited in 2009, he served as the General Manager of the Asia Pacific region for Efficient Frontier, a firm which was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2011, from 2008 to 2009. Prior to his role at Efficient Frontier, he was a Director of Search Marketing for Yahoo Hong Kong from 2000 to 2008, where he led and managed the companys business operations including sales, marketing, business development and product management. Mr. Hsieh holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Our Advisory Committee Members
Our advisory committee members, Betty Liu and Richard Taylor, will provide additional support to our management and directors.
Betty Liu will serve as a member of our advisory committee following the completion of this offering. Ms. Liu was the Executive Vice Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and Chief Experience Officer for Intercontinental Exchange. Through her role at the New York Stock Exchange, Ms. Liu was actively involved in numerous initial public offerings, including entertainment and social media leaders such as Uber, Pinterest and Tencent Music. Ms. Liu is also the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of D and Z Media Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2021. Prior to her role at the New York Stock Exchange, Ms. Liu served as the Founder and CEO of Radiate, an online, subscription-based ed-tech content company for millennial managers and executives, from 2016 to 2018. She scaled the ed-tech platform from concept to more than 20,000 monthly active professional subscribers in less than 2 years. From 2007 to 2018, Ms. Liu served as a leading anchor and editor-at-large for Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio in New York City. Before joining Bloomberg, Ms. Liu was an anchor for CNBC Asia based in Hong Kong from 2005 to 2007, serving as part of the leadership group which helped build CNBC Asia into a market-leading news network within the region. Prior to 2004, Ms. Liu was the Atlanta Bureau Chief for the Financial Times and served as the Taiwan Bureau Chief for Dow Jones Newswire. In 1997, she received a Dow Jones Newswires Award for her coverage of the Asian financial crisis. Ms. Liu earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
Richard Taylor will serve as a member of our advisory committee following the completion of this offering. Mr. Taylor currently serves as Managing Director at GRE Investment Advisors Limited, an SFC licensed investment advisory and management services company in Hong Kong with a focus on the technology, healthcare and new consumer sectors. He has held this position since September 2020. Prior to joining GRE, Mr. Taylor pursued a 30-year Investment Banking career in London from 1988 to 1993 with Daiwa Securities, and in Hong Kong from 1993 to 1996 before joining CLSA in Hong Kong in 1996 to lead, manage and build out the Hong Kong and regional investment banking business of the group. In this position, he served in a number of roles, including Head of Investment Banking and Head of Corporate Finance and Capital Markets, managing a team in 11 Asian regional offices advising on and raising capital for companies and institutional investors in the private and public capital markets. In addition to Hong Kong and Greater China, key markets of focus have been Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India, as well as the frontier markets of Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Mr. Taylor had a particular focus on the gaming, technology, healthcare and consumer sectors. Selected transactions completed include the initial public offerings of Singapore Telecom,
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Tenaga Nasional, Prada, LOccitane, Fosun Tourism, Xiaomi, Bloomberry Resorts, Sa Sa and Genting Singapore. Mr. Taylor served as a Board Director and Executive Committee member of various CLSA companies, as well as a member of the Risk and Underwriting Committees. Mr. Taylor holds BA and MA degrees from Oxford University and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Market Opportunity
We are a blank check company newly incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have generated no revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues at the earliest until we consummate 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 with respect to an initial business combination with us.
We are focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the extensive collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on the Target Sectors.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entertainment landscape immensely, creating immediate pressure and accelerating changes, some permanently, on many fundamentally sound businesses. Numerous sectors, including media production, live events, sports, lifestyle brands, as well as the products or services that support these industries are experiencing financial and operating challenges. This market dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic creates opportunities to support these businesses with capital and additional know-how in order to help them stabilize and to achieve on their longer-term market potential.
On the other hand, certain entertainment businesses have flourished during this period, benefiting from a historical paradigm shift to online channels or platforms accelerated by the pandemic, such as e-content streaming, eCommerce and eSports. As these businesses experienced significant growth within a compressed period of time, many are seeking value adding partners to sustain their new trajectory and pursue new consumer or growth markets.
We aim to capitalize on these trends by seeking to provide capital and expertise to targets in the entertainment industry with solid business fundamentals and attractive valuations, which have the potential for growth and to benefit from our local network, access and know-how.
These potential targets may exhibit a broad range of business models and financial characteristics that range from very high growth innovative companies to more mature businesses with established recurring revenues and strong cash flows. Many sub-segments in the entertainment industry are large and fast-growing, but highly fragmented with many privately-owned businesses. We believe the Target Sectors provide ample business combination opportunities:
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Enabling Technology: The landscape in the entertainment industry is dynamic and rapidly evolving as new means of consumption and delivery continue to generate opportunities for monetization. Developments in technology continues to re-define how consumers experience and respond to entertainment content and formats as consumers become more inter connected through mobile devices. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality are allowing consumers to experience content in ways that are increasingly bespoke, while 5G is enabling these experiences to take place with lower latency. 3D, virtual reality, augmented reality open up new avenues of entertainment, with promises of different ways to experience live events |
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and entertainment products. Rapid growth of digital devices is enabling the proliferation of entertainment options. We believe a growing appetite for technology from consumers, alongside continued technological advancements, will continue to allow innovative technologies, contents and business models to emerge and pioneer in the entertainment industry, presenting excellent opportunities for our management team. |
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Lifestyle Brands, Products and Services: The lifestyle segment is composed of many verticals, including beauty and cosmetics, luxury apparel, high street fashion, wellness and fitness, and travel and lodging. Lifestyle brands engage customers with unique product, experience and aspiration, often with a singular image, strong philosophy, and unique style. Consumers are increasingly connecting to brands through e-commerce, digital content, online communities and influencer- driven recommendations. The Millennial and Generation Z demographic groups, in particular, often live in a highly-connected and digital world, spending their time interacting through different mediums, and respond to brands in which these interactions build an emotional connection. Some traditional players are undergoing omni-channel transformation, while others could benefit from innovative ways for consumers to connect and to experience their brand. We will pursue companies that offer differentiated experiences based on high quality and premium product offerings across different channels. |
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Entertainment Media: The entertainment media space is composed of many verticals, including sports, eSports, social media, content-streaming, live events / shows. There has been significant disruption and change in the types of entertainment media products and services consumers need and the form in which they are packaged and delivered in recent years. We believe that this sub-segment is poised for continuous change, growth and opportunities as new entrants seek to accelerate growth and legacy businesses by adapting their historically strong brands to evolving consumer preferences. We will pursue companies that we believe possess distinguished competitiveness in content or means of engagement or delivery. |
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a company that can benefit from the collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team and that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on the Target Sectors, pursuant to our Target Combination Criteria (see next section). We intend to focus on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management teams operational expertise. We believe that the operating background of our founder and management team distinguishes us from other special purpose acquisition companies that are founded / sponsored by financial investors, which provides us with unique deal sourcing and makes us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, thereby enhancing our ability to complete a successful business combination. We expect to play a pivotal role as a business builder and platform facilitator by maximizing value for all shareholders. Our selection process will leverage our founder and our management teams broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and deal-sourcing capabilities, which we believe will provide us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our founder and management have experience in:
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investing and building businesses in leisure, entertainment and lifestyle related sectors with distinctive market, policy and macroeconomic insights; |
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introducing products and services to and engaging with Greater China consumers; |
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managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting talent; |
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developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses; |
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executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains; |
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sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets; |
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partnering with other industry-leading companies to improve competitive position; |
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deep understanding of Greater China regulations and regulatory bodies; |
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fostering relationships with consumers, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and |
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accessing the equity and debt capital markets, including capital sources in Asia, Europe and North America, across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership. |
Business Combination Criteria
We expect to 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 into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We expect that no individual criteria will entirely determine a decision to pursue a particular economy. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:
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can utilize the extensive network, relationships and experience of our founder and management team to propel growth; |
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possess disruptive technology and/or business models with strong and sustainable growth potential; |
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have defensible market positions with sustainable competitive advantages; |
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have dislocated valuations with fundamentally sound business model and sector, and a need for capital; |
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own durable or established IP (e.g., contents, brands) with scalable monetization potential; |
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are managed by experienced management team with the ability to oversee a larger organization; |
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established entrepreneurial culture of disruption, adaptability to changing sector dynamics; |
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have ability to scale and enhance growth with further M&A roll-up; and |
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can benefit from being a publicly traded company with access to broader capital markets. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation of 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 team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information which will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience. Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes and value creation methods are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does
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not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
The rules of NYSE and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discounts or commissions held in the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the targets assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
We believe our management teams significant operating and transaction experience and relationships will provide us with a substantial number of potential initial business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, the reputation of our management team for integrity and fair dealing with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.
This network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that has resulted in numerous transactions which were proprietary or where a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale
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process. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us important sources of investment opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business combination candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion and they may not be able to rely upon such opinion.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, or our Board of Directors 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, another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the business judgment of our Board of Directors, which will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of the target or targets, and different methods of valuation may vary greatly in outcome from one another. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Members of our management team and our independent directors own or will own, directly or indirectly, founders shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering which securities will be worthless if we fail to complete a business combination and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our directors and officers presently has, and in the future may further have, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present acquisition opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an acquisition opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such acquisition opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any officer or director 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. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination.
There is no restriction in the geographic location of targets we can pursue, although we intend to initially prioritize Asia as the geographical focus. We will seek to identify targets that are likely to provide attractive financial returns through business combinations. However, we have yet to determine a time frame, an investment amount or any other criteria, which would trigger our search for business opportunities outside of China. We believe that we will add value to these businesses primarily by providing them with access to the U.S. capital markets.
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Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their capital stock, shares or other equity securities in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses, market and other uncertainties in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show 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. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a companys profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management teams backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $144,750,000 (assuming no redemptions), after payment of $5,250,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $166,462,500 (assuming no
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redemptions) after payment of $6,037,500 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into prior to or following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing of the initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We are focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the extensive collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products, or services, and entertainment media. While we intend to pursue opportunities globally, we will focus on opportunities with existing or future growth potential underpinned by the transformative consumption forces in Asia, an area in which we believe our founder and management team can contribute significantly with their extensive network, knowledge and experience. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount
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available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering. 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. None of our sponsors, officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the track record and business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finders fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arms length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finders fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. We may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for advisory or other services in connection with our initial business combination and may pay such person or entity a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard fee for comparable transactions. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than the foregoing, there will be no finders fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion and they may not be able to rely upon such opinion.
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Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
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subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and |
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cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Targets Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target businesss management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
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Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under NYSEs listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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We issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
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Any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest earned on the trust account (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding; |
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ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or |
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The issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will 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.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
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Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our initial shareholders, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on a negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the 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 taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our 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 their founder shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer.
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The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE, we will be required to comply with NYSEs shareholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company, so long as we offer redemption in connection with such amendment.
If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a shareholder meeting, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and |
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file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of a majority of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our sponsor, officers and directors will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 5,625,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 937,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general
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meeting of the company. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, officers and directors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:
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conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and |
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file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemption pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Companys DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate
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amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holders shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Delivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights
As described above, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Companys DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or
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tendering shares a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to submit or tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month 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 or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity
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to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $2,000,000 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 income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
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 shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third partys engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of this offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims
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under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsors only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses 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 $2,000,000 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, shareholders 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 $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a preferential transfer or a fraudulent conveyance. As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
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Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholders voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholders redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
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Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business Combination
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemptions in Connection
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Other Permitted Purchases of
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Redemptions if we fail to
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Calculation of redemption price |
Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. In either case, our public shareholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, 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 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection | If we seek shareholder 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 either 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 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 | If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. |
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Redemptions in Connection
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Other Permitted Purchases of
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Redemptions if we fail to
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with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. | |||||
Impact to remaining shareholders |
The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay our taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account). | If the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining shareholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. | The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial shareholders, who will be our only remaining shareholders 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 |
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Escrow of offering proceeds |
$150,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | Approximately $127,575,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | ||
Investment of net proceeds |
$150,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. | Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. | ||
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds |
Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. | Interest 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 |
We must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting | 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 |
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commissions on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. | ||||
Trading of securities issued |
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Citigroup Global Markets 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 closing 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, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option. | No trading of the units or the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. | ||
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 shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per-share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account | 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 |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a shareholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SECs proxy rules. If, however, we hold a shareholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. | 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 companys registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a shareholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the shareholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction. | ||||
Business combination deadline |
If we do not 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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. | If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the companys registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. | ||
Release of funds |
Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes, if any, none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account | The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity. | failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. | |||
Delivering share certificates in connection with the exercise of redemption rights |
We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Companys DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder |
Many blank check companies provide that a shareholder can vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating that such shareholder is seeking to exercise its redemption rights. After the business combination is approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for delivery of its share certificates to verify ownership. |
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Terms of Our Offering |
Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
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vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. | ||||
Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote |
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares without our prior consent. However, we would not restrict our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. | Many blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of shareholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such shareholders in connection with an initial business combination. |
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess similar or greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our issued and outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently utilize office space at Suite 2902, 29/F, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong from our sponsor and the members of our management team as our executive offices. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have three executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We may plan to have full time employees other than the executive officers prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements
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outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cabinet Office of the Cayman Islands that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from March 11, 2021, no law which is thereafter enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision).
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
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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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Officers and Directors
Our officers and directors are as follows:
Name |
Age |
Position |
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Dennis Tam |
52 | Executive Chairman of the Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer | ||
Kester Ng |
54 | Director and Co-Chief Executive Officer | ||
Francis Ng |
36 | President, Director and Chief Financial Officer | ||
Russell Galbut |
69 | Director | ||
Robert Moore |
69 | Director | ||
Patsy Chan |
57 | Director | ||
Sammy Hsieh |
49 | Director |
Dennis Tam, or Chi Wai Dennis Tam, our Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, serves as President and CEO of Black Spade Capital with more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, accounting, financial control and mergers & acquisitions. Prior to joining Black Spade, Mr. Tam was the Group Finance Director of Melco International from 2006 to 2017. He has also held senior management positions with various local listed and multinational companies throughout his career. He has been the chairman of the board for Greater China for the Institute of Certified Management Accountants since 2014, a member of the Institute of Public Accountants since 2013, a member of CPA Australia since 2000. Mr. Tam was awarded Asias Best CFO (Investor Relations) at the Asian Excellence Awards by Corporate Governance Asia magazine in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Mr. Tam obtained his Master Degree in Accounting from Monash University, and was trained at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Kester Ng, or Shing Joe Kester Ng, our Co-Chief Executive Officer, also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of GRE Investment Advisors Limited, a company providing Private Equity investment advisory and asset management services to institutions, ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices. GRE is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) to provide investment advisory and asset management services, under type 4 (Advising on Securities) and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses. Mr. Ng is also a Managing Director of the NM Strategic Focus Fund I and II, which are both private equity funds with a focus on making direct investments and providing growth capital to companies in the areas of technology, fintech, health care and consumer services in the Greater China region. Private Equity Investee companies include the likes of Lufax (LU US EQUITY) and Ping An Health and Technology (1833 HK). Before joining GRE Investment Advisors Limited in 2014, Mr. Ng worked at J.P. Morgan from 2006 to 2013 where he was the Chairman and Head of Equity Capital & Derivatives Markets for the whole Asia Pacific region, responsible for raising capital for both public and private companies via initial public offerings, equity-linked offerings and pre-IPO transactions. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Mr. Ng served as the Managing Director and Head of Greater China Equity Capital Markets at Merrill Lynch and worked there from 1995 to 2006 in London and Hong Kong. Over his professional career, Mr. Ng is one of the most senior ECM bankers in the Asia Pacific Region, having completed a significant number of IPOs, equity and equity-linked transactions. His experience includes more than 100 IPOs, pre-IPOs and equity linked transactions for Greater China companies, raising over $100 billion on the major stock exchanges globally, including Hong Kong, NYSE, NASDAQ, London and Singapore. He completed the Agricultural Bank of Chinas $22 billion dual listed Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO in 2010, which was the largest IPO globally ever at the time. Mr. Ng also served as a director of the boards of both J.P Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited and J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited. In addition, he also previously served as a Hong Kong SFC Responsible Officer as well as a Hong Kong Monetary Authority Executive Officer. Mr. Ng has a Bachelor of Medicine Degree from the University of Nottingham Medical School, United Kingdom.
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Francis Ng, or Francis Chi Yin Ng, our President and Chief Financial Officer, has over 13 years of fixed income and real estate investment experience globally, and has invested over $500 million across different types of capital structure transactions including structured financing, mezzanine debt and distressed assets. Mr. Ng is currently the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Pacific Aegis Capital Management (HK) Limited, a Hong Kong based investment firm that specializes in real estate private credit and private equity investments globally (collectively with its affiliates, Pacific Aegis Group). Mr. Ng has been serving as a director in the Pacific Aegis Group since 2018. Prior to his role in the Pacific Aegis Group, Mr. Ng served as the Vice President of Tianli Financial Holdings from 2017 to 2018 where he was responsible for co-managing the companys $400 million Global Private Debt Fund. Prior to his role at Tianli Financial Holdings, he was the Vice President at SBI Hong Kong Holdings Co., Limited, a Hong Kong subsidiary of SBI Group (known as Softbank Investment Corporation until 2006) from 2014 to 2016. Before joining SBI Group, Mr. Ng held various roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management from 2011 to 2012 and UBS AG from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Ng holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Airport Management and Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics from the University of North Dakota. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a Certified Management Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants, and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants.
Our management team will be further supported by our independent directors Russell Galbut, Robert Moore, Patsy Chan and Sammy Hsieh, as well as our advisory committee members Betty Liu and Richard Taylor.
Russell Galbut, or Russell William Galbut has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Galbut currently serves as the Chairman of the board of directors of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, a leading cruise line operator listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for which he has served as an independent director since November 2015. Mr. Galbut is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Crescent Heights, a leading urban real estate firm, specializing in the development, ownership, and operation of architecturally distinctive, mixed-use high-rises in major cities across the United States. Prior to founding Crescent Heights in 1989, he served as a senior real estate consultant at Laventhal and Horwath for two years. Mr. Galbut also serves on the Deans Advisory Board for the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Robert Moore, or Robert Steven Moore has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Moore is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of P1 Esports LLC, an e-sports organization which scouts and develops elite talent to compete in world-class tournaments under the Sentinel team brand. Prior to co-founding P1 Esports LLC in 2017, he served as Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures from 2005 to 2016. Prior to joining Paramount Pictures, he was a founding partner at Revolution Studios, an independent production company, which he co-founded in 2000. Prior to Revolution Studios, Mr. Moore spent 13 years at Walt Disney Studios beginning in 1987, where he last served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Moore holds a Bachelors degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Accounting from Pepperdine University.
Patsy Chan, or Po Yi Patsy Chan has served as our independent director since July 2021. Ms. Chan is the Chief Operating Officer of Richemont Luxury (Singapore), where she is responsible for overseeing the Southeast Asia and Oceania operations of Richemont Luxury Group, a leading luxury goods company which owns brands such as Cartier, Piaget and Montblanc. Prior to her 24 year tenure at Richemont Luxury Group, Ms. Chan served as the financial controller at Marsh & McLennan, a global professional services firm. Ms. Chan has been a Certified Practising Accountant of CPA Australia since 1992. Ms. Chan holds a Bachelor Degree of Commerce in Accounting from the University of New South Wales and has completed the Luxury Brand Management Executive Program at ESSEC Business School.
Sammy Hsieh, or Wing Hong Sammy Hsieh has served as our independent director since July 2021. Mr. Hsieh is the Founder and Chairman for iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited, a leading independent online marketing and enterprise data solutions provider in China listed on the NASDAQ. Prior to founding iClick
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Interactive Limited in 2009, he served as the General Manager of the Asia Pacific region for Efficient Frontier, a firm which was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2011, from 2008 to 2009. Prior to his role at Efficient Frontier, he was a Director of Search Marketing for Yahoo Hong Kong from 2000 to 2008, where he led and managed the companys business operations including sales, marketing, business development and product management. Mr. Hsieh holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect our board of directors will consist of seven members elected as a single class with concurrent terms of two years. In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An independent director is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the companys board of directors, would interfere with the directors exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect to have four independent directors as defined in the NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules prior to completion of this offering. Our board of directors has determined that each of Russell Galbut, Robert Moore, Patsy Chan and Sammy Hsieh is an independent director 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 have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor or an affiliate of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finders and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees
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will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our managements motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors have three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Both our audit committee and our compensation committee will be composed solely of independent directors. 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 following the closing of this offering.
Audit Committee
Patsy Chan, Robert Moore and Sammy Hsieh serve as members of our audit committee, and Patsy Chan serves as chair of the audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Patsy Chan qualifies as an audit committee financial expert as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
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assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent auditors qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors; 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; |
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pre-approving all audit and 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; |
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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 (1) the independent auditors internal quality-control procedures and (2) 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; |
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meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific disclosures under Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
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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
Patsy Chan, Robert Moore and Sammy Hsieh serve as members of our compensation committee. Patsy Chan serves as chair of the compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, all the directors on the compensation committee must be independent.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
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reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officers compensation, evaluating our chief executive officers performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officers based on such evaluation; |
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reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
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reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
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implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
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assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
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approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
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producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
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reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than reimbursement of expenses and the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly,
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it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other 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 NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance are Patsy Chan, Russell Galbut and Sammy Hsieh. Patsy Chan serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, all the directors on the nominating and corporate governance committee must be independent.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
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identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
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developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
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coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
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reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firms fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
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Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review this document by accessing our public filings at the SECs web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of the committees of our board of directors will be provided without charge upon request from us. See the section of this prospectus entitled Where You Can Find Additional Information. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or NYSE rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Form S-1 or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
(i) |
duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
(ii) |
duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
(iii) |
directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
(iv) |
duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
(v) |
duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
(vi) |
duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity (including other special purpose acquisition companies) pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity,
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subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and the opportunity is one the company is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the company to pursue. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
Individual |
Entity |
Entitys Business |
Affiliation |
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Dennis Tam | Maple Peak Investments Inc. | Investment | Chief Executive Officer, Director | |||
Black Spade Capital Limited | Investment | President, Chief Executive Officer, Director | ||||
Kester Ng | GRE Investment Advisors Limited | Investment | Chief Executive Officer | |||
Francis Ng | Pacific Aegis Capital Management (HK) Limited | Investment | Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer, Founder | |||
Russell Galbut | Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. | Cruiseline | Chairman of the Board | |||
Crescent Heights | Real estate development | Principal and Co-founder | ||||
New Beginnings Acquisition Corp. | Special purpose acquisition company | Chairman of the Board | ||||
New Beginnings Acquisition Corp. II | Special purpose acquisition company | Chairman of the Board | ||||
New Beginnings Acquisition Corp. III | Special purpose acquisition company | Chairman of the Board | ||||
Robert Moore | P1 Esports LLC | eSports | Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder | |||
Patsy Chan | MECOM Power and Construction Limited | Construction | Independent Director | |||
Richemont Luxury Singapore Pte Limited | Luxury goods | Chief Operating Officer, Director | ||||
Sammy Hsieh | iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited | Technology | Chairman of the Board, Co-founder, Director and Co-founder | |||
Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited | Special purpose acquisition company | Independent Director |
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
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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. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. 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. |
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Our initial shareholders purchased founder shares prior to the date of this prospectus and will purchase private placement warrants in a transaction that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our 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 their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lockup. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
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Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion and they may not be able to rely upon such opinion. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finders fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, commencing on the date our securities are first listed on NYSE, we will also pay our sponsor or an affiliate of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination.
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Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a companys memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We expect to purchase a policy of directors and officers liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholders investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
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each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
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each of our officers and directors; and |
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all our officers and directors as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
On March 4, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On June 28, 2021, our sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which our sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. Prior to this offering, our sponsor intends to transfer an aggregate of 950,000 of its founder shares to our directors, officers, advisory committee members and certain employees of sponsors affiliates. 123,913 shares out of these 950,000 shares will be subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 17,250,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Up to 562,500 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that 562,500 founder shares have been surrendered to us for no consideration, and that there are 18,750,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.
Number of Shares
Beneficially Owned(2)(3) |
Approximate
Percentage of Outstanding Ordinary Shares(3) |
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Before
Offering |
After
Offering |
Before
Offering |
After
Offering |
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Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) |
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Black Spade Sponsor LLC(4) |
3,362,500 | 2,923,913 | 78.0 | % | 15.6 | % | ||||||||||
Dennis Tam |
300,000 | 260,870 | 7.0 | % | 1.4 | % | ||||||||||
Kester Ng |
200,000 | 173,913 | 4.6 | % | * | |||||||||||
Francis Ng |
100,000 | 86,957 | 2.3 | % | * | |||||||||||
Russell Galbut |
25,000 | 21,739 | * | * | ||||||||||||
Robert Moore |
25,000 | 21,739 | * | * | ||||||||||||
Patsy Chan |
25,000 | 21,739 | * | * | ||||||||||||
Sammy Hsieh |
25,000 | 21,739 | * | * | ||||||||||||
All officers and directors as a group (seven individuals) |
700,000 | 608,696 | 16.2 | % | 3.2 | % |
* Less than one percent.
(1) |
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is Suite 2902, 29/F, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong. |
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(2) |
Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled Description of Securities. |
(3) |
Includes up to 562,500 founder shares that will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). |
(4) |
Black Spade Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the shares reported herein. There are three managers of our sponsor. Each manager has one vote, and the approval of two of the three managers is required to approve an action of our sponsor. Under the so-called rule of three, if voting and dispositive decisions regarding an entitys securities are made by two or more individuals, and a voting and dispositive decision requires the approval of a majority of those individuals, then none of the individuals is deemed a beneficial owner of the entitys securities. This is the situation with regard to our sponsor. Based upon the foregoing analysis, no individual manager of our sponsor exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the securities held by our sponsor, even those in which he directly holds a pecuniary interest. Accordingly, none of them will be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of such shares. |
Immediately after this offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 20% of the then issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment of any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The private placement warrants will be identical to the warrants sold in this offering except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder. 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 of this offering $150,000,000 (or $172,500,000 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 private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below.
Black Spade Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, and our officers and directors are deemed to be our promoters as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the agreement entered
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into by our sponsor and management team. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion or exercise thereof, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliate or family member of any of our officers or directors, any affiliate of our sponsor or to any member of the sponsor or any of their affiliates, (b) in the case of an individual, as a gift to such persons immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such persons immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of such person; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangement or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares or warrants were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands or our sponsors limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor, (g) in the event of our liquidation prior to our consummation of our initial business combination; or (h) in the event that, subsequent to our consummation of an initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreements.
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of this offering, (ii) private placement warrants, which will be issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants and (iii) private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement and assuming the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full and $2,000,000 of working capital loans are converted into private placement warrants, we will be obligated to register up to 12,762,500 Class A ordinary shares and 8,450,000 warrants. The number of Class A ordinary shares includes (i) 4,312,500 Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon conversion of the founder shares, (ii) 6,450,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants and (iii) 2,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The number of warrants includes (i) 6,450,000 private placement warrants and (ii) 2,000,000 private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain piggy-back registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
On March 4, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On June 28, 2021, our sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which our sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. Prior to this offering, our sponsor intends to transfer an aggregate of 950,000 of its founder shares to our directors, officers, advisory committee members and certain employees of sponsors affiliates. 123,913 shares out of these 950,000 shares will be subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 17,250,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering. Up to 562,500 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering.
Our sponsor has committed to, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,000,000 private placement warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The private placement warrants will be identical to the warrants sold in this offering except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Pursuant to a letter agreement with our sponsor, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding a business combination without the prior written consent of our sponsor.
We currently utilize office space at Suite 2902, 29/F, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong from our sponsor as our executive offices. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor or an affiliate of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team.
No compensation of any kind, including finders and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor may loan us funds to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans would be non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering.
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,
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loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares and private placement warrants, which is described under the heading Principal ShareholdersRegistration Rights.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of related party transactions. A related party transaction is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the companys total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a related party had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. Related parties under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a related person pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arms-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related partys interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a directors status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the boards committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we are authorized to issue 220,000,000 ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, including 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, as well as 2,000,000 preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes certain terms of our shares as set out more particularly in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Units
Public Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of the Companys Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. For example, if a warrant holder holds one-half of one warrant to purchase a Class A ordinary share, such warrant will not be exercisable. If a warrant holder holds two-halves of one warrant, such whole warrant will be exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units are expected to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Citigroup Global Markets 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 Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheets reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheets 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.
Ordinary Shares
Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 4,312,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding, all of which were held of record by our initial shareholders, so that our initial shareholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Up to 562,500 of the founder shares will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment is exercised (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates). Upon the closing
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of this offering, 18,750,000 of our ordinary shares will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and the corresponding surrender for no consideration of 562,500 founder shares) including:
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15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying units issued as part of this offering; and |
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3,750,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders. |
If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial shareholders at 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering.
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders except as required by law. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company, and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. Our board of directors is elected as a single class with concurrent terms of two years. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. However, only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, meaning that holders of Class A ordinary shares will not have the right to appoint any directors until after the completion of our initial business combination. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of Class A ordinary shares which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors is elected as a single class with concurrent terms of two years.
In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings or appoint directors. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account
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and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our 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 their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Unlike many special purpose acquisition companies that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a shareholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SECs proxy rules. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many special purpose acquisition companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. 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 initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that at least five days notice will be given of any general meeting.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our shareholders inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 5,625,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 937,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 15,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. However, if our initial
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business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders entitled to vote at a general meeting of the company. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we do not 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 no more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of 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 their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per-share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and, except as described below, are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights; (iii) Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (A) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (1) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (2) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, (C) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their
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founder shares 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 initial business combination within such time period and (D) vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination, (iv) the founder shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and (v) only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on any resolution of shareholders to appoint or remove directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus (iii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination (including securities issued or issuable pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into prior to or following consummation of this offering but excluding the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans, minus (iv) the number of Class A ordinary shares redeemed by public shareholders; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Up to 562,500 founder shares will be surrendered to us for no consideration depending on the exercise of the over-allotment option (including the forfeiture of 123,913 shares out of 950,000 founder shares held by our directors, officers, advisors and employees of sponsors affiliates).
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members (shareholders) and there will be entered therein:
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the names and addresses of the members, a statement of the shares held by each member, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid, of the number and category of shares of each member, and the voting rights of the shares of each member and whether such rights are conditional; |
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the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and |
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the date on which any person ceased to be a member. |
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e. the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members will be immediately updated to reflect the issue of shares by us. Once our register of members has been updated, the shareholders recorded in the register of members will be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preference Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize 2,000,000 preference shares and provide that preference shares may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without shareholder approval, issue preference shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preference shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preference shares outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preference shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preference shares are being issued or registered in this offering.
Warrants
Public Shareholders Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of one year from the closing of this offering or 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act
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with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a covered security under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering each such warrant for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied the excess of the fair market value less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The fair market value shall mean the volume-weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemptions of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
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in whole and not in part; |
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at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
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upon not less than 30 days prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
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if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the Reference Value) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. However,
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we will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. Any such exercise would not be done on a cashless basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised. However, the price of the Class A ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:
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in whole and not in part; |
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at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption; provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below); |
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if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under Redemptions for warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00) equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
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if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
The numbers in the table below represent the number of Class A ordinary shares that a warrant holder will receive upon exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined based on volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends.
Pursuant to the references above to Class A ordinary shares shall include a security other than Class A ordinary shares into which the Class A ordinary shares have been converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination. The numbers in the table below will not be adjusted when determining the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon exercise of the warrants if we are not the surviving entity following our initial business combination.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted as set forth in the first three paragraphs under the heading Anti-dilution Adjustments below. The adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is
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the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. The number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted in the same manner and at the same time as the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant.
Fair Market Value of Class A Ordinary Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Redemption Date
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£$10.00 | $11.00 | $12.00 | $13.00 | $14.00 | $15.00 | $16.00 | $17.00 | ³$18.00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 months |
0.261 | 0.281 | 0.297 | 0.311 | 0.324 | 0.337 | 0.348 | 0.358 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
57 months |
0.257 | 0.277 | 0.294 | 0.310 | 0.324 | 0.337 | 0.348 | 0.358 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
54 months |
0.252 | 0.272 | 0.291 | 0.307 | 0.322 | 0.335 | 0.347 | 0.357 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
51 months |
0.246 | 0.268 | 0.287 | 0.304 | 0.320 | 0.333 | 0.346 | 0.357 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 months |
0.241 | 0.263 | 0.283 | 0.301 | 0.317 | 0.332 | 0.344 | 0.356 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
45 months |
0.235 | 0.258 | 0.279 | 0.298 | 0.315 | 0.330 | 0.343 | 0.356 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
42 months |
0.228 | 0.252 | 0.274 | 0.294 | 0.312 | 0.328 | 0.342 | 0.355 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
39 months |
0.221 | 0.246 | 0.269 | 0.290 | 0.309 | 0.325 | 0.340 | 0.354 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 months |
0.213 | 0.239 | 0.263 | 0.285 | 0.305 | 0.323 | 0.339 | 0.353 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
33 months |
0.205 | 0.232 | 0.257 | 0.280 | 0.301 | 0.320 | 0.337 | 0.352 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
30 months |
0.196 | 0.224 | 0.250 | 0.274 | 0.297 | 0.316 | 0.335 | 0.351 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 months |
0.185 | 0.214 | 0.242 | 0.268 | 0.291 | 0.313 | 0.332 | 0.350 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 months |
0.173 | 0.204 | 0.233 | 0.260 | 0.285 | 0.308 | 0.329 | 0.348 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 months |
0.161 | 0.193 | 0.223 | 0.252 | 0.279 | 0.304 | 0.326 | 0.347 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 months |
0.146 | 0.179 | 0.211 | 0.242 | 0.271 | 0.298 | 0.322 | 0.345 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 months |
0.130 | 0.164 | 0.197 | 0.230 | 0.262 | 0.291 | 0.317 | 0.342 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 months |
0.111 | 0.146 | 0.181 | 0.216 | 0.250 | 0.282 | 0.312 | 0.339 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 months |
0.090 | 0.125 | 0.162 | 0.199 | 0.237 | 0.272 | 0.305 | 0.336 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 months |
0.065 | 0.099 | 0.137 | 0.178 | 0.219 | 0.259 | 0.296 | 0.331 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 months |
0.034 | 0.065 | 0.104 | 0.150 | 0.197 | 0.243 | 0.286 | 0.326 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 months |
| | 0.042 | 0.115 | 0.179 | 0.233 | 0.281 | 0.323 | 0.361 |
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume-weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.298 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under Redemptions of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share
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equals or exceeds $18.00. Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the date of this prospectus. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer Class A ordinary shares than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for Class A ordinary shares if and when such Class A ordinary shares were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the warrant agreement (for instance, if we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination), the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, the Company (or surviving company) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption Procedures. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such persons affiliates), to the warrant agents actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) of the Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a capitalization or share dividend payable in Class A ordinary shares, or by a split-up of ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding ordinary shares. A rights offering to holders of ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a price less than the historical fair market value (as defined below) will be deemed a share dividend of a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per Class A ordinary share paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares, in determining the price payable for Class A ordinary shares, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) historical fair market value means the volume-weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A ordinary shares trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A ordinary shares on account of such
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Class A ordinary shares (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Class A ordinary shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any other adjustments and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share sub-division or reclassification of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share sub-division, reclassification or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsors or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsors or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance (the Newly Issued Price), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial business combination (such price, the Market Value) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described adjacent to Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 and Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Class A ordinary shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing entity and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or
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other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the Class A ordinary shares immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of Class A ordinary shares or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A ordinary shares in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A ordinary shares in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision or to make any amendments that are necessary in the good faith determination of our board of directors (taking into account then existing market precedents) to allow for the warrants to be classified as equity in our financial statements (provided that such amendment shall not increase the warrant price or shorten the exercise period), but otherwise 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. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under Principal ShareholdersTransfers 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 so long as they are held by our sponsor, members of our sponsor or their permitted transferees. The sponsor or its permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
Except as described under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsRedemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00, if holders of the private placement warrants elect to
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exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The fair market value will mean the volume-weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is received by the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public shareholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the Class A ordinary shares received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity. Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against the any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.
Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
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Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by (a) a special resolution (being the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two-thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company or a unanimous written resolution) of the shareholders of each company; and (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent companys articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that owns at least 90% of the issued shares of each class in a subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company where the parent and subsidiary company are both incorporated under the Companies Act. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted.
Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands company, the directors of the Cayman Islands company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidated is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived; (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company; and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid a payment of the fair value of their shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows (a) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including,
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among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (c) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree a price within such 30 day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30 day period expires, the company must (and any dissenting shareholder may) file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition by the company must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, including by way of court-sanctioned shareholders scheme of arrangement. Schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies and, when implemented, would have substantially the same effect as a merger. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting, or meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:
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we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
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the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
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the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
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the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a fraud on the minority. |
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer relates is made within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
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Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements, of an operating business.
Shareholders Suits. Our Cayman Islands counsel is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
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a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority; |
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the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or |
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those who control the company are perpetrating a fraud on the minority. |
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by Appleby, our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability (meaning the liability of our public shareholders is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil)) under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
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annual reporting requirements are minimal and consist mainly of a statement that the company has conducted its operations mainly outside of the Cayman Islands and has complied with the provisions of the Companies Act; |
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an exempted companys register of members is not open to inspection; |
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an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting; |
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an exempted company may issue shares or shares with no par value; |
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an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation; |
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an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
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an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and |
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an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
The Business Combination Article of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contains provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a special resolution must be approved by either (i) the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares (or any higher threshold specified in a companys articles of association) which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a companys articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the companys shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that special resolutions must be approved either by the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of not less than two thirds of the shares which, being so entitled, are voted thereon in person or by proxy at a quorate general meeting of the company (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of the sum of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that:
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If we do not 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 no 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 |
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earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law; |
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Prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on our initial business combination; |
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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 pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion and they may not be able to rely upon such opinion; |
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If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act; |
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We must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination; |
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If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein; and |
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We will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide we will not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets requirement.
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The Companies Act permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of a special resolution. A companys articles of association may specify that the approval of a higher majority is required but, provided the approval of the required majority is obtained, any Cayman Islands exempted company may amend its memorandum and articles of association regardless of whether its memorandum and articles of association provides otherwise. Accordingly, although we could amend any of the provisions relating to our proposed offering, structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our officers or directors, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares.
Anti-Money LaunderingCayman Islands
In order to comply with legislation or regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering, we are required to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering procedures, and may require subscribers to provide evidence to verify their identity, the identity of their beneficial owners/controllers and source of funds. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, we may also delegate the maintenance of our anti-money laundering procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) to a suitable person.
We reserve the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a subscriber. In some cases, the directors may be satisfied that no further information is required since an exemption applies under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, as amended and revised from time to time (the Regulations). Depending on the circumstances of each application, a detailed verification of identity might not be required where:
(a) the subscriber makes the payment for their investment from an account held in the subscribers name at a recognized financial institution;
(b) the subscriber is regulated by a recognized regulatory authority and is based or incorporated in, or formed under the law of, a recognized jurisdiction; or
(c) the application is made through an intermediary which is regulated by a recognized regulatory authority and is based in or incorporated in, or formed under the law of a recognized jurisdiction and an assurance is provided in relation to the procedures undertaken on the underlying investors.
For the purposes of these exceptions, recognition of a financial institution, regulatory authority or jurisdiction will be determined in accordance with the Regulations by reference to those jurisdictions recognized by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority as having equivalent anti-money laundering regulations.
In the event of delay or failure on the part of the subscriber in producing any information required for verification purposes, we may refuse to accept the application, in which case any funds received will be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.
We also reserve the right to refuse to make any payment to a shareholder if our directors or officers suspect or are advised that the payment to such shareholder may be non-compliant with applicable anti-money laundering or other laws or regulations, or if such refusal is considered necessary or appropriate to ensure our compliance with any such laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction.
If any person in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or money laundering or is involved with terrorism or terrorist financing and property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector, or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be
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required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering, or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
Cayman Islands Data Protection
We have certain duties under the Data Protection Act, 2017 of the Cayman Islands (the DPA) based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
Privacy Notice
Introduction
This privacy notice puts our shareholders on notice that through your investment in the company you will provide us with certain personal information which constitutes personal data within the meaning of the DPA (personal data).
In the following discussion, the company refers to us and our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
Investor Data
We will collect, use, disclose, retain and secure personal data to the extent reasonably required only and within the parameters that could be reasonably expected during the normal course of business. We will only process, disclose, transfer or retain personal data to the extent legitimately required to conduct our activities of on an ongoing basis or to comply with legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPA, and will apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of the personal data and against the accidental loss, destruction or damage to the personal data.
In our use of this personal data, we will be characterized as a data controller for the purposes of the DPA, while our affiliates and service providers who may receive this personal data from us in the conduct of our activities may either act as our data processors for the purposes of the DPA or may process personal information for their own lawful purposes in connection with services provided to us.
We may also obtain personal data from other public sources. Personal data includes, without limitation, the following information relating to a shareholder and/or any individuals connected with a shareholder as an investor: name, residential address, email address, contact details, corporate contact information, signature, nationality, place of birth, date of birth, tax identification, credit history, correspondence records, passport number, bank account details, source of funds details and details relating to the shareholders investment activity.
Who this Affects
If you are a natural person, this will affect you directly. If you are a corporate investor (including, for these purposes, legal arrangements such as trusts or exempted limited partnerships) that provides us with personal data on individuals connected to you for any reason in relation your investment in the Company, this will be relevant for those individuals and you should transmit the content of this Privacy Notice to such individuals or otherwise advise them of its content.
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How the Company May Use Your Personal Data
The company, as the data controller, may collect, store and use personal data for lawful purposes, including, in particular:
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where this is necessary for the performance of our rights and obligations under any purchase agreements; |
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where this is necessary for compliance with a legal and regulatory obligation to which we are subject (such as compliance with anti-money laundering and FATCA/CRS requirements); and/or |
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where this is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and such interests are not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms. |
Should we wish to use personal data for other specific purposes (including, if applicable, any purpose that requires your consent), we will contact you.
Why We May Transfer Your Personal Data
In certain circumstances, we may be legally obliged to share personal data and other information with respect to your shareholding with the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority or the Tax Information Authority. They, in turn, may exchange this information with foreign authorities, including tax authorities.
We anticipate disclosing personal data to persons who provide services to us and their respective affiliates (which may include certain entities located outside the US, the Cayman Islands or the European Economic Area), who will process your personal data on our behalf.
The Data Protection Measures We Take
Any transfer of personal data by us or our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the DPA.
We and our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates shall apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
We shall notify you of any personal data breach that is reasonably likely to result in a risk to your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms or those data subjects to whom the relevant personal data relates.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and preference shares are available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved Class A ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after this offering we will have 18,750,000 (or 21,562,500 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) ordinary shares outstanding. Of these shares, the Class A ordinary shares sold in this
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offering (15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised and 17,250,000 shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any Class A ordinary shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (3,750,000 founder shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised and 4,312,500 founder shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and all of the outstanding private placement warrants (6,000,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised and 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.
Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
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1% of the total number of ordinary shares then outstanding, which will equal 187,500 shares immediately after this offering (or 215,625 if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option); or |
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the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A ordinary shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
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the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
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the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
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the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and |
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at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
As a result, our initial shareholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
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Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of this offering, (ii) private placement warrants, which will be issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants and (iii) private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement and assuming the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full and $2,000,000 of working capital loans are converted into private placement warrants, we will be obligated to register up to 12,762,500 Class A ordinary shares and 8,450,000 warrants. The number of Class A ordinary shares includes (i) 4,312,500 Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon conversion of the founder shares, (ii) 6,450,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants and (iii) 2,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The number of warrants includes (i) 6,450,000 private placement warrants and (ii) 2,000,000 private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain piggy-back registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
We have been approved to list our units on NYSE under the symbol BSAQU commencing on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NYSE under the symbols BSAQ and BSAQWS, respectively.
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The following summary of certain Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to an investment in our units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, which we refer collectively as our securities, is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this prospectus, all of which are subject to change. This summary does not deal with all possible tax consequences relating to an investment in our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants, such as the tax consequences under state, local and other tax laws.
Prospective investors should consult their advisors on the possible tax consequences of investing in our securities under the laws of their country of citizenship, residence or domicile.
Cayman Islands Tax Considerations
The following is a discussion on certain Cayman Islands income tax consequences of an investment in the securities of the Company. The discussion is a general summary of present law, which is subject to prospective and retroactive change. It is not intended as tax advice, does not consider any investors particular circumstances, and does not consider tax consequences other than those arising under Cayman Islands law.
Under Existing Cayman Islands Laws:
Payments of dividends and capital in respect of our securities will not be subject to taxation in the Cayman Islands and no withholding will be required on the payment of a dividend or capital to any holder of the securities nor will gains derived from the disposal of the securities be subject to Cayman Islands income or corporate tax. The Cayman Islands currently has no income, corporation or capital gains tax and no estate duty, inheritance tax or gift tax.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of the warrants. An instrument of transfer in respect of a warrant is stampable if executed in or brought into the Cayman Islands.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of our Class A ordinary shares or on an instrument of transfer in respect of such shares.
The Company has been incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability and has applied for and received an undertaking from the Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands dated March 11, 2021 in the following form:
The Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision)
Undertaking as to Tax Concessions
In accordance with the provision of Section 6 of The Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision), the Financial Secretary undertakes with Black Spade Acquisition Co (the Company):
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That no law which is hereafter enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to the Company or its operations; and |
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In addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable: |
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On or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of the Company; or |
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2.2 |
by way of the withholding in whole or part, of any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision). |
These concessions shall be for a period of thirty years from March 11, 2021.
United States Federal Income Tax Considerations
The following summarizes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition by a U.S. Holder (as defined below) of our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants, to which we refer collectively as our securities. Because the components of a unit are generally separable at your option, you should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the owner of the underlying Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant components of the unit. As a result, the discussion below with respect to beneficial owners of Class A ordinary shares and warrants should also apply to beneficial owners of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants that compose the units).
This discussion of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations applies to you only if (i) you are an initial purchaser of a unit pursuant to this offering, (ii) you are a U.S. Holder and (iii) you hold the unit and each component of the unit as capital assets under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). You are a U.S. Holder if for U.S. federal income tax purposes you are a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants and are:
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an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; |
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a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; or |
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an estate or trust the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source. |
This discussion assumes that any distributions made (or deemed made) by us on our Class A ordinary shares and any consideration received (or deemed received) by you in consideration for the sale or other disposition of our securities will be in U.S. dollars. This discussion is a summary only and does not consider all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to your ownership and disposition of units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants in your particular circumstances, or if you are subject to special treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws, including if you are:
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our sponsor or founder (or an officer, director, employee or affiliate thereof); |
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a financial institution; |
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a dealer or trader in securities that uses mark-to-market method of tax accounting with respect to the securities; |
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a government or agency or instrumentality thereof; |
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a regulated investment company; |
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a real estate investment trust; |
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an expatriate or former long-term resident of the United States; |
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an insurance company; |
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a person that actually or constructively owns five percent or more of our voting shares or five percent or more of the total value of our shares; |
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a person holding the securities as part of a straddle, integrated transaction or similar transaction; |
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a person holding our securities in connection with a trade or business outside the United States; |
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a U.S. person whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar; or |
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a tax-exempt entity. |
Moreover, the discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code, the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, all as of the date hereof, which may be repealed, revoked, modified or subject to differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis, so as to result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. Furthermore, this discussion does not discuss the alternative minimum tax or the application of Section 451(b) of the Code, and does not address any aspect of U.S. federal non-income tax laws, such as gift, estate or Medicare contribution tax laws, or any state, local or non-U.S. tax laws.
We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion. You should consult your tax adviser with respect to the application of U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or non-U.S. taxing jurisdiction.
This discussion does not consider the tax treatment of partnerships or other passthrough entities or persons who invest in our securities through those entities. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership or other passthrough entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our securities, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner or member in the partnership or other passthrough entity generally will depend on the status of the partner or member and the activities of the partnership or other passthrough entity. If you are a partnership or other passthrough entity holding our securities, or a partner or member thereof, you should consult your own tax adviser.
This discussion does not address the tax consequences of our business combination or owning the target companys securities after the business combination.
THIS DISCUSSION IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES. YOU ARE URGED TO CONSULT YOUR OWN TAX ADVISER WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO YOU OF THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-U.S. TAX LAWS.
Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. Under general U.S. federal income tax principles, the acquisition of a unit should be treated as the acquisition of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one warrant, a whole one of which is exercisable to acquire one Class A ordinary share. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, you must allocate the purchase price paid for a unit between the one Class A ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. You must make your own determination of these values based on all the facts and circumstances. Therefore, you should consult with your tax adviser regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to each Class A ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant will be your initial tax basis in the share or 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 Class A ordinary share and one-half of one warrant composing the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the
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Class A ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant based on their respective relative fair market values (as determined by you based on all the relevant facts and circumstances) at the time of disposition. The separation of the Class A ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant composing a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of the units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants and your purchase price allocation is not binding on the IRS or the courts. No assurance can be given that the IRS or a court will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. The remainder of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Taxation of Distributions
The following discussion is subject to the discussion under Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules below.
You generally will be required to include in gross income as dividends the amount of any distribution of cash or other property (other than certain distributions of our shares or rights to acquire our shares) paid on our Class A ordinary shares to the extent the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles). Distributions in excess of earnings and profits generally will be applied against, and reduce, your tax basis in your Class A ordinary shares (but not below zero), and any remaining excess will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of the Class A ordinary shares (the treatment of which is described under Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants below). However, it is possible that financial intermediaries may report the entire amount of any distributions we make as dividends if they cannot determine the amount of our earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
If you are a corporate U.S. Holder, dividends paid by us will be taxable to you at regular rates and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to domestic corporations in respect of dividends received from other domestic corporations. If you are a non-corporate U.S. Holder, dividends generally will be taxed at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate that applies to qualified dividend income only if our Class A ordinary shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, which they will be if our shares are traded on the NYSE, we are not a PFIC for the taxable year in which the dividend was paid or the previous year, and certain other requirements, including certain holding period requirements, are met. It is unclear, however, whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the availability of this lower rate for any dividends paid with respect to our Class A ordinary shares.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants
The following discussion is subject to the discussion under Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules below.
Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, which, in general, would include a redemption of Class A ordinary shares or warrants that is treated as a sale of those 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, you generally will recognize capital gain or loss as described below. This capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if your holding period for the Class A ordinary shares or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. Holders are currently 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 you recognize will equal the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in the disposition (or, if the Class A ordinary shares or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A ordinary shares or the warrants, as the case may be, based upon the then fair market values of the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) your adjusted tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares or warrants so disposed of. Your adjusted tax basis in your Class A ordinary shares or warrants generally will equal your acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a Class A ordinary share or one-half of one warrant or, as discussed below, your initial basis for Class A ordinary shares received upon exercise of warrants), increased as described below in Redemption of Class A Ordinary Shares in respect of certain redemptions of Class A ordinary shares that are treated as corporate distributions and by prior deemed distributions under Section 305 of the Code that are treated as dividends as described below in Possible Constructive Distributions, and decreased by any prior distributions (including deemed distributions) treated as returns of capital. The gain or loss will generally be U.S.-source gain or loss for foreign tax credit purposes.
Redemption of Class A Ordinary Shares
The following discussion is subject to the discussion under Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules below.
In the event that your Class A ordinary shares are redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesOrdinary Shares or if we purchase your Class A ordinary shares in an open market transaction (in either case referred to herein as a redemption), the treatment of the redemption for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale of the Class A ordinary shares under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, you will be treated as described under Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, you will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under Taxation of Distributions. Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of our shares treated as held by you (including any shares constructively owned by you) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of Class A ordinary shares generally will be treated as a sale of the Class A ordinary shares (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is substantially disproportionate with respect to you, (ii) results in a complete termination of your interest in us or (iii) is not essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to you. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests is satisfied, you must take into account not only our shares actually owned by you, but also our shares that are constructively owned by you. In addition to shares you own directly, you may be treated as constructively owning shares owned by certain related individuals and entities in which you have an interest or that have an interest in you, as well as any shares you have a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which likely would include Class A ordinary shares which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by you immediately following the redemption of Class A ordinary shares must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by you immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination, the Class A ordinary shares may not be treated as voting shares for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a complete termination of your interest if either (i) all of our shares actually and constructively owned by you are redeemed or (ii) all of our shares actually owned by you are redeemed and you are eligible to waive, and effectively waive in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of shares owned by certain family members and you do not constructively own any other shares of ours. The redemption of the Class A ordinary shares will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if the redemption or purchase results in a meaningful reduction of your
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proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction of your proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority shareholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a meaningful reduction. You should consult your tax adviser as to the tax consequences of a redemption.
If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax consequences of the redemption will be as described under Taxation of Distributions, above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis in the redeemed Class A ordinary shares will be added to your adjusted tax basis in your remaining shares. If there are no remaining shares, you should consult your tax adviser as to the allocation of any remaining basis.
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant
The following discussion is subject to the discussion under Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules below.
You generally will not recognize taxable gain or loss on the acquisition of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of warrants for cash. Your tax basis in our Class A ordinary shares received upon exercise of the warrants generally will be an amount equal to the sum of your initial investment in the warrants (i.e., the portion of your purchase price for the units that is allocated to the exercised warrants, as described above under Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit) and the exercise price. It is unclear whether your holding period for the Class A ordinary shares received upon exercise of warrants will begin on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrants; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which you held the warrants. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, you generally will recognize a capital loss equal to your 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 realization event or because it is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either of these two situations, your basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would equal your aggregate basis in the warrants exercised and surrendered. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event (and not a recapitalization), it is unclear whether your holding period in the Class A ordinary shares would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which you held the warrants. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A ordinary shares would include the holding period of the warrants exercised.
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 that event, a portion of the warrants to be exercised on a cashless basis could, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, be deemed to have been surrendered in consideration of the exercise price of the remaining warrants, which would be deemed to be exercised. For this purpose, you could be deemed to have surrendered a number of warrants having an aggregate value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants deemed exercised. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, you would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the total exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised and your adjusted tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, your tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would equal the sum of your initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of your purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrants, as described above under Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit) and the exercise price of the warrants. It is unclear whether your holding period for the Class A ordinary shares would commence on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrants; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which you held the warrants.
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Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court. Accordingly, you should consult your tax adviser as to the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
Subject to the PFIC rules described below, if we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesWarrants Public Shareholders Warrants or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, the redemption or purchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to you, taxed as described above under Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants.
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of the warrants provide for an adjustment to the number of Class A ordinary shares for which warrants may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrants in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders Warrants. An adjustment that has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. You would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases your proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of Class A ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease to the exercise price) as a result of a taxable distribution of cash or other property to the holders of our Class A ordinary shares. A constructive distribution to you would be treated as if you had received a cash distribution from us generally equal to the fair market value of the increased interest (taxed as described above under Taxation of Distributions above). For certain information reporting purposes, we are required to determine the date and amount of any constructive distributions. 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.
Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules
A non-U.S. corporation will be a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes if either (i) at least 75% of its gross income in a taxable year, including its pro rata share of the gross income of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, is passive income or (ii) at least 50% of its assets in a taxable year (ordinarily determined based on fair market value and averaged quarterly over the year), including its pro rata share of the assets of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, are held for the production of, or produce, passive income. Passive income generally includes, among other things, dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of assets giving rise to passive income. Cash is generally a passive asset for these purposes.
Because we are a blank check company with no current active business, we believe that it is likely that we will meet the PFIC asset or income test for our current taxable year. However, pursuant to a start-up exception, a corporation will not be a PFIC for the first taxable year in which the corporation has gross income (the start-up year), if (1) no predecessor of the corporation was a PFIC; (2) it is established to the satisfaction of the IRS that it will not be a PFIC for either of the first two taxable years following the start-up year; and (3) the corporation is not in fact a PFIC for either of those years. The applicability of the start-up exception to us will not be known until after the close of our current taxable year and, perhaps, until after the end of our two taxable years following our start-up year. After the acquisition of a company or assets in a business combination, we may still meet one of the PFIC tests depending on the timing of the acquisition, the amount and value of our passive income and assets, respectively, as well as the passive income and assets of the acquired business. If the company that we acquire in a business combination is a PFIC, then we will not qualify for the start-up exception and will be a PFIC for our current taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year (and, in the case of the start-up exception to
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our current taxable year, perhaps until after the end of our two taxable years following our start-up year). Accordingly, there can be no assurance with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any future taxable year.
The Code provides that, to the extent provided in Treasury regulations, if any person has an option to acquire shares of a PFIC, the shares will be considered as owned by that person. Under proposed Treasury regulations that have a retroactive effective date, an option to acquire shares of a PFIC is generally treated as ownership of those PFIC shares. The remainder of this discussion assumes that the PFIC rules will apply to our warrants if we are PFIC. However, you should consult your tax adviser regarding the application of the PFIC rules to our warrants prior to the finalization of the proposed Treasury regulations.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in your holding period and, in the case of our Class A ordinary shares, you did not make either a timely mark-to-market election or a qualified electing fund (QEF) election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which you held (or were deemed to hold) Class A ordinary shares, as described below, you generally will be subject to special rules with respect to (i) any gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of your Class A ordinary shares or warrants and (ii) any excess distribution made to you (generally, any distributions to you during a taxable year that are greater than 125% of the average annual distributions received by you in respect of the Class A ordinary shares during the three preceding taxable years or, if shorter, your holding period for the Class A ordinary shares).
Under these rules:
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your gain or excess distribution will be allocated ratably over your holding period for the Class A ordinary shares or warrants; |
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the amount allocated to the taxable year in which you recognized the gain or received the excess distribution, or to the period in your holding period before the first day of our first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, will be taxed as ordinary income; and |
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the amount allocated to other taxable years (or portions thereof) and included in your holding period will be taxed at the highest tax rate in effect for that year and applicable to you (without regard to other items of income and loss for such year), and an additional amount equal to the interest charge generally applicable to underpayments of tax will be imposed with respect to the tax attributable to each such other taxable year. |
If we are a PFIC during any taxable year during which you own our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, we will generally continue to be treated as a PFIC with respect to your Class A ordinary shares or warrants unless (a) we cease to be a PFIC, and (b) you make a purging election, in which case you will be deemed to have sold the shares or warrants at their fair market value, and any gain recognized on the deemed sale will be taxed under the general PFIC rules described above.
In general, if we are a PFIC, you may be able to avoid the PFIC tax consequences described above with respect to our Class A ordinary shares (but not our warrants) by making a timely and valid QEF election to include in income your pro rata share of our net capital gains (as long-term capital gain) and other earnings and profits (as ordinary income), on a current basis, in each case whether or not distributed, in the taxable year in which or with which our taxable year ends. You generally may make a separate election to defer the payment of taxes on undistributed income inclusions under the QEF rules, but if deferred, any such taxes will be subject to an interest charge.
It is not entirely clear how various aspects of the PFIC rules apply to the warrants. However, you may not make a QEF election with respect to your warrants. As a result, if you sell or otherwise dispose of warrants (other than upon exercise of warrants) and we were a PFIC at any time during your holding period for the warrants, any gain recognized generally will be treated as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. If you properly
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make a QEF election with respect to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (or had previously made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares), the QEF election will apply to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares. Notwithstanding the QEF election, the adverse tax consequences relating to PFIC shares, adjusted to take into account the current income inclusions resulting from the QEF election, will continue to apply with respect to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (which will be deemed to have a holding period for purposes of the PFIC rules that includes the period you held the warrants), unless you make a purging election under the PFIC rules. Under one type of purging election, you will be deemed to have sold your shares at their fair market value and any gain recognized on such deemed sale will be treated as an excess distribution, as described above. As a result of this election, you will have a new basis and holding period in the Class A ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the warrants for purposes of the PFIC rules. You should consult your tax adviser as to the application of the rules governing purging elections to your particular circumstances.
The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and, once made, can be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. You generally make a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621, including the information provided in a PFIC Annual Information Statement, to a timely filed U.S. federal income tax return for the tax year to which the election relates. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the availability and tax consequences of a retroactive QEF election under your particular circumstances.
In order to comply with the requirements of a QEF election, you must receive a PFIC Annual Information Statement from us. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor to provide you a PFIC Annual Information Statement, but there is no assurance that we will timely provide this information. There is also no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of our status as a PFIC in the future or of the information that you would need to provide in order to make a valid election.
If you have made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, and the excess distribution rules discussed above do not apply to the shares (because you have made a timely QEF election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which you hold (or are deemed to hold) the shares or a purge of the PFIC taint pursuant to a purging election, as described above), any gain recognized on the sale of our Class A ordinary shares generally will be taxable as capital gain and no additional interest charge will be imposed under the PFIC rules. As discussed above, if we are a PFIC for any taxable year and you have made a valid QEF election, you will be currently taxed on your pro rata share of our earnings and profits, whether or not distributed for the relevant year. A subsequent distribution of earnings and profits that were previously included in income generally should not be taxable when distributed to you. The tax basis of your shares in a QEF will be increased by amounts that are included in income, and decreased by amounts distributed but not taxed as dividends, under the rules above. In addition, if we are not a PFIC for any taxable year, you will not be subject to the QEF inclusion regime with respect to our Class A ordinary shares for such taxable year.
Alternatively, if we are a PFIC and our Class A ordinary shares constitute marketable stock, you may avoid the adverse PFIC tax consequences discussed above if, at the close of the first taxable year in which you own (or are deemed to own) our Class A ordinary shares, you make a mark-to-market election with respect to the shares for the taxable year. You generally will include for each taxable year as ordinary income the excess, if any, of the fair market value of your Class A ordinary shares at the end of the taxable year over your adjusted basis in the Class A ordinary shares. These amounts of ordinary income are not eligible for the favorable tax rates applicable to qualified dividend income or long-term capital gains. You also will be allowed to take an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of your adjusted basis in your Class A ordinary shares over the fair market value of the shares at the end of the taxable year, but only to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election. Your basis in your Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted to reflect these income and loss amounts, and any further gain recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of your Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary income. A mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to warrants.
The mark-to-market election is available only for stock that is regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the NYSE (on which we
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intend to list the Class A ordinary shares), or on a non-U.S. exchange or market that the IRS determines has rules sufficient to ensure that the market price represents a legitimate and sound fair market value. In general, the Class A ordinary shares will be treated as regularly traded in any calendar year in which more than a de minimis quantity of Class A ordinary shares is traded on a qualified exchange on at least 15 days during each calendar quarter. If made, a mark-to-market election is effective for the taxable year for which the election was made and for all subsequent taxable years unless the Class A ordinary shares cease to qualify as marketable stock for purposes of the PFIC rules or the IRS consents to the revocation of the election. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the availability and tax consequences of a mark-to-market election in respect of our Class A ordinary shares in your particular circumstances.
If we are a PFIC and, at any time, have a foreign subsidiary that is classified as a PFIC, you generally will be deemed to own a portion of the shares of the lower-tier PFIC, and generally could incur liability for the deferred tax and interest charge described above if we receive a distribution from, or dispose of all or part of our interest in, the lower-tier PFIC or you otherwise are deemed to have disposed of an interest in the lower-tier PFIC. The mark-to-market election discussed above will not apply to any lower-tier PFIC. Accordingly, you may continue to be subject to tax under the rules described above with respect to excess distributions with respect to any lower-tier PFIC, notwithstanding a mark-to-market election for the Class A ordinary shares. We will endeavor to cause any lower-tier PFIC to provide the information that may be required in order for you to make or maintain a valid QEF election with respect to the lower-tier PFIC. There can be no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of the status of any such lower-tier PFIC. In addition, we may not hold a controlling interest in any such lower-tier PFIC and thus there can be no assurance that we will be able to cause the lower-tier PFIC to provide any information you may need in order to make a valid QEF election. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the tax issues raised by lower-tier PFICs.
If you own (or are deemed to own) shares in a PFIC during any taxable year, you generally will be required to file an IRS Form 8621 (whether or not a QEF or mark-to-market election is made) and any other information that may be required by the U.S. Treasury Department.
The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF and mark-to-market elections are complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described above. Accordingly, you should consult your adviser concerning the application of the PFIC rules to our securities under your particular circumstances.
Tax Reporting and Backup Withholding
You may be required to file an IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) to report a transfer of property (including cash) to us. Furthermore, certain U.S. Holders who are individuals and certain entities will be required to report information with respect to any investment in specified foreign financial assets on IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), subject to certain exceptions. Specified foreign financial assets generally include any financial account maintained with a non-U.S. financial institution and should also include the Class A ordinary shares and warrants if they are not held in an account maintained with a U.S. financial institution. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the foreign financial asset and other reporting obligations and their application to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants.
Dividend payments with respect to our Class A ordinary shares and proceeds from the sale, exchange or redemption of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants may be subject to information reporting to the IRS and possible U.S. backup withholding. Backup withholding will not apply, however, if you furnish a correct taxpayer identification number and make other required certifications, or are otherwise exempt from backup withholding and establish your exempt status.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Amounts withheld as backup withholding may be credited against your U.S. federal income tax liability, and you generally may obtain a refund of any excess amounts
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withheld under the backup withholding rules by timely filing the appropriate claim for refund with the IRS and furnishing any required information.
The U.S. federal income tax discussion set forth above is included for general information only and may not be applicable depending upon your particular situation. You should consult your tax adviser with respect to the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants, including the tax consequences under state, local, estate, non-U.S. and other laws and tax treaties and the possible effects of changes in U.S. or other tax laws.
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Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as sole global coordinator, book-running manager of the offering and as representative of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions stated in 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 underwriters name.
Underwriter |
Number of Units | |||
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. |
11,727,000 | |||
JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC |
1,773,000 | |||
Loop Capital Markets LLC |
1,500,000 | |||
Total |
15,000,000 | |||
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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.
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. 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 2,250,000 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 underwriters 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 the representative, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, ordinary shares, 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. Our sponsor, officers and directors are also subject to separate transfer restrictions on their founder shares and private placement warrants pursuant to the insider letters as described herein.
Our sponsor, founder, officers and directors have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any founder shares held by them until the earlier to occur of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; or (2) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, amalgamation, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business
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combination, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or saleable 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 ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants).
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 the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in the equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A ordinary share or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
We have been approved to list our units on the NYSE under the symbol BSAQU. We expect that our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed under the symbols BSAQ and BSAQWS, respectively, once the Class A ordinary shares 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
Black Spade Acquisition Co. |
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No Exercise | Full Exercise | |||||||||||||||
Per Unit(1) |
$ | 0.55 | $ | 0.55 | ||||||||||||
Total(1) |
$ | 8,250,000 | $ | 9,487,500 |
(1) |
Includes $0.35 per unit, or $5,250,000 (or $6,037,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. |
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 underwriters discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes to the public shareholders.
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.
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Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriters of a greater number of units than they are required to purchase in the offering. |
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Covered short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriters over-allotment option. |
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Naked short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriters over-allotment option. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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.
We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $2,000,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.
We have agreed to indemnify the 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 arms 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 60 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 finders fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Some of the underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities)
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and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area
In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area (each a Member State), no units have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in that Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units which has been approved by the competent authority in that Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation), except that offers of units may be made to the public in that Member State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:
(a) |
to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation; |
(b) |
to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriters for any such offer; or |
(c) |
in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, |
provided that no such offer of Shares shall require the Issuer or any Manager to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an offer to the public in relation to any units in any Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression Prospectus Regulation means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom
No units have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in the United Kingdom, except that it may make an offer of units to the public in the United Kingdom at any time:
(a) |
to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation; |
(b) |
to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the UK Prospectus Regulation) in the United Kingdom subject to obtaining the prior consent of the manager for any such offer; or |
(c) |
at any time in any other circumstances falling within section 86 of the FSMA, |
provided that no such offer of units shall require our company or any of the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to the UK Prospectus Regulation.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an offer to the public in relation to any units 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, and the expression UK Prospectus Regulation means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
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Each of the underwriters severally represents, warrants and agrees as follows:
(a) |
it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) to persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling with Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 or in circumstances in which section 21 of FSMA does not apply to our company; and |
(b) |
it has complied with, and will comply with all applicable provisions of FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom. |
Notice to 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 of 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:
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released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or |
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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: |
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to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint dinvestisseurs), 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; |
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to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or |
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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 lépargne). |
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 (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) 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 (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) 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 Japan
The units offered in this prospectus have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan. The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or
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indirectly, in Japan or to or for the account of any resident of Japan (including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), except (i) pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and (ii) in compliance with any other applicable requirements of Japanese law.
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.
Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is
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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 |
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a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, |
securities or securities-based derivatives contracts (each term as defined in Section 2(1) of the SFA) 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 units pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:
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to an institutional investor or to a relevant person, or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(i)(B) of the SFA; |
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where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; |
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where the transfer is by operation of law; |
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as specified in Section 276(7) of the SFA; or |
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as specified in Regulation 37A of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Securities and Securities-based Derivatives Contracts) Regulations 2018. |
Notice to Prospective Investors in Thailand
This prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units do not, and are not intended to, constitute a public offering in Thailand. The units may not be offered or sold to persons in Thailand, unless such offering is made under the exemptions from approval and filing requirements under applicable laws, or under circumstances which do not constitute an offer for sale of the units to the public for the purposes of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1992 of Thailand, nor require approval from the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand.
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 Prospectus Exemptions or
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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 purchasers province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchasers 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.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Dubai International Financial Centre
This prospectus relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). This prospectus is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for the prospectus. The securities to which this prospectus relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the securities offered should conduct their own due diligence on the securities. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus you should consult an authorized financial advisor.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Australia
No placement document, prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in relation to the offering. This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (the Corporations Act), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act.
Any offer in Australia of the securities may only be made to persons (the Exempt Investors) who are sophisticated investors (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), professional investors (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) or otherwise pursuant to one or more exemptions contained in section 708 of the Corporations Act so that it is lawful to offer the securities without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act.
The securities applied for by Exempt Investors in Australia must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the date of allotment under the offering, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under section 708 of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act. Any person acquiring securities must observe such Australian on-sale restrictions. This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.
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Notice to Prospective Investors in Switzerland
The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands
No invitation, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our securities.
NEITHER THIS DOCUMENT NOR ANY OTHER OFFERING OR MARKETING MATERIAL RELATING TO THE OFFERING, THE COMPANY, THE SHARES HAVE BEEN OR WILL BE FILED WITH OR APPROVED BY ANY SWISS REGULATORY AUTHORITY. IN PARTICULAR, THIS DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE FILED WITH, AND THE OFFER OF SECURITIES WILL NOT BE SUPERVISED BY, THE SWISS FINANCIAL MARKET SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY FINMA (FINMA), AND THE OFFER OF SECURITIES HAS NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE AUTHORIZED UNDER THE SWISS FEDERAL ACT ON COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT SCHEMES (CISA). THE INVESTOR PROTECTION AFFORDED TO ACQUIRERS OF INTERESTS IN COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT SCHEMES UNDER THE CISA DOES NOT EXTEND TO ACQUIRERS OF SECURITIES.
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Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 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 with respect to units and warrants. Appleby, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to the ordinary shares and matters of Cayman Islands law. In connection with this offering, Shearman & Sterling LLP, is acting as counsel to the underwriters.
The financial statements of Black Spade Acquisition Co as of March 4, 2021 and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders equity and cash flows for the period from March 3, 2021 (inception) through March 4, 2021 appearing in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Black Spade Acquisition Co to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such 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 SECs website at www.sec.gov.
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Audited Financial Statements of Black Spade Acquisition Co: |
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F-2 | ||||
Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2021 (unaudited) and March 4, 2021 |
F-3 | |||
F-4 | ||||
F-5 | ||||
F-6 | ||||
F-7 |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholder and the Board of Directors of Black Spade Acquisition Co
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Black Spade Acquisition Co (the Company) as of March 4, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders equity and cash flows for the period from March 3, 2021 (inception) through March 4, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of March 4, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from March 3, 2021 (inception) through March 4, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory ParagraphGoing Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Companys ability to execute its business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company had a working capital deficiency as of March 4, 2021 and lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Companys ability to continue as a going concern. Managements plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1 and Note 3. 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 Companys management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Companys 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 Companys 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 included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP
Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP
We have served as the Companys auditor since 2021.
New York, NY
March 22, 2021, except for Note 2 and Note 8 as to which the date is May 19, 2021 and Note 9, as to which the date is June 29, 2021.
F-2
BALANCE SHEETS
March 31,
2021 |
March 4,
2021 |
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(unaudited) | ||||||||
ASSETS |
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Deferred offering costs |
$ | 175,408 | $ | 94,715 | ||||
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Total Assets |
$ | 175,408 | $ | 94,715 | ||||
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LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY |
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Current Liabilities: |
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Accrued formation costs |
$ | 6,815 | $ | 6,815 | ||||
Accrued offering costs |
94,808 | 69,715 | ||||||
Due to related party |
61,938 | | ||||||
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Total Current Liabilities |
163,561 | 76,530 | ||||||
Commitments and contingencies (Note 6) |
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Shareholders Equity: |
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Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 2,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
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Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
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Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 4,312,500 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and March 18, 2021(1)(2) |
431 | 431 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
24,569 | 24,569 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(13,153 | ) | (6,815 | ) | ||||
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Total Shareholders Equity |
11,847 | 18,185 | ||||||
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Total Liabilities and Shareholders Equity |
$ | 175,408 | $ | 94,715 | ||||
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(1) |
Includes an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). |
(2) |
On June 28, 2021, the Sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which the Sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. All share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect this surrender. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Period
From March 3, 2021 (Inception) Through March 31, 2021 |
For the Period
From March 3, 2021 (Inception) Through March 4, 2021 |
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(unaudited) | ||||||||
Formation and operating costs |
$ | 13,153 | $ | 6,815 | ||||
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Net loss |
$ | (13,153 | ) | $ | (6,815 | ) | ||
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Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1)(2) |
3,750,000 | 3,750,000 | ||||||
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Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share |
$ | (0.00 | ) | $ | (0.00 | ) | ||
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(1) |
Excludes an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). |
(2) |
On June 28, 2021, the Sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which the Sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. All share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect this surrender. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY
Class B Ordinary
Shares |
Additional
Paid-in Capital |
Accumulated
Deficit |
Total
Shareholders Equity |
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Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance, March 3, 2021 (inception) |
| $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||||||||
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor(1)(2) |
4,312,500 | 431 | 24,569 | | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| | | (6,815 | ) | (6,815 | ) | |||||||||||||
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Balance, March 4, 2021 (audited) |
4,312,500 | 431 | 24,569 | (6,815 | ) | 18,185 | ||||||||||||||
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Net loss |
| | | (6,338 | ) | (6,338 | ) | |||||||||||||
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Balance, March 31, 2021 (unaudited) |
4,312,500 | $ | 431 | $ | 24,569 | $ | (13,153 | ) | $ | 11,847 | ||||||||||
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(1) |
Includes an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). |
(2) |
On June 28, 2021, the Sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which the Sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. All share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect this surrender. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
For the Period From
March 3, 2021 (Inception) Through March 31, 2021 |
For the Period From
March 3, 2021 (Inception) Through March 4, 2021 |
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(unaudited) | ||||||||
Cash flows from operating activities: |
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Net loss |
$ | (13,153 | ) | $ | (6,815 | ) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
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Operating costs paid by related parties |
6,338 | | ||||||
Changes in accrued formation and offering costs |
6,815 | 6,815 | ||||||
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Net cash used in operating activities |
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Net change in cash |
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Cash at beginning of period |
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Cash at end of period |
$ | | $ | | ||||
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Non-cash financing activities: |
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Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs |
$ | 94,808 | $ | 69,715 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for Class B ordinary shares |
$ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||
Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor |
$ | 20,600 | $ | | ||||
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE 1 DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND GOING CONCERN
Black Spade Acquisition Co (the Company) was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on March 3, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the Business Combination). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of March 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 3, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2021 relates to the Companys formation and the proposed initial public offering (Proposed Public Offering), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Companys ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Public Offering of 15,000,000 units (the Units and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the Public Shares) at $10.00 per Unit (or 17,250,000 Units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 6,000,000 warrants (or 6,450,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised on full) (the Private Placement Warrants) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in private placements to Black Spade Sponsor LLC (the Sponsor) that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.
The Companys management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions on the Trust Account). The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Investment Company Act). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including proceeds of the Private Placement Warrants, will be held in a trust account (Trust Account), located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting certain conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds held in the Trust Account, as described below.
The Company will provide the holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the Public Shareholders) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer in connection with the Business Combination. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-7
Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest then in the Trust Account, net of taxes payable). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Companys warrants. The Public Shares subject to redemption will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 480 Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.
The Company will not redeem Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that it does not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to the Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval of the Business Combination, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination, or such other vote as required by law or stock exchange rule. If a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the Articles of Association), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Articles of Association will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Articles of Association (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to allow redemptions in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders rights or pre-business combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company has not completed a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the Combination Period), 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 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 pay taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-8
possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Companys remaining shareholders and the Companys board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Companys 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 the Companys warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The Sponsor has agreed to waive its liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor acquires Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Proposed Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than the Companys independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (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, if less than $10.00 per public Share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, 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 the Companys indemnity of the underwriters of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except for the Companys independent registered accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern Consideration
At March 31, 2021, the Company had cash and a working capital deficit of $0 and $163,561, respectively. At March 4, 2021, the Company had cash and a working capital deficit of $0 and $76,530, respectively. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Companys ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Management plans to address this uncertainty through the Proposed Public Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Companys plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Companys financial position, results of its operations, close of the Proposed Public Offering and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-9
not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
NOTE 2 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying audited financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (US GAAP) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
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, as amended (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 independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Companys financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires the Companys 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.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Deferred Offering Costs
Deferred offering costs consist of costs incurred in connection with preparation for the Proposed Public Offering. These costs, together with the underwriting discounts and commissions, will be charged to additional paid in capital upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering or charged to operations if the Proposed Public Offering is not completed. At March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, the Company had deferred offering costs of $175,408 and $94,715, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-10
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, Income Taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Companys management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Companys only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Companys financial statements.
Net Loss per Ordinary Share
Net loss per ordinary share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period, excluding ordinary shares subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 562,500 Class B ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters (see Note 5). At March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on this account.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Companys assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement, approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheets as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheets date.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-11
Recent Accounting Standards
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Companys financial statements.
NOTE 3 PROPOSED PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 15,000,000 Units (or 17,250,000 Units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant (Public Warrant). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
NOTE 4 PRIVATE PLACEMENTS
The Sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 6,450,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters over-allotment is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant ($6,000,000, or an aggregate of $6,450,000 if the underwriters over-allotment is exercised in full) from the Company in private placements that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7). The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the net proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of an Initial Business Combination, subject to certain exceptions.
NOTE 5 RELATED PARTIES
Founder Shares
During the period ended March 4, 2021, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000 of the Companys Class B ordinary shares (the Founder Shares) in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000 that was paid by the Sponsor for deferred offering costs. On June 28, 2021, the sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which the Sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares. All share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect this surrender. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 562,500 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters over-allotment is not exercised in full or in part, so that the number of Founder Shares will equal, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of the Companys issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Proposed Public Offering.
The Sponsor has agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-12
Promissory Note Related Party
On February 25, 2021, the Sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the Company (the Promissory Note), pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $250,000. The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2021 or (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. As of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under the Promissory Note.
Due to Related Party
The Sponsor paid certain offering costs on behalf of the Company. These payment are due on demand and non-interest bearing. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the related party paid $61,938 of offering costs on behalf of the Company. As of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, the amount due to the Sponsor was $61,938 and $0, respectively.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date the Units are first listed on NYSE, the Company has agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of the Initial Business Combination or the Companys liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Companys officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (Working Capital Loans). Such Working Capital Loans would be evidenced by promissory notes. The notes may be repaid upon completion of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lenders discretion, up to $2,000,000 of the notes may be converted upon completion of a Business Combination into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. As of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under the Working Capital Loans.
NOTE 6 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
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 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the 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 Proposed Public Offering requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to Class A ordinary shares). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain piggy-back registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-13
Underwriting Agreement
The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriters will be entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate (or $3,450,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $5,250,000 in the aggregate (or $6,037,500 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full). The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
NOTE 7 SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY
Preference Shares The Company is authorized to issue 2,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Companys board of directors. As of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Class A Ordinary Shares The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, there were no Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
Class B Ordinary Shares The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021, there were 4,312,500 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part so that the number of Founder Shares will equal 20% of the Companys issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Proposed Public Offering.
Only holders of the Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders except as otherwise required by law. In connection with our initial business combination, the Company may enter into a shareholders agreement or other arrangements with the shareholders of the target or other investors to provide for voting or other corporate governance arrangements that differ from those in effect upon completion of this offering.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of or immediately following a Business Combination, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in the Proposed Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which of Class B ordinary shares shall convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of Proposed Public Offering plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (net of the number of Class A ordinary shares redeemed in connection with a Business Combination), excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued or issuable to any seller of an interest in the target to us in a Business Combination.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-14
NOTE 8 WARRANTS
There were no warrants outstanding at March 31, 2021 and March 4, 2021. Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and the Company 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 residence of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available.
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file, and within 60 business days following a Business Combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a covered security under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Shares Equals or Exceeds $18.00 Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants:
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in whole and not in part; |
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at a price of $0.01 per Public Warrant; |
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upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption, or the 30-day redemption period to each warrant holder; and |
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if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, reorganization, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to warrant holders. |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00 Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
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in whole and not in part; |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-15
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at a price of $0.10 per warrant provided that the holder will be able to exercise their warrants on cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Class A ordinary share; |
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upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption; |
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if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted per share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and |
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if, and only if, the private placement warrants are also concurrently exchanged at the same price (equal to a number of Class A ordinary shares) as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, as described above, its management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a cashless basis, in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act. The exercise price and number of ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the Public Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of ordinary shares at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Public Warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of Public Warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their Public Warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Companys assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such Public Warrants. Accordingly, the Public Warrants may expire worthless.
The Private Placement Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable, except as described above, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
The Company will account for the 13,500,000 warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (the 7,500,000 warrants included in the units and the 6,000,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised) as derivative securities in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability.
The accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments requires that the Company record a derivative liability upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value and the warrants will be allocated a portion of the proceeds from the issuance of the Units equal to its fair value determined by the Monte Carlo simulation. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheets date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Companys statements of operations. The Company will reassess the classification at each balance sheets date. If the classification changes as a result of events during the period, the warrants will be reclassified as of the date of the event that causes the reclassification.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-16
NOTE 9 SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
On June 28, 2021, the sponsor surrendered and forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, following which the Sponsor holds 4,312,500 founder shares.
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheets date through the date that the interim financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, except as noted above, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-17
Through and including August 9, 2021, (the 25th day after the date of this prospectus), all dealers effecting transactions in the securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This delivery requirement is in addition to a dealers obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to an unsold allotment or subscription.
15,000,000 Units
Black Spade Acquisition Co
P R O S P E C T U S
Citigroup
JonesTrading
Loop Capital Markets
July 15, 2021