As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 30, 2017

Registration No. 333-        

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

_________________________________

Form S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

_________________________________

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

_________________________________

Delaware

 

6770

 

81-4838205

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014

Telephone: (307) 734-7879

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

_________________________________

Daniel J. Hennessy
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014
Telephone: (307) 734-7879

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

_________________________________

Copies to:

Douglas S. Ellenoff, Esq.
Stuart Neuhauser, Esq.
Joshua N. Englard, Esq.
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
1345 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10105
Telephone: (212) 370-1300

 

Gregg Noel, Esq.
Jonathan Ko, Esq.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
300 South Grand Avenue, Suite 3400
Los Angeles, California 90071
Telephone: (213) 687-5000

_________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

Large accelerated filer ¨

 

Accelerated filer ¨

Non-accelerated filer x

 

Smaller reporting company ¨

Emerging growth company x

 

 

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

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Title of Each Class of Security Being Registered

 

Amount Being Registered

 

Proposed Maximum Offering
Price per Security
(1)

 

Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering
Price
(1)

 

Amount of Registration Fee

Units, each consisting of one share of common stock, $0.0001 par value, and one-half of one redeemable warrant (2)

 

25,875,000 Units

 

$

10.00

 

$

258,750,000

 

$

29,990

 

Shares of common stock included as part of the units (3)

 

25,875,000 Shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)

Redeemable warrants included as part of the units (3)

 

12,937,500 Warrants

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

258,750,000

 

$

29,990

 

____________

(1)       Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.

(2)       Includes 3,375,000 units, consisting of 3,375,000 shares of common stock and 1,687,500 redeemable warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any.

(3)       Pursuant to Rule 416, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.

(4)       No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g).

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

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

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED MAY 30, 2017

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

$225,000,000

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

22,500,000 Units

_____________________

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles its holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus and only whole warrants may be exercised. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units. Only whole warrants will trade. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,375,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination. The redemption will be at a per-share price which is payable in cash and 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding shares of common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus. If we are unable to 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 which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described in this prospectus.

Currently, there is no public market for our units, common stock or warrants. We have applied to list our units on the NYSE MKT under the symbol “HCAC.U.” We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE MKT on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the common stock and warrants will be listed on NYSE MKT under the symbols “HCAC” and “HCAC WS,” respectively. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on NYSE MKT.

Our sponsor, Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, which we refer to as our sponsor throughout this prospectus, has committed to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 warrants (or 8,442,500 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($7,700,000 in the aggregate, or $8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the private placement warrants. Each private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our common stock at $11.50 per share.

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 24 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.

_____________________

 

 

Price to
Public

 

Underwriting Discounts and Commissions (1)

 

Proceeds, before expenses, to us

Per Unit

 

$10.00

 

$0.55

 

$9.45

Total

 

$225,000,000

 

$12,375,000

 

$212,625,000

____________

(1)       Includes approximately $0.33 per unit, or approximately $7.4 million (or up to approximately $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described in this prospectus. Does not include certain fees and expenses payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See also “Underwriting” beginning on page 124 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $225.0 million or approximately $258.8 million 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.

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Delivery of the units will be made on or about ________, 2017.

Neither the SEC nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Credit Suisse

 

Stifel

      , 2017

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. 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.

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary

 

1

 

Management

 

91

Summary Financial Data

 

23

 

Principal Stockholders

 

101

Risk Factors

 

24

 

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

 


103

Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements

 


51

 

Description of Securities

 

105

Use of Proceeds

 

52

 

United States Federal Income Tax Considerations

 


117

Dividend Policy

 

55

 

Underwriting

 

124

Dilution

 

56

 

Legal Matters

 

130

Capitalization

 

58

 

Experts

 

130

Management’s Discussion And Analysis of Financial Condition And Results of Operations

 



59

 

Where You Can Find Additional
Information

 


130

Proposed Business

 

64

 

Index To Financial Statements

 

F-1

Until ________________, 2017 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to unsold allotments or subscriptions.

i

Summary

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

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, references to:

         “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation;

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

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

         “warrants” are to the public warrants and private placement warrants;

         “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and members of our management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

         “management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors;

         “sponsor” are to Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an affiliate of Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer;

         “founder shares” refer to shares of our common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering;

         “private placement warrants” are to the warrants to be issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; and

         “initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering.

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

Registered trademarks referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.

General

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated in January 2017 as a Delaware corporation formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.

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While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector in the United States (which may include a business based in the United States which has operations or opportunities outside of the United States). We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with an aggregate enterprise value over $1 billion.

Our strategy will be to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, build, an industrial manufacturing, distribution or services business. Industrial manufacturers, distributors and service providers are companies that manufacture and/or distribute products or provide critical services to a broad range of customers and end use markets. We believe that an industrial “renaissance” is now underway in the United States and that this resurgence is primarily the result of four critical factors: (i) aging infrastructure, (ii) a stable and flexible labor market, (iii) cheap and abundant sources of energy and (iv) logistical factors such as shipping costs and the various risks of operating extended global supply chains, each of which we believe is quite favorable to the United States when compared with advanced manufacturing nations and increasingly competitive when compared with emerging manufacturing nations.

Years of under-investment in new capital projects (in favor of maintaining existing infrastructure) has resulted in a need for large-scale investment across all key infrastructure verticals. The American Society of Civil Engineers, or ASCE, estimates that United States infrastructure demand will require $4.6 trillion of investment through 2020 to achieve a national score of a “B-rating”, or “in good to excellent condition; some elements show signs of general deterioration that require attention [with] few elements exhibit significant deficiencies.” The United States infrastructure as a whole currently has a “D+-rating,” defined as “poor to fair condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life.” The ASCE scored categories of infrastructure investment individually in its “Report Card,” awarding the highest rating (B-) to solid waste and the poorest scores to levees, inland waterways, transit, dams, schools, roads, wastewater, hazardous waste, and energy infrastructure.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, or BCG, the manufacturing-cost gap between the U.S. and other highly developed economies widened significantly over the last decade. Stable and efficient labor is one key to growing the U.S. competitive advantage. The U.S. has one of the world’s most flexible labor markets and has the highest worker productivity among the world’s largest exporters by far. Adjusted for productivity, U.S. labor costs are 20% to 54% lower than those of Western Europe and Japan for many products.

In addition to the benefits of its labor force, the U.S. also has an energy cost advantage. While industrial prices for natural gas have risen around the world, they have decreased by approximately 50% in the U.S. since the recovery from underground shale deposits began in earnest. Natural gas costs more than three times as much in China, France and Germany than in the U.S., and nearly four times as much in Japan. Natural gas is used increasingly as a fuel in U.S. power plants, which is likely to ensure that the price of industrial electricity will remain between one-quarter and two-thirds of the cost of electricity in major exporting nations such as China, Japan, Germany, France and Italy. We believe cheap natural gas will give the U.S. a powerful and unique cost advantage that will benefit a wide variety of industries across the full value chain, from feedstock to finished goods, and should be largely exclusive to the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

When taking all of this into account, the U.S. has emerged as the lowest-cost manufacturing location in the developed world, and at the same time, has achieved approximate cost parity with low-cost countries in Eastern Europe. The cost gap with China has shrunk dramatically, and, if the trend of the last ten years continues, will likely disappear before the end of the decade.

We believe these factors are further compounded when adding logistical factors to the decision making process. Factors such as shipping costs, the various risks of operating extended global supply chains, just-in-time inventory requirements and shorter product life cycles necessitate that production and end-markets be co-located. According to BCG, the U.S. and Mexico are the “rising stars” of the top 25 export economies because of low wage growth, sustained productivity gains, stable exchange rates and significant energy and electricity cost advantages.

Hennessy Capital LLC is the managing member of our sponsor and was founded by Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2013. From September 2013 to February 2015, Mr. Hennessy served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp., or Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc., or SBH, in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird

2

Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD), and since February 2015, has served as its Vice Chairman. From April 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Hennessy served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II, or Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke, Inc., or Daseke, in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE), and since February 2017, has served as its Vice Chairman. From 1988 to 2016, Mr. Hennessy served as a Partner at Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC (n/k/a CHS Capital or “CHS”), a middle-market private equity investment firm he co-founded. Over a 25-year period, CHS invested $2.9 billion in nearly 400 operating companies. Mr. Hennessy has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of various CHS portfolio companies that manufacture and/or distribute a broad array of products or provide services for the industrial, infrastructure, energy and packaging sectors.

Mr. Hennessy has over 25 years of middle-market private equity investment experience, dedicated almost entirely to investments in industrial manufacturing, distribution or services operating companies. He has initiated and overseen numerous add-on acquisitions, divestitures, initial public offerings and debt capital markets issues for CHS-owned companies and is well known by the most active middle-market private equity firms, investment banks and debt financing sources that will be called upon to assist us in executing our strategy. We expect that Mr. Hennessy will devote a substantial portion of his professional time to our affairs.

Each of our executive officers served as executive officers, directors or advisors of Hennessy I, a former blank check company which raised $115.0 million in its initial public offering in January 2014 and Hennessy II, a blank check company which raised approximately $200.0 million in its initial public offering in July 2015.

In February 2015, Hennessy I consummated its initial business combination by acquiring all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of School Bus Holdings Inc., which, through its subsidiaries, conducts its business under the “Blue Bird” name, from The Traxis Group B.V., an entity that is majority owned by funds affiliated with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. In connection with its initial business combination, Hennessy I changed its name to Blue Bird Corporation. Blue Bird is the leading independent designer and manufacturer of school buses, with more than 550,000 buses sold since its formation in 1927 and approximately 180,000 buses in operation today. Hennessy I’s stockholders approved the business combination, with approximately 99% of the shares voting, 98% of which were voted in favor of the transaction, allowing for the swift completion of the business combination only 13 months after Hennessy I’s initial public offering. Following Hennessy I’s IPO, its management identified Blue Bird within four months, entered into an exclusive letter of intent within six months and executed a binding purchase agreement within eight months. Prior to signing the purchase agreement with The Traxis Group B.V., Hennessy I’s management secured investments of $40 million of convertible preferred stock (with a $10 million accordion option) and $10 million in a common equity backstop. Management also initiated a warrant exchange which resulted in a reduction of Hennessy I’s warrants by over 50%.

In February 2017, Hennessy II consummated its initial business combination by acquiring all of the outstanding capital stock of Daseke, Inc., or Daseke. Daseke is a leading consolidator of the open deck freight market in North America and, of the 50 largest U.S. trucking companies, was one of the fastest-growing companies in 2015. Through its acquisition of nine operating companies, Daseke believes it has become the largest owner of open deck equipment and the second largest provider of open deck transportation and logistics solutions by revenue in North America. Since being founded in 2009, Daseke has grown revenue from $30.0 million to $679.0 million in 2015, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 68%. Daseke’s management has identified a near-term pipeline of potential acquisition targets representing in the aggregate $643.0 million of revenue and $100.0 million in Adjusted EBITDA that would double the size of the existing business in three years. Daseke’s initial stockholders, including Daseke’s management team (but not any of Hennessy II’s stockholders prior to such transaction), will be eligible to receive up to additional 15.0 million shares of common stock of Daseke based on the achievement of both (i) established Adjusted EBITDA targets based on successful execution of near-term acquisition strategy and (ii) future share price targets. Daseke’s management team continues to own over 50% of the pro forma equity post-transaction. The transaction also included refinancing of Daseke’s existing debt, lowering the cost of leverage. All cash proceeds from the transaction, after refinancing of Daseke’s existing debt, were to be used to fund growth initiatives. In connection with the transaction, Hennessy II’s management secured investments of $65.0 million of convertible preferred stock and a $35.0 million common equity backstop.

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We believe that potential sellers of target businesses will view the fact that our management team has successfully closed two business combinations with vehicles similar to our company as positive factors in considering whether or not to enter into a business combination with us. However, past performance by our management team is not a guarantee of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate.

We have assembled a group of independent directors who will bring us public company governance, executive leadership, operations oversight, private equity investment management and capital markets experience. Our Board members have extensive experience, having served as directors, chief executive officers, chief financial officers or in other executive and advisory capacities for numerous publicly-listed and privately-owned companies and private equity firms. Our directors have experience with acquisitions, divestitures and corporate strategy and implementation, which we believe will significantly benefit us as we evaluate potential acquisition or merger candidates as well as following the completion of our initial business combination.

We believe our management team is well positioned to take advantage of the growing set of acquisition opportunities focused on industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies in the United States, to create value for our stockholders, and that our contacts and relationships, ranging from owners of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, attorneys, accountants and business brokers will allow us to generate attractive acquisition opportunities. Our management team is led by Daniel J. Hennessy, who has over 25 years of experience in the private equity investment business and served as Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy I and Hennessy II. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that Mr. Hennessy or any other members of our management will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Initial Business Combination

The NYSE MKT rules provide that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or a qualified independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. If our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, 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 stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. If our

4

securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination.

Consistent with this strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.

         Middle-Market Businesses.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with an aggregate enterprise value over $1 billion, determined in the sole discretion of our officers and directors according to reasonably accepted valuation standards and methodologies. We believe that the middle market segment provides the greatest number of opportunities for investment and is the market consistent with our sponsor’s previous investment history. This segment is where we believe we have the strongest network to identify the greatest number of attractive opportunities and we believe the larger market capitalization and public float of the resulting company will be more attractive to our investors.

         Established Companies with Proven Track Records.  We will seek to acquire one or more established companies with consistent historical financial performance. We will typically focus on companies with a history of strong operating and financial results and strong fundamentals. We do not intend to acquire start-up companies or companies with recurring negative free cash flow.

         Companies with Proven Revenue and Earnings Growth or Potential for Revenue and Earnings Growth.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have achieved or have the potential for significant revenue and earnings growth through a combination of organic growth, synergistic add-on acquisitions, new product markets and geographies, increased production capacity, expense reduction and increased operating leverage.

         Companies with, or with the Potential for, Strong Free Cash Flow Generation.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that already have, or have the potential to generate, consistent, stable and increasing free cash flow. We will focus on one or more businesses that have predictable revenue streams.

         Strong Competitive Position.  We intend to focus on acquisition targets that have a leading, growing or niche market position in their respective industries. We will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of target businesses relative to their competitors. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that demonstrate advantages when compared to their competitors, which may help to protect their market position and profitability.

         Experienced Management Team.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with a complete, experienced management team that provides a platform for us to further develop the acquired business’s management capabilities. We will seek to partner with a potential target’s management team and expect that the operating and financial abilities of our executive team and board will complement their own capabilities.

         Sectors Exhibiting Secular Growth or with Potential for Cyclical Uptick.  We intend to focus on acquisition targets in sectors which exhibit positive secular growth or potential for near-term cyclical uptick. We plan to identify sectors that have demonstrated strong positive growth in recent years, possess drivers for continued growth and are strategically positioned to benefit from upswings in their respective industry cycles.

         Benefit from Being a Public Company.  We intend to acquire one or more businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and can effectively utilize the broader access to capital and the public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. These criteria are substantially similar to the criteria set forth by Hennessy I and Hennessy II for their respective initial business combinations. Hennessy I’s business combination with SBH and Hennessy II’s business combination with Daseke satisfied each criteria.

5

In addition, the members of our board of directors have significant executive management and public company experience with industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and board of directors have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will be useful for sourcing acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through our management team’s experience in:

         sourcing, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses; and

         executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.

This network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that have resulted in numerous transactions. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us with an important source of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banks, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. We also anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention due to the success of Hennessy I and Hennessy II, which are well-known to many market participants. In connection with their duties with Hennessy I and Hennessy II, our executive officers reviewed more than 266 potential targets in the diversified industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sectors in the United States between February 2014 (a month following Hennessy I’s initial public offering) and June 2014 (when Hennessy I decided to focus its efforts on a business combination with SBH) and between August 2015 (a month following Hennessy II’s initial public offering) and October 2016 (when Hennessy II decided to focus its efforts on a business combination with Daseke).

Certain members of our management team have spent significant portions of their careers working with businesses in the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector, and have developed a wide network of professional services contacts and business relationships in that industry. The members of our board of directors also have significant executive management and public company experience with industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our 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 which is a member of FINRA or a qualified independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our common stock and warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. For additional information regarding our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and potential conflicts of interest, see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers” and “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entities, and may only decide to present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and consummating the same would not violate any restrictive covenants to which they are subject. Such officers or directors shall also have the right in the absence of such fiduciary or contractual obligations to offer certain business opportunities to such entities before presenting them to us and, in some instances, may be required to present such opportunities to such other

6

entities before having the ability to offer of such opportunities to us. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations or other rights of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our sponsor, executive officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written letter agreement, not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition companies with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our business combination.

Corporate Information

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or 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 stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of:

         the last day of the fiscal year:

         following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering,

         in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or

         in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30 th ; and

         the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

References in this prospectus to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Our executive offices are located at 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014 and our telephone number is (307) 734-7879. 

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The Offering

In making your decision 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” beginning on page 24 of this prospectus.

Securities offered

 

22,500,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

 

 

 

 

       one share of common stock; and

 

 

 

 

 

       one-half of one redeemable warrant.

 

 

 

Proposed NYSE MKT symbols

 

Units: “HCAC.U”

 

 

 

 

 

Common Stock: “HCAC”

 

 

 

 

 

Warrants: “HCAC WS”

 

 

 

Trading commencement and separation of common stock and warrants

 


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

 

 

 

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

 



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

8

 

 

Units:

 

 

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 

0

 

 

Number outstanding after this offering

 

22,500,000 (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock:

 

 

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 

6,468,750 (2)

 

 

Number outstanding after this offering

 

28,125,000 (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeemable Warrants:

 

 

 

 

Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering

 

7,700,000 (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement

 

18,950,000 (1)

 

Exercisability

 

Each whole warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one share of our common stock. Only whole warrants may be exercised. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole warrants will trade. A holder of an odd number of units will not be able to exercise any one-half of one warrant unless it is combined with another one-half of one warrant. We structured each unit to contain one-half of one warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one share of common stock to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination as compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses.

 

 

 

Exercise price

 

$11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described in this prospectus. Only whole warrants may be exercised.

 

 

 

Exercise period

 

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

 

 

 

 

       30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and

 

 

 

 

 

       12 months from the closing of this offering;

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

We are not registering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 30 days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of common stock underlying the warrants, and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed; provided, that if our common stock is at the time of

____________

(1)       Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 843,750 founder shares.

(2)       Consists solely of founder shares and includes up to 843,750 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

9

 

 

any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Redemption of warrants

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described in this prospectus with respect to the private placement warrants):

 

 

 

 

 

       in whole and not in part;

 

 

 

 

 

       at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

 

 

 

 

       upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and

 

 

 

 

 

       if, and only if, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share 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.

 

 

 

 

 

We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering.

 

 

 

 

 

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the

10

 

 

common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

 

 

 

 

None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the initial purchasers of the private placement warrants or their permitted transferees.

 

 

 

Founder shares

 

In March 2017, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,906,250 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Thereafter, we cancelled a portion of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). As a result of the partial cancellations, the per-share purchase price increased to approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. In May 2017, our sponsor transferred 75,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Bell, Burns, Shea, O’Neil and DiMicco, our independent director nominees, 250,000 to Mr. Petruska, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, and 500,000 to Mr. Charlton, our President and Chief Operating Officer. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Our initial stockholders will collectively own 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Up to 843,750 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor (or its permitted transferees) depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

       our initial stockholders, officers, directors and director nominees have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their 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

11

 

 

public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination by the deadline). If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, assuming all stockholders are present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination, we would need only 8,437,501 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or 37.5%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 1,406,251 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or approximately 6.3%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved.

 

 

 

Transfer restrictions on founder shares

 

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described in this prospectus under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (2) if we consummate a transaction after our initial business combination which results in our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.

 

 

 

Private placement warrants

 

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 private placement warrants (or 8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of our common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($7,700,000 in the aggregate or $8,442,500 in the aggregate if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds of the sale of the private

12

 

 

placement warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees (except as described below under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis.

 

 

 

Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants

 


The private placement warrants (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

 

 

 

Proceeds to be held in trust account

 

The NYSE MKT rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the approximately $232.7 million in proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, or approximately $267.2 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, $225.0 million ($10.00 per unit), or approximately $258.8 million ($10.00 per unit) if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $2.75 million will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include approximately up to $7.4 million (or approximately up to $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.

 

 

 

 

 

Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as discussed below and subject to the requirements of law and stock exchange rules, provides that none of the funds held in the trust account will be released from the trust account until the earlier of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

13

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 for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $2.1 million of interest annually (assuming an interest rate of 0.94% per year). Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

 

 

 

 

       the net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $2,000,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $750,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

 

 

 

 

       any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided 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 a business combination.

 

 

 

Conditions to completing our initial business combination

 


There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. The NYSE MKT rules provide that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination.

 

 

 

 

 

If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a qualified independent accounting firm. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

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Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates

 


If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. 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 sellers or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

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. Our initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

 

 

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

 



We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our business combination. Prior to acquiring any securities from our initial stockholders, permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by the same restriction.

15

Manner of conducting redemptions

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under NYSE MKT rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20.0% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE MKT, we will be required to comply with such rules.

 

 

 

 

 

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Upon the public announcement of our business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

16

 

 

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

       file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

 

 

 

 

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

17

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote

 




Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our business combination.

 

 

 

Redemption Rights in connection with proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation

 



Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the redemption rights of our public stockholders, which require the approval of the holders of all (100%) of our common stock), including those related to pre-initial business combination activity, may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our common stock, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own up to 20.0% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any
amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination

18

 

 

within 24 months from the closing of this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Prior to acquiring any securities from our initial stockholders, permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by the same restrictions.

Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination

 


On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us, other than the funds that the trustee will use to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination.” We will use the remaining funds to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

 

 

Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination

 



We will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 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 which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes, and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.

19

 

 

Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time frame. 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, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

 

 

 

 

 

Prior to acquiring any securities from our initial stockholders, permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by the same restriction. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).

 

 

 

Indemnification

 

Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has agreed that he will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a definitive agreement for a business combination, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Mr. Hennessy will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether Mr. Hennessy has sufficient funds to satisfy his indemnity

20

 

 

obligations. We have not asked Mr. Hennessy to reserve for such eventuality. We believe the likelihood of Mr. Hennessy having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

 

 

 

Limited payments to insiders

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

       Repayment of up to a total of $300,000 in loans, and any additional advances, made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

 

 

 

 

       Payment of $15,000 per month to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial support;

 

 

 

 

 

       Monthly deferred fees payable upon successful completion of our initial business combination to Messrs. Hennessy and Charlton, our Chief Executive Officer and President, respectively, for their services to us as described elsewhere in this prospectus;

 

 

 

 

 

       Monthly payments and a fee payable upon successful completion of our initial business combination to Mr. Petruska, our Chief Financial Officer, for his services to us as described elsewhere in this prospectus;

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

       Repayment of loans that may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Audit Committee

 

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

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Risks

We are a newly formed company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 24 of this prospectus.

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Summary Financial Data

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

 

 

April 4, 2017

 

 

Actual

 

As Adjusted

Balance Sheet Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working capital (1)

 

$

8,000

 

$

219,583,000

Total assets (2)

 

$

25,000

 

$

227,008,000

Total liabilities (3)

 

$

17,000

 

$

7,425,000

Value of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.00 per share) (4)

 

$

 

$

214,582,990

Stockholders’ equity (5)

 

$

8,000

 

$

5,000,010

____________

(1)       The “as adjusted” calculation includes $225,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants plus $2,000,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $8,000 of actual stockholders’ equity at April 4, 2017, less $7,425,000 of deferred underwriting commissions.

(2)       The “as adjusted” calculation equals $225,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $2,000,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $8,000 of actual stockholders’ equity at April 4, 2017.

(3)       The “as adjusted” calculation includes $7,425,000 of deferred underwriting commissions.

(4)       The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” stockholders’ equity, which is set to approximate the minimum net tangible assets threshold of at least $5,000,001.

(5)       Excludes 21,458,299 shares of common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of shares of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (approximately $10.00 per share).

The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units in this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the payment of the estimated expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” total assets amount includes the $225.0 million held in the trust account (or $258.8 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) for the benefit of our public stockholders, which amount, less deferred underwriting commissions, will be available to us only upon the completion of our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. The “as adjusted” working capital and “as adjusted” total assets include up to approximately $7.4 million being held in the trust account (or up to approximately $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) representing deferred underwriting commissions. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

If no business combination is completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month time period.

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Risk Factors

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

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

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

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

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable state law or the NYSE MKT rules or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the NYSE MKT rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business — Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

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

Unlike some other blank check companies in which the initial stockholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering, in favor of our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders will own 20.0% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. As a result, assuming all stockholders are present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination, we would need only 8,437,501 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or 37.5%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 1,406,251 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or approximately 6.3%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our initial stockholders agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

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

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval (unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons), public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into a definitive agreement for a business combination with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our definitive agreement for our initial business combination requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

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

25

you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the deadline described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

We must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. 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 which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes, and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

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

If a public stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a public stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. In the event that a public stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business — Business Strategy — Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of our common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus, (ii) the redemption of our public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described in this prospectus. In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering is not completed for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

The NYSE MKT may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

We have applied to have our units listed on NYSE MKT. We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE MKT on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date our shares of common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our shares of common stock and warrants will be listed separately on the NYSE MKT. 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 MKT listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on NYSE MKT in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on NYSE MKT prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 round-lot holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with NYSE MKT’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than NYSE MKT’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on NYSE MKT. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $3.00 per share and our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $2.0 million. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

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

         a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

         reduced liquidity for our securities;

         a determination that our common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

         a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

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

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

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

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

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our business combination. 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 stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

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Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, if we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of common stock redeemed and, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination, we make purchases of our common stock, potentially reducing the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

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

If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering, only approximately $2,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, 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 $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held

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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. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and would not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value 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 tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. We are not aware of any product or service providers who have not or will not provide such waiver other than the underwriters of this offering. While our independent registered public accounting firm has waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of the public stockholders, our independent registered public accounting firm has not waived any rights to fees for which they would become entitled for services rendered.

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Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has agreed that he will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a definitive agreement for a business combination, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Mr. Hennessy will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether Mr. Hennessy has sufficient funds to satisfy his indemnity obligations. We have not asked Mr. Hennessy to reserve for such eventuality. We believe the likelihood of Mr. Hennessy having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of Mr. Hennessy, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share or (ii) other than due to the failure to obtain such waiver such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, and Mr. Hennessy asserts that he is unable to satisfy his obligations or that he has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against Mr. Hennessy to enforce his indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against Mr. Hennessy to enforce his 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 our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

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If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our business combination.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:

         restrictions on the nature of our investments, and

         restrictions on the issuance of securities,

each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our business combination.

In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:

         registration as an investment company;

         adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

         reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in United States government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

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

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

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Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account to be distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24 th month from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after our consummation of a business combination and you will not be entitled to any of the corporate protections provided by such a meeting.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate a business combination (unless required by NYSE MKT), and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of a business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

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

We are not registering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 30 days after the closing of our initial business combination, to use our best efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have the registration statement declared effective,

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and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, unless an exemption is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so 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 or register or qualify the shares under blue sky laws. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering. However, there may be instances in which holders of our public warrants may be unable to exercise such public warrants but holders of our private warrants may be able to exercise such private warrants.

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

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the founder shares, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

Because we are not limited to a particular industry or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.

We will seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector in the United States (which may include a company based in the United States which has operations or opportunities outside the United States), but may also pursue acquisition opportunities in other industries, except that we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if

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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 potential business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value 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 tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries outside of the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector (which industries may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise).

Although we intend to focus on identifying business combination candidates in the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector in the United States (including candidates based in the United States which may have operations or opportunities outside the United States), and we will not initially actively seek to identify business combination candidates in other industries (which industries may be outside our management’s area of expertise), we will consider a business combination outside of the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector after having expended a reasonable amount of time and effort in an attempt to do so. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate.

In the event we elect to pursue an investment outside of the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire.

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

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

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We may seek acquisition opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

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

Unless we complete our business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking or accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board 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 tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

We may issue additional common or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination, any one of which would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 152,925,000 (assuming that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of common stock available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with the approval of our stockholders. However, our executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

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The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

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

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

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

         may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, common stock and/or warrants.

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our executive officers and directors, at least until we have completed our business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

Our ability to successfully effect our business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our 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 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 and take time away from oversight of our operations.

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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.

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

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value 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 tender offer materials or proxy statement 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 departure of a potential business combination target’s 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 candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.

Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers.”

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

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our executive officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business, although they may not participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition companies with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

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

Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our common stock and warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

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

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

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers and directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on,

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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 Business — Effecting our initial business combination — Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm 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 executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

In March 2017, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,906,250 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Thereafter, we cancelled a portion of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). As a result of the partial cancellations, the per-share purchase price increased to approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20.0% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. In May 2017, our sponsor transferred 75,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Bell, Burns, Shea, O’Neil and DiMicco, our independent director nominees, 250,000 to Mr. Petruska, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, and 500,000 to Mr. Charlton, our President and Chief Operating Officer. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 (or 8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our common stock at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $7,700,000 (or $8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination.

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering. However, the holders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.

The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.

Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will not be eligible to be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket expenses or collect any deferred amounts owed to them if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

At the closing of our initial business combination, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf. Furthermore, certain of our executive officers will be owed deferred amounts that are payable only if we consummate our initial business combination. These financial interests of our sponsor, executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination and completing 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 stockholders’ investment in us.

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business

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combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

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

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

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

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

         our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

         using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

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

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

         limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

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 approximately $232.7 million (or approximately $267.2 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our business combination (excluding up to approximately $7.4 million, or up to approximately $8.5 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).

We may effectuate our business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

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

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

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

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

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

We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

We may structure a business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.

We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not

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conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

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

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

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.

In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the period of time during which they could consummate an initial business combination. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-initial business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

Some other blank check companies have provisions in their charters which prohibit the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-initial business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions requires approval by holders of between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the redemption rights of our public stockholders, which require the approval of the holders of all (100%) of our common stock), including those related to pre-initial business combination activity, such as an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our common stock, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20.0% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-initial business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

43

Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in letter agreements that we have entered into with our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees. Prior to acquiring any securities from our initial stockholders, permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by the same restriction. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event our sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees breach these agreements, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

Certain agreements related to this offering may be amended without stockholder approval.

Certain agreements, including the underwriting agreement relating to this offering, the investment management trust agreement between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the letter agreement among us and our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees, the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders and the administrative services agreement between us and an affiliate of our sponsor, may be amended without stockholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, the underwriting agreement related to this offering contains (i) a representation that we will not consummate any public or private equity or debt financing prior to the consummation of a business combination, unless all investors in such financing expressly waive, in writing, any rights in or claims against the trust account and (ii) a covenant that the target company that we acquire must have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account at the time of signing the definitive agreement for the transaction with such target business (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) so long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE MKT. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendment 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.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of our trust account, and

44

our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

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

Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, their influence would increase. Neither our initial stockholders 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 common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided into two classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of two years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a portion of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our business combination.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our common stock.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock 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 the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 92.5% (or $9.25 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.75 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants.

Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement will provide that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

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

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of our common stock equals or

45

exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.

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

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 11,250,000 shares of our common stock (or up to 12,937,500 shares of common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 7,700,000 (or up to 8,442,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of common stock at $11.50 per share. Only whole warrants may be exercised. To the extent we issue shares of common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of common stock upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our common stock and reduce the value of the shares of common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

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

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

Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Because the warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. A holder of an odd number of units will not be able to exercise any one-half of one warrant unless it is combined with another one-half of one warrant. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

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

46

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 common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:

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

         prior offerings of those companies;

         our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;

         a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

         our capital structure;

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

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

         other factors as were deemed relevant.

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

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

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

Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financing reporting standards, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements will likely be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such 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 within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although

47

circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with 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.

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

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K no earlier than the year ending December 31, 2018. As long as we maintain our status as an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock and could entrench management.

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

We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make it more difficult to remove management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

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

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain United States federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the share of common stock and the warrant to purchase one-half of one share of common stock included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or the courts. Furthermore, the United States federal income tax consequences of a cashless

48

exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of common stock suspend the running of a U.S. holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for federal income tax purposes. See the section titled “United States Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of the principal United States federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of the State of Delaware, the stockholder bringing such suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. These provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

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

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

         costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations

         rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

         complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

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

         tariffs and trade barriers;

         regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

         longer payment cycles;

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

         currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

         rates of inflation;

         challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

         cultural and language differences;

         employment regulations;

         crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and wars; and

         deterioration of political relations with the United States.

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

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We face risks related to industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies.

Business combinations with industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with such a target business, we will be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:

         the markets we may serve may be subject to general economic conditions and cyclical demand, which could lead to significant shifts in our results of operations from quarter to quarter that make it difficult to project long-term performance;

         we may be unable to attract or retain customers;

         we may be subject to the negative impacts of catastrophic events;

         we may face competition and consolidation of the specific sector of the industry within which the target business operates;

         we may be subject to volatility in costs for strategic raw material and energy commodities (such as natural gas, including exports of material quantities of natural gas from the United States) or disruption in the supply of these commodities could adversely affect our financial results;

         we may be unable to obtain necessary insurance coverage for the target business’ operations;

         we may incur additional expenses and delays due to technical problems, labor problems (including union disruptions) or other interruptions at our manufacturing facilities after our initial business combination;

         we may experience work-related accidents that may expose us to liability claims;

         our manufacturing processes and products may not comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, or if we manufacture products containing design or manufacturing defects, demand for our products may decline and we may be subject to liability claims;

         we may be liable for damages based on product liability claims, and we may also be exposed to potential indemnity claims from customers for losses due to our work or if our employees are injured performing services;

         our products may be are subject to warranty claims, and our business reputation may be damaged and we may incur significant costs as a result;

         we may be unable to protect our intellectual property rights;

         our products and manufacturing processes will be subject to technological change;

         we may be subject to increased government regulations, including with respect to, among other matters, increased environmental regulation and worker safety regulation, and the costs of compliance with such regulations; and

         the failure of our customers to pay the amounts owed to us in a timely manner.

Any of the foregoing could have a negative adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services industry. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks will likely not affect us and we will be subject to other risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, none of which can be presently ascertained.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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

         our ability to complete our initial business combination;

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

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

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

         our pool of prospective target businesses;

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

         our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

         the lack of a market for our securities;

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

         our financial performance following this offering.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the 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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Use of Proceeds

We are offering 22,500,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

 

Without
Over-Allotment Option

 

Over-Allotment Option Exercised

Gross proceeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross proceeds from units offered to public (1)

 

$

225,000,000

 

 

$

258,750,000

 

Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement

 

 

7,700,000

 

 

 

8,442,500

 

Total gross proceeds

 

$

232,700,000

 

 

$

267,192,500

 

Offering expenses (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underwriting commissions (2.20% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion) (3)

 

$

4,950,000

 

 

$

5,692,500

 

Legal fees and expenses

 

 

300,000

 

 

 

300,000

 

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

45,000

 

 

 

45,000

 

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

37,500

 

 

 

37,500

 

SEC Expenses

 

 

30,000

 

 

 

30,000

 

FINRA Expenses

 

 

46,213

 

 

 

46,213

 

Travel and road show

 

 

20,000

 

 

 

20,000

 

Directors and officers insurance

 

 

125,000

 

 

 

125,000

 

NYSE MKT listing and filing fees

 

 

75,000

 

 

 

75,000

 

Miscellaneous expenses

 

 

71,287

 

 

 

71,287

 

Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)

 

$

750,000

 

 

$

750,000

 

Proceeds after offering expenses

 

$

227,000,000

 

 

$

260,750,000

 

Held in trust account (3)

 

$

225,000,000

 

 

$

258,750,000

 

% of public offering size

 

 

100

%

 

 

100

%

Not held in trust account

 

$

2,000,000

 

 

$

2,000,000

 

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)

 

$

1,000,000

 

50.0

%

Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations

 

 

175,000

 

8.75

%

Payments to Chief Financial Officer (6)

 

 

300,000

 

15.0

%

Payment for office space, administrative and support services

 

 

360,000

 

18.0

%

Reserve for liquidation expenses

 

 

50,000

 

2.5

%

NYSE MKT continued listing fees

 

 

40,000

 

2.0

%

Other miscellaneous expenses

 

 

75,000

 

3.75

%

Total

 

$

2,000,000

 

100.0

%

____________

(1)       Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.

(2)       A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of a loan from our sponsor of up to a total of $300,000 that we may draw down as described in this prospectus ($100,000 of which has been drawn down as of the date of this prospectus). This loan will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $750,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering 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 equal to approximately 3.30% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, up to approximately $7.4 million, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or up to approximately $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds,

52

less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

(4)       These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth in this prospectus. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition 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 business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.

(6)       We will pay Mr. Petruska, our Chief Financial Officer, $25,000 per month for his services prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, of which 50% is payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination. Does not include deferred fees payable to Messrs. Hennessy and Charlton, our Chief Executive Officer and President, respectively, all payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination, as described elsewhere in this prospectus.

The rules of the NYSE MKT provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, approximately $225,000,000 (or approximately $258,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including up to approximately $7.4 million (or up to approximately $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $2.1 million per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.94% per year. 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 taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, until the earlier of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete a business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (subject to the requirements of law).

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

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

53

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We will also pay Messrs. Hennessy, Charlton and Petruska, our management team, as described elsewhere in this prospectus.

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 ($100,000 of which has been drawn down as of the date of this prospectus) for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2017 or the closing of this offering. This loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $750,000 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 out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

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

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

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

Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

54

Dividend Policy

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, in which case we will effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

55

Dilution

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

At April 4, 2017, our net tangible book value was $8,000, or approximately $0.00 per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 22,500,000 shares of common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at April 4, 2017 would have been $5,000,010 or $0.75 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the approximately 21,458,299 shares of common stock that may be redeemed for cash and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) of $9.25 per share to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $10.00 per share or 100% to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights. Total dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $9.25 per share. The dilution to new investors if the underwriter exercises the over-allotment option in full would be an immediate dilution of $9.34 per share.

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:

Public offering price

 

 

 

 

 

$

10.00

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

$

0.00

 

 

 

 

 

Increase attributable to public stockholders

 

 

9.25

 

 

 

 

 

Decrease attributable to public shares subject to redemption

 

 

(10.00

)

 

 

 

 

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants

 

 

 

 

 

$

(0.75

)

Dilution to public stockholders

 

 

 

 

 

$

9.25

 

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 $214,582,990 because holders of up to approximately 95.4% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per-share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of shares of common stock sold in this offering.

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

 

 

Shares Purchased

 

Total Consideration

 

Average Price

 

 

Number

 

Percentage

 

Amount

 

Percentage

 

per Share

Initial Stockholders (1)

 

5,625,000

 

20.00

%

 

$

25,000

 

0.001

%

 

$

0.0044

Public Stockholders

 

22,500,000

 

80.00

 

 

 

225,000,000

 

99.999

%

 

$

10.000

 

 

28,125,000

 

100.00

%

 

$

225,025,000

 

100.000

%

 

 

 

____________

(1)       Assumes an aggregate of 843,750 shares held by our sponsor have been forfeited.

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The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering is calculated as follows:

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

$

8,000

 

Proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants, net of expenses

 

 

227,000,000

 

Less: deferred underwriters’ commissions payable

 

 

(7,425,000

)

Less: amount of common stock subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001

 

 

(214,582,990

)

 

 

$

5,000,010

 

 

 

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

Shares of common stock outstanding prior to this offering

 

 

6,468,750

 

Shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised

 

 

(843,750

)

Shares of common stock included in the units offered

 

 

22,500,000

 

Less: shares subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001

 

 

(21,458,299

)

 

 

 

6,661,701

 

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Capitalization

The following table sets forth our capitalization at April 4, 2017, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the sale of our units in this offering and the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

 

April 4, 2017

 

 

Actual

 

As Adjusted (1)

Deferred underwriting commissions

 

$

 

 

$

7,425,000

 

Common stock, subject to redemption (2)

 

 

 

 

 

214,582,990

 

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none
issued or outstanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 29,000,000 shares authorized; 6,468,750 shares issued and outstanding (actual); 200,000,000 shares authorized; 6,661,701 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 21,458,299 shares subject to redemption) (as adjusted) (3)

 

 

1,000

 

 

 

667

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

24,000

 

 

 

5,016,343

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(17,000

)

 

 

(17,000

)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

 

8,000

 

 

 

5,000,010

 

Total capitalization

 

$

8,000

 

 

$

227,008,000

 

____________

(1)       Includes the $7,700,000 we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants. Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and the resulting forfeiture of 843,750 founder shares held by our sponsor has occurred.

(2)       Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) subject to the limitations described in this prospectus whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination.

(3)       Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be amended on or prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 29,000,000 shares to 200,000,000 shares.

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:

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

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

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

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

         our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

         using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

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

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

         limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at April 4, 2017, we had approximately $25,000 in cash and accrued expenses of $17,000. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

59

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 to date through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $750,000, underwriting commissions of approximately $5.0 million (approximately $5.7 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of up to approximately $7.4 million (or up to approximately $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $7,700,000 (or $8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $227.0 million (or approximately $258.8 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Approximately $225.0 million (or approximately $258.8 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes up to approximately $7.4 million (or up to approximately $8.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. 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 $750,000, 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 $750,000, 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, if any. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering, to be $180,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $2,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the trust account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

60

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $1,000,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $175,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $300,000 for payments to our Chief Financial Officer, $40,000 for NYSE MKT and other regulatory fees; $360,000 for office space, administrative and support services; $50,000 as a reserve for liquidation expenses and approximately $75,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves.

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 on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.

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

Controls and Procedures

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act no earlier than the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. As long as we maintain our status as 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.

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

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

         reconciliation of accounts;

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

         evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

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

         documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

61

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. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

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

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Related Party Transactions

In March 2017, our sponsor purchased 7,906,250 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Thereafter, we cancelled a portion of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). As a result of the partial cancellations, the per-share purchase price increased to approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20.0% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. 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. In May 2017, our sponsor transferred 75,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Bell, Burns, Shea, O’Neil and DiMicco, our independent director nominees, 250,000 to Mr. Petruska, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, and 500,000 to Mr. Charlton, our President and Chief Operating Officer. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, as applicable immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will also pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We will also pay Messrs. Hennessy and Charlton, our Chief Executive Officer and President, respectively, monthly deferred fees of $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, all payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination. We will also pay Mr. Petruska, our Chief Financial Officer, $25,000 per month following the consummation of this offering up until the consummation of our initial business combination, of which 50% is payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination.

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 ($100,000 of which has been drawn down as of the date of this prospectus) for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2017 or the closing of this offering. This loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $750,000 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 for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private

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placement warrants. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 (or 8,442,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($7,700,000 in the aggregate or $8,442,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at $11.50 per share. Our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by them to certain permitted transferees, including our executive officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to them, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the sponsor. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees (except as described below under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). The private placement warrants may also be exercised by the sponsor or its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with the holders of the founder shares and the private placement warrants on or prior to the closing of this offering, we will be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

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

As of April 4, 2017, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have conducted no operations to date.

JOBS Act

On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

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

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Proposed Business

Introduction

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated in January 2017 as a Delaware corporation formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector in the United States (which may include a business based in the United States which has operations or opportunities outside of the United States). We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with an aggregate enterprise value over $1 billion.

Business Opportunity Overview

Our strategy will be to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, build, an industrial manufacturing, distribution or services business. Industrial manufacturers, distributors and service providers are companies that manufacture and/or distribute products or provide critical services to a broad range of customers and end use markets. We believe that an industrial “renaissance” is now underway in the United States and that this resurgence is primarily the result of four critical factors: (i) aging infrastructure, (ii) a stable and flexible labor market, (iii) cheap and abundant sources of energy and (iv) logistical factors such as shipping costs and the various risks of operating extended global supply chains, each of which we believe is quite favorable to the United States when compared with advanced manufacturing nations and increasingly competitive when compared with emerging manufacturing nations.

Years of under-investment in new capital projects (in favor of maintaining existing infrastructure) has resulted in a need for large-scale investment across all key infrastructure verticals. The American Society of Civil Engineers, or ASCE, estimates that United States infrastructure demand will require $4.6 trillion of investment through 2020 to achieve a national score of a “B-rating”, or “in good to excellent condition; some elements show signs of general deterioration that require attention [with] few elements exhibit significant deficiencies.” The United States infrastructure as a whole currently has a “D+-rating,” defined as “poor to fair condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life.” The ASCE scored categories of infrastructure investment individually in its “Report Card,” awarding the highest rating (B-) to solid waste and the poorest scores to levees, inland waterways, transit, dams, schools, roads, wastewater, hazardous waste, and energy infrastructure.

According to BCG, the manufacturing-cost gap between the U.S. and other highly developed economies widened significantly over the last decade. Stable and efficient labor is one key to growing the U.S. competitive advantage. The U.S. has one of the world’s most flexible labor markets and has the highest worker productivity among the world’s largest exporters by far. Adjusted for productivity, U.S. labor costs are 20% to 54% lower than those of Western Europe and Japan for many products.

In addition to the benefits of its labor force, the U.S. also has an energy cost advantage. While industrial prices for natural gas have risen around the world, they have decreased by approximately 50% in the U.S. since the recovery from underground shale deposits began in earnest. Natural gas costs more than three times as much in China, France and Germany than in the U.S., and nearly four times as much in Japan. Natural gas is used increasingly as a fuel in U.S. power plants, which is likely to ensure that the price of industrial electricity will remain between one-quarter and two-thirds of the cost of electricity in major exporting nations such as China, Japan, Germany, France and Italy. We believe cheap natural gas will give the U.S. a powerful and unique cost advantage that will benefit a wide variety of industries across the full value chain, from feedstock to finished goods, and should be largely exclusive to the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

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When taking all of this into account, the U.S. has emerged as the lowest-cost manufacturing location in the developed world, and at the same time, has achieved approximate cost parity with low-cost countries in Eastern Europe. The cost gap with China has shrunk dramatically, and, if the trend of the last ten years continues, will likely disappear before the end of the decade.

We believe these factors are further compounded when adding logistical factors to the decision making process. Factors such as shipping costs, the various risks of operating extended global supply chains, just-in-time inventory requirements and shorter product life cycles necessitate that production and end-markets be co-located. According to BCG, the U.S. and Mexico are the “rising stars” of the top 25 export economies because of low wage growth, sustained productivity gains, stable exchange rates and significant energy and electricity cost advantages.

Business Strategy Summary

The chart below summarizes the origination, investment management and value creation strategy that our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Daniel J. Hennessy, has developed for Hennessy Capital LLC, an affiliate of our sponsor, and which we would seek to replicate:

Competitive Strengths

Daniel J. Hennessy and our Executive Officers . Hennessy Capital LLC is the managing member of our sponsor and was founded by Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2013. From September 2013 to February 2015, Mr. Hennessy served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp., or Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc., or SBH, in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD), and since February 2015, has served as its Vice Chairman. From April 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Hennessy served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II, or Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE), and since February 2017, has served as its Vice Chairman. From 1988 to 2016, Mr. Hennessy served as a Partner at Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC (n/k/a CHS Capital or “CHS”), a middle-market private equity investment firm he co-founded. Over a 25-year period, CHS invested $2.9 billion in nearly 400 operating companies. Mr. Hennessy has served as Chairman of the

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Board of Directors of various CHS portfolio companies that manufacture and/or distribute a broad array of products or provide services for the industrial, infrastructure, energy and packaging sectors.

Mr. Hennessy has over 25 years of middle-market private equity investment experience, dedicated almost entirely to investments in industrial manufacturing, distribution or services operating companies. He has initiated and overseen numerous add-on acquisitions, divestitures, initial public offerings and debt capital markets issues for CHS-owned companies and is well known by the most active middle-market private equity firms, investment banks and debt financing sources that will be called upon to assist us in executing our strategy. We expect that Mr. Hennessy will devote a substantial portion of his professional time to our affairs.

Experienced SPAC Management Team with Business Combination Success . Each of our executive officers served as executive officers, directors or advisors of Hennessy I, a former blank check company which raised $115.0 million in its initial public offering in January 2014 and Hennessy II, a blank check company which raised approximately $200.0 million in its initial public offering in July 2015.

In February 2015, Hennessy I consummated its initial business combination by acquiring all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of School Bus Holdings Inc., which, through its subsidiaries, conducts its business under the “Blue Bird” name, from The Traxis Group B.V., an entity that is majority owned by funds affiliated with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. In connection with its initial business combination, Hennessy I changed its name to Blue Bird Corporation. Blue Bird is the leading independent designer and manufacturer of school buses, with more than 550,000 buses sold since its formation in 1927 and approximately 180,000 buses in operation today. Hennessy I’s stockholders approved the business combination, with approximately 99% of the shares voting, 98% of which were voted in favor of the transaction, allowing for the swift completion of the business combination only 13 months after Hennessy I’s initial public offering. Following Hennessy I’s IPO, its management identified Blue Bird within four months, entered into an exclusive letter of intent within six months and executed a binding purchase agreement within eight months. Prior to signing the purchase agreement with The Traxis Group B.V., Hennessy I’s management secured investments of $40 million of convertible preferred stock (with a $10 million accordion option) and $10 million in a common equity backstop. Management also initiated a warrant exchange which resulted in a reduction of Hennessy I’s warrants by over 50%.

In February 2017, Hennessy II consummated its initial business combination by acquiring all of the outstanding capital stock of Daseke, Inc., or Daseke. Daseke is a leading consolidator of the open deck freight market in North America and, of the 50 largest U.S. trucking companies, was one of the fastest-growing companies in 2015. Through its acquisition of nine operating companies, Daseke believes it has become the largest owner of open deck equipment and the second largest provider of open deck transportation and logistics solutions by revenue in North America. Since being founded in 2009, Daseke has grown revenue from $30.0 million to $679.0 million in 2015, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 68%. Daseke’s management has identified a near-term pipeline of potential acquisition targets representing in the aggregate $643.0 million of revenue and $100.0 million in Adjusted EBITDA that would double the size of the existing business in three years. Daseke’s initial stockholders, including Daseke’s management team (but not any of Hennessy II’s stockholders prior to such transaction), will be eligible to receive up to additional 15.0 million shares of common stock of Daseke based on the achievement of both (i) established Adjusted EBITDA targets based on successful execution of near-term acquisition strategy and (ii) future share price targets. Daseke’s management team continues to own over 50% of the pro forma equity post-transaction. The transaction also included refinancing of Daseke’s existing debt, lowering the cost of leverage. All cash proceeds from the transaction, after refinancing of Daseke’s existing debt, were to be used to fund growth initiatives. In connection with the transaction, Hennessy II’s management secured investments of $65.0 million of convertible preferred stock and a $35.0 million common equity backstop.

In connection with Hennessy I and Hennessy II, our executive officers received benefits that were the same as or similar to those received by other sponsors for similar blank check companies including the ownership of founders’ equity prior to their initial public offerings and the acquisition of warrants in connection with their initial public offerings. In addition, Mr. Hennessy has received director compensation comparable to other outside directors for serving as a director of Blue Bird Corporation following its initial business combination with Hennessy I and Messrs. Hennessy and Charlton have received director compensation comparable to other outside directors for serving as directors of Daseke, Inc. following its initial business combination with Hennessy II. Mr. Petruska was paid a monthly fee for his services to Hennessy II following its initial public offering until the closing of the initial business combination and an additional fee upon the completion of the initial business combination. Messrs. Bell,

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Burns and Shea, who are certain of our director nominees, received founders’ equity prior to the initial public offerings of Hennessy I and Hennessy II, in line with equity received by outside directors for similar entities.

We believe that potential sellers of target businesses will view the fact that our management team has successfully closed two business combinations with vehicles similar to our company as positive factors in considering whether or not to enter into a business combination with us. However, past performance by our management team is not a guarantee of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate.

We believe our management team is well positioned to take advantage of the growing set of acquisition opportunities focused on industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies in the United States, to create value for our stockholders, and that our contacts and relationships, ranging from owners of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, attorneys, accountants and business brokers will allow us to generate attractive acquisition opportunities. Our management team is led by Daniel J. Hennessy, who has over 25 years of experience in the private equity investment business and served as Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy I and Hennessy II. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that Mr. Hennessy or any other members of our management will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Our Board of Directors.  We have assembled a group of independent directors who will bring us public company governance, executive leadership, operations oversight, private equity investment management and capital markets experience. Our Board members have extensive experience, having served as directors, chief executive officers, chief financial officers or in other executive and advisory capacities for numerous publicly-listed and privately-owned companies and private equity firms. Our directors have experience with acquisitions, divestitures and corporate strategy and implementation, which we believe will significantly benefit us as we evaluate potential acquisition or merger candidates as well as following the completion of our initial business combination.

Our Network of Third Party Advisors.  We intend to utilize what our management believes is an accomplished and proven network of third party advisors and relationships to assist with target company origination and evaluation, due diligence and implementation of value creation programs and activities following our initial business combination. This network has assisted Mr. Hennessy in executing on human capital, performance improvement, strategic growth and capital markets initiatives. We believe this combination of resources is unique and provides us with a truly differentiated value proposition for investors, sellers, target companies and their management teams. We also anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention due to the success of Hennessy I and Hennessy II, which are well-known to many market participants.

Initial Business Combination

The NYSE MKT rules provide that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or a qualified independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. If our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, 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

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stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. If our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination.

Consistent with this strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.

         Middle-Market Businesses.   We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with an aggregate enterprise value over $1 billion, determined in the sole discretion of our officers and directors according to reasonably accepted valuation standards and methodologies. We believe that the middle market segment provides the greatest number of opportunities for investment and is the market consistent with our sponsor’s previous investment history. This segment is where we believe we have the strongest network to identify the greatest number of attractive opportunities and we believe the larger market capitalization and public float of the resulting company will be more attractive to our investors.

         Established Companies with Proven Track Records.  We will seek to acquire one or more established companies with consistent historical financial performance. We will typically focus on companies with a history of strong operating and financial results and strong fundamentals. We do not intend to acquire start-up companies or companies with recurring negative free cash flow.

         Companies with Proven Revenue and Earnings Growth or Potential for Revenue and Earnings Growth.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have achieved or have the potential for significant revenue and earnings growth through a combination of organic growth, synergistic add-on acquisitions, new product markets and geographies, increased production capacity, expense reduction and increased operating leverage.

         Companies with, or with the Potential for, Strong Free Cash Flow Generation.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that already have, or have the potential to generate, consistent, stable and increasing free cash flow. We will focus on one or more businesses that have predictable revenue streams.

         Strong Competitive Position.  We intend to focus on acquisition targets that have a leading, growing or niche market position in their respective industries. We will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of target businesses relative to their competitors. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that demonstrate advantages when compared to their competitors, which may help to protect their market position and profitability.

         Experienced Management Team.  We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with a complete, experienced management team that provides a platform for us to further develop the acquired business’s management capabilities. We will seek to partner with a potential target’s management team and expect that the operating and financial abilities of our executive team and board will complement their own capabilities.

         Sectors Exhibiting Secular Growth or with Potential for Cyclical Uptick.  We intend to focus on acquisition targets in sectors which exhibit positive secular growth or potential for near-term cyclical uptick. We plan to identify sectors that have demonstrated strong positive growth in recent years, possess

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drivers for continued growth and are strategically positioned to benefit from upswings in their respective industry cycles.

         Benefit from Being a Public Company.  We intend to acquire one or more businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and can effectively utilize the broader access to capital and the public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. These criteria are substantially similar to the criteria set forth by Hennessy I and Hennessy II for their respective initial business combinations. Hennessy I’s business combination with SBH and Hennessy II’s business combination with Daseke satisfied each criteria.

In addition, the members of our board of directors have significant executive management and public company experience with industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and board of directors have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will be useful for sourcing acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through our management team’s experience in:

         sourcing, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses; and

         executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.

This network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that have resulted in numerous transactions. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us with an important source of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banks, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. In connection with their duties with Hennessy I and Hennessy II, our executive officers reviewed more than 266 potential targets in the diversified industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sectors in the United States between February 2014 (a month following Hennessy I’s initial public offering) and June 2014 (when Hennessy I decided to focus its efforts on a business combination with SBH) and between August 2015 (a month following Hennessy II’s initial public offering) and October 2016 (when Hennessy II decided to focus its efforts on a business combination with Daseke).

Certain members of our management team have spent significant portions of their careers working with businesses in the industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sector, and have developed a wide network of professional services contacts and business relationships in that industry. The members of our board of directors also have significant executive management and public company experience with industrial manufacturing, distribution or service companies.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our 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 which is a member of FINRA or a qualified independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our common stock and warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. For additional information regarding our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and potential conflicts of interest, see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers” and “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”

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Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entities, and may only decide to present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and consummating the same would not violate any restrictive covenants to which they are subject. Such officers or directors shall also have the right in the absence of such fiduciary or contractual obligations to offer certain business opportunities to such entities before presenting them to us and, in some instances, may be required to present such opportunities to such other entities before having the ability to offer such opportunities to us. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations or other rights of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our sponsor, executive officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written letter agreement, not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition companies with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. Our executive offices are located at 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014 and our telephone number is (307) 734-7879.

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this process a more certain method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering.

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 prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may have a negative view of us since we are a blank check company, without an operating history, and there is uncertainty relating to our ability to obtain stockholder approval of our proposed initial business combination and retain sufficient funds in our trust account in connection therewith.

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 common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30 th , and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

Financial Position

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $217,575,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to approximately $7.4 million of deferred underwriting fees (or $250,211,250 after payment of up to approximately $8.5 million 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

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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 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 warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

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

We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. From the period commencing with our formation through the date of this prospectus, there have been no communications or discussions between any of our officers, directors or our sponsor and any of their potential contacts or relationships regarding a potential initial business combination. Additionally, we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business. Additionally, we have not contacted any of the prospective target businesses that Hennessy I and Hennessy II had considered and rejected while such entity was a blank check company searching for target businesses to acquire. We do not currently intend to contact any of such targets; however, we may do so in the future if we become aware that the valuations, operations, profits or prospects of such target business, or the benefits of any potential transaction with such target business, would be attractive. 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 impact 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. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

Origination and Sourcing of Target Business Opportunities

We believe our management team’s extensive private equity investment and transaction experience, along with relationships with intermediaries and companies, will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our board and management team

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have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has been developed over the course of over 25 years, in the case of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Specifically, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer was a Partner at CHS Capital, a middle-market private equity investment firm he co-founded, from 1988 to 2016. Over a 25-year period, CHS invested $2.9 billion in nearly 400 operating companies. Our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, as well as certain of our directors and officers served as directors of Hennessy I, formerly a blank check company, which is now Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) from September 2013 to February 2015 and served as directors of Hennessy II, formerly a blank check company, which is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE) from April 2015 to February 2017. We expect that the management team’s network of existing contacts and relationships will be able to deliver a flow of potential platform and add-on acquisition opportunities which are proprietary or where a limited group of established, credentialed buyers have been invited to participate in the sale process. In addition, we anticipate that target business 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. In connection with their duties with Hennessy I and Hennessy II, our executive officers reviewed more than 266 potential targets in the diversified industrial manufacturing, distribution or services sectors in the United States between February 2014 (a month following Hennessy I’s initial public offering) and June 2014 (when Hennessy I decided to focus its efforts on a business combination with SBH) and between August 2015 (a month following Hennessy II’s initial public offering) and October 2016 (when Hennessy II decided to focus its efforts on a business combination with Daseke).

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, executive officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking which is a member of FINRA or a qualified independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

As more fully discussed in “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our executive officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. All of our executive officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

We anticipate that target business candidates will also be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers, private investment funds and other intermediaries. 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 that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary 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, and the success of Hennessy I and Hennessy II, which are well-known to many market participants.

Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination

The NYSE MKT rules provide that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will

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be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or a qualified independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. If our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our business combination.

To the extent we effect our business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

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

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our 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.

Lack of business diversification

For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

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

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

Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our business combination. Moreover, we

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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 the additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

Type of Transaction

 

Whether Stockholder Approval is Required

Purchase of assets

 

No

Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company

 

No

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company

 

No

Merger of the company with a target

 

Yes

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

         we issue common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our common stock then outstanding;

         any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by the NYSE MKT rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding shares of common stock or voting power of 5% or more; or

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

Permitted purchases of our securities

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the sellers or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not

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limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

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

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

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

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our business combination.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made

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by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under NYSE MKT rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE MKT, we will be required to comply with such rules.

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

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

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

Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

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

         file proxy materials with the SEC.

In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, assuming all stockholders are present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination, we would need only 8,437,501 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or 37.5%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 1,406,251 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or approximately 6.3%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have

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such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of a business combination.

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

Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek stockholder approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

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There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $35.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

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

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the commencement of the meeting of stockholders held to approve the initial business combination, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our business combination.

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.

If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

We will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination, 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 which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further 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 stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.

Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the

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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, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. Prior to acquiring any securities from our initial stockholders, permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by the same restriction.

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 taxes and not released to us to fund up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, 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, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has agreed that he will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for

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services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a definitive agreement for a business combination, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets other than due to the failure to obtain such waiver, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then Mr. Hennessy will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We cannot assure you, however, that Mr. Hennessy would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers 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 (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets other than due to the failure to obtain such waiver, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, and Mr. Hennessy asserts that he is unable to satisfy his 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 Mr. Hennessy to enforce his indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against Mr. Hennessy to enforce his indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.

We will seek to reduce the possibility that Mr. Hennessy 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. Mr. Hennessy 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, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, 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 $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account to be distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption

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distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24 th month, and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account.

As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, Mr. Hennessy may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets other than due to the failure to obtain such waiver, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes or working capital expenses and less any per-share amounts distributed from our trust account to our public stockholders in the event we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Mr. Hennessy will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

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Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide dissenting public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

         prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) or (2) provide our stockholders with the opportunity to tender their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) in each case subject to the limitations described in this prospectus;

         we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and, solely if we seek stockholder approval, a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination;

         if our initial business combination is not consummated within 24 months from the closing of this offering, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and

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

These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting.

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Comparison of redemption or purchase prices in connection with our initial business combination and if we fail to complete our business combination.

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

 

 

Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination

 

Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates

 

Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination

Calculation of redemption price

 

Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. Such purchases will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions.

 

If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

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Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination

 

Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates

 

Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination

Impact to remaining stockholders

 

The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses (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 will be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.

 

The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.

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

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

 

 

Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds

 

The rules of the NYSE MKT provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Approximately $225,000,000 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 at JPMorgan Chase Bank with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.

 

Approximately $198,000,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering less allowable underwriting commissions, expenses and company deductions under Rule 419, 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

 

Approximately $225,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.

 

Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Receipt of interest on escrowed funds

 

Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable and any working capital of up to $500,000 annually released to us 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 deposited into the escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in the escrow account were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.

 

 

 

 

 

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

 

The NYSE MKT rules provide that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on NYSE MKT at the time of our initial business combination.

 

The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

 

 

 

 

 

Trading of securities issued

 

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading. Separate trading will be subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, 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 common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Exercise of the warrants

 

The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering.

 

The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.

 

 

 

 

 

Election to remain an investor

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest, which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares whether it votes for or against the proposed transaction.

 

A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder 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 45 th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Business combination deadline

 

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

 

 

 

 

 

Release of funds

 

Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, none of the funds held in trust (including the interest on such funds) will be released from the trust account until the earlier of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete a business combination within the required time frame (subject to the requirements of applicable law).

 

The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares (an aggregate of 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering). Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions.

 

Many blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.

 

 

 

 

 

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,’ to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.

 

In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than 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

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business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

Facilities

We currently maintain our executive offices at 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014. The cost for this space is included in the $15,000 per month fee that we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We currently have three executive officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that Mr. Hennessy or any other members of our management will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process, but we expect that Mr. Hennessy will devote a substantial portion of his professional time to our affairs.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We will register our units, common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP. We cannot assure you that any particular target business selected by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with GAAP. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. As long as we maintain our status as 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. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our business combination.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and

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stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of:

         the last day of the fiscal year:

         following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering,

         in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or

         in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30 th ; and

         the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

References in this prospectus to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Legal Proceedings

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.

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Management

Directors and Executive Officers

Our directors, officers and director nominees are as follows:

Name

 

Age

 

Title

Daniel J. Hennessy

 

59

 

Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer

Kevin Charlton

 

51

 

President, Chief Operating Officer and Director Nominee (Vice Chairman)

Nicholas A. Petruska

 

30

 

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Bradley Bell

 

64

 

Director Nominee and Chairman of the Audit Committee

Richard Burns

 

64

 

Director Nominee

Peter Shea

 

66

 

Director Nominee and Chairman of the Compensation Committee

James F. O’Neil III

 

58

 

Director Nominee

Daniel R. DiMicco

 

66

 

Director Nominee

Daniel J. Hennessy , our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since our formation, is also the Managing Member of Hennessy Capital LLC, an alternative investment firm he established in 2013. From September 2013 to February 2015, Mr. Hennessy served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp., or Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc. in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD), and since February 2015, has served as its Vice Chairman. From April 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Hennessy served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II, or Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE) and since February 2017, has served as its Vice Chairman. From 1988 to 2016, Mr. Hennessy served as a Partner at Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC (n/k/a CHS Capital or “CHS”), a middle-market private equity investment firm he co-founded. Over a 25-year period, CHS invested $2.9 billion in nearly 400 operating companies. Mr. Hennessy has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of various CHS portfolio companies that manufacture and/or distribute a broad array of products or provide services for the industrial, infrastructure, energy and packaging sectors including Thermon Group Holdings (NYSE: THR), a designer and manufacturer of heat tracing systems focused on the external application of heat to pipes, tanks and instrumentation from April 2010 to May 2011, Dura-Line Holdings, a producer of high-density polyethylene conduit and pipes from January 2012 to September 2014, Penhall International, a provider of concrete cutting, breaking, excavation and highway grinding services, from July 2006 to November 2010, GSE Environmental, a supplier of geosynthetic liners and products, from May 2004 to December 2011, WNA, a designer and manufacturer of upscale plastic disposable tableware products, from 2002 to 2007 and Kranson Industries (n/k/a/ TricorBraun), a distributor of plastic and glass containers, from 1999 to 2004. In 2009, EDH Properties, LLC, a family real estate investment entity for which Mr. Hennessy was the managing member, filed a petition for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. A plan of reorganization was confirmed by the court in 2010 and the lender received payment in full. Prior to forming CHS, Mr. Hennessy was employed by Citicorp from 1984 to 1988 as head of the Midwest Region for Citicorp Mezzanine Investments and Vice President and Team Leader with Citicorp Leveraged Capital Group. He began his career in 1981 in the oil and gas lending group at Continental Illinois National Bank (now Bank of America) where he was a Banking Officer. Mr. Hennessy holds a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Boston College and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Mr. Hennessy is well qualified to serve as director due to his experience in private equity and public and private company board governance, as well as his background in finance and his experience with Hennessy I and Hennessy II.

Kevin M. Charlton , our President and Chief Operating Officer since our formation and our Vice Chairman as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, is also is the Managing Partner of River Hollow Partners, a private equity firm he founded in July 2013 to focus on the lower mid-market. From October 2013 to February 2015, Mr. Charlton served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors of Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc. in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD), and from January 2014 to February 2015 as a director. From April 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Charlton served as President and Chief Operating Officer, and since July 2015, as a member of the board of directors, of Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE). Mr. Charlton continues to serve on Daseke’s board of directors. From August 2009 to June 2013, Mr. Charlton was a Managing Director in the Principal Transactions Group of Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., and led a team that oversaw its existing portfolio of North American investments. Prior to

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joining Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. in August 2009, Mr. Charlton worked as Managing Director at Investcorp International, a mid-market private equity firm, from August 2002 to June 2009. Prior to joining Investcorp International in August 2002, he worked for JPMorgan Chase, McKinsey & Company, and as a contractor in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. Mr. Charlton has served on the boards of over 20 private and public companies and their subsidiaries in a variety of roles, with significant industrial experience in businesses such as FleetPride, a distributor of aftermarket heavy-duty truck parts, Neptune Technologies, a manufacturer of water meters and metering systems, Synthetic Industries, a manufacturer of industrial fabrics, and Brek Manufacturing, an aerospace components manufacturer. Since January 2010 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Spirit Realty Corporation (NYSE: SRC), a triple-net real estate investment trust that went public in September 2012, where he is a member of the Compensation and Governance Committees. Since August 2014, Mr. Charlton has served on the board of Dancing Deer Baking Company, a manufacturer of branded baked goods and a portfolio company of River Hollow Partners. Since March 2015, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Macro Energy, an advisory firm focused on high-efficiency lighting retrofits for commercial tenants and a portfolio company of River Hollow Partners. He received a Masters in Business Administration with honors from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in June 1995, a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering with Distinction from the University of Michigan in June 1990, and a Bachelors of Science in Engineering Cum Laude from Princeton University in June 1988. Mr. Charlton is well-qualified to serve as director due to his experience in private equity and public and private company governance, as well as his background in industrial business and his experience with Hennessy I and Hennessy II.

Nicholas A. Petruska , our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since our formation, has served as the Vice President of Hennessy Capital LLC, the managing member of our Sponsor, since November 2013, in which position he advised Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc. in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD), in connection with its initial public offering in January 2014. In addition, he worked closely with Hennessy I’s CEO and COO on transaction origination and initial assessments of potential target companies and led the due diligence assessment and transaction execution for Hennessy I’s business combination, which was consummated in February 2015. From April 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Petruska served as Chief Financial Officer of Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE). From July 2012 to July 2014, Mr. Petruska served as an associate at CHS Capital, a Chicago-based middle market private equity investment firm, where he evaluated leveraged buyouts and structured equity investments across multiple sectors and monitored certain portfolio companies of CHS. From January 2010 to July 2012, Mr. Petruska served as an investment banking analyst for Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance groups with a focus on diversified industrials and consumer retail. He holds a B.S. degree, summa cum laude, from Miami University with majors in Finance and Decision Sciences.

Bradley Bell will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and will serve as the chairman of our audit committee. From January 2014 to February 2015, Mr. Bell served as a director and chairman of the Audit Committee of Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc. in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD). From July 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Bell served as a director and chairman of the Audit Committee of Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE). Since October 2014, Mr. Bell has served as a director of MPM Holdings, Inc., a global manufacturer of silicones, quartz, and ceramics, where he has been Non-Executive Chair since December 2014. Since July 2015, Mr. Bell has served as a director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of The Chemours Company LLC (NYSE: CC), a chemical solutions company. From 2001 through 2015, he served as a director of IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX), a global industrial company with key growth platforms in Fluid Metering Technology and Health & Science Technology segments, where he chaired the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Audit Committee and served on the Compensation Committee. From December 2003 through July 2015, he served as a director of Compass Minerals Corporation (NYSE:CMP), an international mining company with operations in salt and specialty nutrients, where he chaired the Compensation Committee and Audit Committee and served on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. From 2009 to 2015, he served as a director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Coskata Company, a pre-revenue biomass startup with proprietary technology for the production of fuels and chemicals utilizing anaerobic microorganisms. From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Bell served as a director and chairman of the Audit Committee of Virent Corporation, a pre-revenue biochemical company with proprietary technology for producing plastics and other products from plant sugars. From November 2003 to December 2010,

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Mr. Bell served as Executive Vice President of Nalco Corporation, an industrial water treatment and energy services company. Mr. Bell has over 30 years combined experience as an executive in the technology and manufacturing industries, including positions at Rohm and Haas Company, Whirlpool Corporation and Bundy Corporation. Through his experience, Mr. Bell has developed financial expertise and experience in mergers and acquisitions, private equity and capital markets transactions. He has held directorships at publicly traded companies for over 25 years, during which he chaired governance, audit and compensation committees. Through his executive experience and board memberships, Mr. Bell has acquired training and experience in corporate governance and executive compensation. Mr. Bell received a bachelor of science degree in finance with high honors from the University of Illinois and a master of business administration degree with distinction from Harvard University. Mr. Bell is well qualified to serve as director due to his experience in public and private company governance and accounting, including his service on audit, nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees, including his experience with Hennessy I and Hennessy II.

Richard Burns will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. From January 2014 to February 2015, Mr. Burns served as a director of Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc. in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD). From July 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Burns served as a director of Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE). He also serves as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, consulting with telecom service providers, suppliers, and private equity investors, and has done so since April 2008. Mr. Burns also serves on the board of GeorgiasOwn Credit Union, a consumer retail financial services firm since 2002. He served on the board of Unison Site Management, a cell site management firm, from March 2010 to June 2016. Mr. Burns has over 35 years of combined executive experience in telecommunications, including landline, broadband and wireless networks. He served as an officer of BellSouth from 2002 to 2006, holding a number of positions including Chief Integration Officer for Broadband Transformation, President of Bellsouth Broadband and Internet Services, and Chief Supply Chain Officer. He also served as an officer of AT&T from December 2006 to March 2008, as President of AT&T’s Wireless Network. Through his experience, Mr. Burns has developed expertise in operations, mergers, financial management, and private equity investment. Through his executive experience and board service Mr. Burns has acquired both experience and training in corporate governance, executive compensation, and finance. Mr. Burns received both his Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Engineering from the University of Louisville, and an MBA from Vanderbilt University with Honors. Mr. Burns is well qualified to serve as a director due to his executive experience in large public companies, as well as his board experience in privately held firms and Hennessy I and Hennessy II.

Peter Shea will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and will serve as the chairman of our compensation committee. From January 2014 to February 2015, Mr. Shea served as a director and chairman of the Compensation Committee of Hennessy I, which merged with School Bus Holdings Inc. in February 2015 and is now known as Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD). From July 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Shea served as a director and chairman of the Compensation Committee of Hennessy II, which merged with Daseke in February 2017 and is now known as Daseke, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSKE). Since January 2010, Mr. Shea has been a private equity advisor and an independent director for various companies. He has served as an operating partner of Snow Phipps Group, a private equity firm, since April 2013 and as an operating advisor for OMERS Private Equity (the private equity division of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) since November 2011. He has been a director of Viskase Companies, a supplier of cellulose and fibrous casings, from October 2006 to the present, where he is currently chairman of the Audit Committee and previously served as chairman of the Compensation Committee. He has been a director of CVR Partners LP (NYSE: UAN), a nitrogen fertilizer producer, since May 2014 where he is currently the Chairman of the Environmental, Health and Safety Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. Since September 2015, Mr. Shea has served as chairman of the board of directors of Voltari Corporation (NASDAQ: VLTC), a commercial real estate company. Since May 2014, Mr. Shea has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of FeraDyne Outdoors LLC, a manufacturer of hunting and fishing accessories. Since November 2014, he has served as Chairman of Teasedale Foods, a processor of Hispanic foods. Mr. Shea has served as a Director of Trump Entertainment Resorts LLP since January 2016 where he is a member of the Audit Committee. He served as a director of Give and Go Prepared Foods, a bakery manufacturer, from January 2012 until July 2016. He was a Director of CTI Foods, a processor of protein and soup products for quick serve restaurant chains from May 2010 to July 2013. Mr. Shea was President of Icahn Enterprises (NYSE: IEP) from October 2006 to June 2009 and during the same period led Portfolio Company Operations for Icahn Associates, Carl Icahn’s private portfolio. He previously served as a

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director of Sitel Worldwide Corporation, a customer solutions provider, from October 2011 until September 2015. Mr. Shea served as a director of each of the following companies from October 2006 to May 2009: XO Holdings, a telecommunications services provider, American Railcar, a manufacturer of covered hopper and tank railcars, WestPoint International, a home textiles manufacturer and PSC Metals, a national operator of scrap yards. From 2002 to 2006 Mr. Shea was an independent consultant to various companies, an advisor to private equity firms and a director of Sabert Company, a packaging company. Mr. Shea has also served as a director, Chairman, Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President or Managing Director of a variety of companies including H.J. Heinz Company in Europe, a manufacturer and marketer of a broad line of food products across the globe, John Morrell & Company, Specialty Meats Company, each an international meat processing firm, Grupo Polymer United in Latin America, a plastics manufacturer, Roncadin GmbH, a food processor operating across Europe, Premium Standard Farms, New Energy Company of Indiana and United Brands Company where he was Head of Global Corporate Development. He has an MBA from the University of Southern California and a BBA from Iona College. Mr. Shea is well qualified to serve as a director due to his experience in public and private company governance and private equity, including his service on numerous corporate boards and on audit and compensation committees, including his experience with Hennessy I and Hennessy II.

James F. O’Neil III will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. He has been a Partner of Western Commerce Group since 2016. Mr. O’Neil served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Quanta Services, Inc. from May 2011 to March 2016 and from October 2008 to March 2016, respectively. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Quanta Services from October 2008 to 2011. Earlier, Mr. O’Neil served as a Senior Vice President of Quanta Services with responsibility for Operations Integration & Audit from December 2002 to October 2008. He served as a Vice President of Operations Integration at Quanta Services from August 1999 to December 2002. Mr. O’Neil joined Quanta in 1999 and, throughout his tenure at Quanta, was responsible for various initiatives, including: renewable energy strategy; commercial and industrial operations; internal audit; and merger and acquisition initiatives, including oversight of the acquisition and integration of InfraSource, its largest acquisition. From 1980 to 1999, Mr. O’Neil held various positions with Halliburton Company, a provider of products and services to the petroleum and energy industries, lastly as Director, Global Deepwater Development. Mr. O’Neil has been a Director of FirstEnergy Corp. since January 2017. He also serves as a Vice Chairman of the Board and chairman-elect of American Red Cross — Houston Gulf Coast Region and previously served as a Director of Quanta Services, Inc. from May 2011 to March 2016. Mr. O’Neil holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tulane University, New Orleans in 1980. Mr. O’Neil is well qualified to serve as a director due to his extensive experience in commercial and industrial operations and with mergers and acquisitions execution and integration.

Daniel R. DiMicco will be one of our independent directors as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. DiMicco has served as Chairman Emeritus of Nucor Corporation, a steel company, since December 2013. Mr. DiMicco served as Executive Chairman of Nucor Corporation from January 2013 until December 2013, and as Chairman from May 2006 until December 2012. He served as Chief Executive Officer from September 2000 until December 2012 and President from September 2000 until December 2010. Mr. DiMicco was a member of the Nucor board of directors from 2000 until 2013. Since 2007, he has served as a director of Duke Energy Corporation. Mr. DiMicco is a former chair of the American Iron and Steel Institute. Mr. DiMicco holds a B.S. in Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Science from Brown University and a M.S. in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. DiMicco is well qualified to serve as a director due to his experience as a chief executive officer of a large industrial corporation.

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

Our board of directors is divided into two classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a two-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Shea, Burns and O’Neil, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Hennessy, Charlton, Bell and DiMicco, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination (unless required by NYSE MKT).

Our officers are elected 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 persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chief Executive Officer,

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President, Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

NYSE MKT listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Bell, Shea, Burns, O’Neil and DiMicco are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE MKT listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

None of our executive officers, directors or director nominees have received any cash (or non-cash) compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE MKT through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. We will also pay Messrs. Hennessy and Charlton, our Chief Executive Officer and President, respectively, monthly deferred fees of $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, all payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination. We will also pay Mr. Petruska, our Chief Financial Officer, $25,000 per month for his services following the consummation of this offering until the consummation of our initial business combination, of which 50% is payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination. All such deferred amounts would be paid from the funds released to us after the consummation of our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our independent directors will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely of independent directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after the initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Both our audit committee and our compensation committee will be composed solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Bell, Shea and Burns will serve as members of our audit

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committee. Mr. Bell will serve as chairman of the audit committee. Under the NYSE MKT listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Messrs. Bell, Burns and Shea are each independent under the NYSE MKT listing standards and applicable SEC rules.

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

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

         the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

         pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

         reviewing and discussing with the independent registered accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

         setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered accounting firm;

         setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

         obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within, the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;

         reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

         reviewing with management, the independent registered accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be Messrs. Bell, Burns and Shea. Mr. Shea will serve as chairman of the compensation committee. We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

         reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation in executive session at which the Chief Executive Officer is not present;

         reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other executive officers;

         reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;

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         implementing and administering our equity-based remuneration plans;

         assisting management in complying with our SEC filings;

         approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees;

         producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

         reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

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

Director Nominations

We do not have a standing nominating committee, though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or the NYSE MKT rules. In accordance with Section 804 of the NYSE MKT rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who shall participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Messrs. Bell, Burns, Shea, O’Neil and DiMicco. In accordance with Section 803(A) of the NYSE MKT rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to the Board should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.

Code of Ethics

We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our form of Code of Ethics and our audit committee charter as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

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Conflicts of Interest

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

Our executive officers, directors and director nominees may become involved with subsequent blank check companies, although they have agreed not to become an officer or director of any publicly-traded blank check company until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

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

         In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see “— Directors and Executive Officers.”

         Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to its founder shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares and private placement units will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or our Chairman, respectively, until the earlier of (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (2) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization, or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (2) if we consummate a transaction after our initial business combination which results in our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own our common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.

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

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

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In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

         the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

         the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

         it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

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

Individual

 

Entity

 

Entity’s Business

 

Affiliation

Daniel J. Hennessy

 

Blue Bird Corporation

 

school bus manufacturer

 

Director

 

 

Daseke, Inc.

 

trucking

 

Director

 

 

Hennessy Capital LLC

 

investments

 

Managing Member

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Charlton

 

River Hollow Partners

 

private equity

 

Managing Partner

 

 

Daseke, Inc.

 

trucking

 

Director

 

 

Spirit Realty Corporation

 

real estate investment trust

 

Director

 

 

Dancing Deer Baking Company

 

branded food manufacturing and distribution

 

Director

 

 

The Addison Group

 

staffing

 

Director

 

 

Macro Energy

 

high efficiency lighting

 

Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bradley Bell

 

The Chemours Company LLC

 

chemical solutions

 

Director

 

 

MPM Holdings, Inc.

 

quartz and specialty ceramics

 

Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Burns

 

GeorgiasOwn Credit Union

 

consumer retail financial cell

 

Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Shea (1)

 

Viskase Companies

 

cellulose and fibrous casings

 

Director

 

 

Snow Phipps Group

 

private equity

 

Partner

 

 

Voltari Corporation

 

real estate

 

Director

 

 

Give and Go Prepared Foods

 

bakery

 

Director

 

 

CVR Partners LP

 

nitrogen fertilizer

 

Director

 

 

FeraDyne Outdoors LLC

 

customer care solutions

 

Director

 

 

Teasedale Foods

 

Hispanic food manufacturer

 

Director

 

 

OMERS Private Equity

 

private equity

 

Advisor

James F. O’Neil III

 

Western Commerce Group

 

investments

 

Partner

 

 

FirstEnergy Corp.

 

energy

 

Director

Daniel R. DiMicco

 

Duke Energy Corporation

 

energy

 

Director

____________

(1)       Mr. Shea, in his capacity as a private equity advisor, is required to first show his originating deals to certain private equity firms. In addition, he cannot provide due diligence assistance on the same deals that these firms are pursuing. Each such private equity firm has a dissimilar target criteria.

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Accordingly, if any of the above executive officers, directors or director nominees becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he or she has 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, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our independent directors will not be obligated to present any business combination opportunities to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

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 such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a qualified independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, assuming all stockholders are present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination, we would need only 8,437,501 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or 37.5%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 1,406,251 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or approximately 6.3%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to maintain insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will obtain a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.

These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

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Principal Stockholders

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

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

         each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns shares of our common stock; and

         all our executive officers and directors as a group.

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

The post-offering ownership percentage column below assumes that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits 843,750 founder shares, and that there are 28,125,000 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.

 

 

Number of Shares

 

Approximate Percentage of
Outstanding Common Stock

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1)

 

Beneficially Owned

 

Before
Offering

 

After
Offering

Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC (our sponsor)

 

4,500,000

 

80.0

%

 

16.0

%

Daniel J. Hennessy (2)

 

4,500,000

 

80.0

%

 

16.0

%

Kevin J. Charlton

 

500,000

 

8.9

%

 

1.8

%

Nicholas A. Petruska

 

250,000

 

4.4

%

 

*

 

Bradley Bell

 

75,000

 

1.3

%

 

*

 

Richard Burns

 

75,000

 

1.3

%

 

*

 

Peter Shea

 

75,000

 

1.3

%

 

*

 

James F. O’Neil III

 

75,000

 

1.3

%

 

*

 

Daniel R. DiMicco

 

75,000

 

1.3

%

 

*

 

All directors and executive officers as a group
(8 individuals)

 

5,625,000

 

100.0

%

 

20.0

%

____________

*          Les s than one percent.

(1)       Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014.

(2)       These shares represent the founder shares held by our sponsor. Daniel J. Hennessy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is the sole managing member of Hennessy Capital LLC, the sole managing member of our sponsor. Consequently, Mr. Hennessy may be deemed the beneficial owner of the founder shares held by our sponsor and has sole voting and dispositive control over such securities. Mr. Hennessy disclaims beneficial ownership over any securities owned by our sponsor in which he does not have any pecuniary interest.

Immediate ly after this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20.0% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions other than approval of our initial business combination.

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering. However, the holders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.

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Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 (or 8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($7,700,000 in the aggregate or $8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at $11.50 per share. The purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account pending our completion of our business combination. If we do not complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. 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. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.

Our sponsor and our executive 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 shares of common stock issued upon exercise of the private placement warrants are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreements with us to be entered into by our initial stockholders. 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 business combination, the last sale price of the common stock (x) equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor or any of its members, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; or (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability agreement; provided, however, that in any case, these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and other provisions set forth in the letter agreement between us and our initial stockholders relating to voting, the trust account and liquidation distributions, as described therein and elsewhere in this prospectus.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares and private placement warrants 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. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include such securities in other registration statements filed by us and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements.

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Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

In March 2017, our sponsor purchased 7,906,250 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Thereafter, we cancelled a portion of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). As a result of the partial cancellations, the per-share purchase price increased to approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20.0% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. In May 2017, our sponsor transferred 75,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Bell, Burns, Shea, O’Neil and DiMicco, our independent director nominees, 250,000 to Mr. Petruska, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, and 500,000 to Mr. Charlton, our President and Chief Operating Officer. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 (or 8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor will purchase these warrants. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at between $7,700,000 and $8,442,500, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by it until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

As more fully discussed in “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our executive officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement with Hennessy Capital LLC, an affiliate of our sponsor, pursuant to which we will pay a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We will also pay Messrs. Hennessy and Charlton, our Chief Executive Officer and President, respectively, monthly deferred fees of $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, all payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination. We will also pay Mr. Petruska, our Chief Financial Officer, $25,000 per month for his services following the consummation of this offering until the consummation of our initial business combination, of which 50% is payable upon the successful completion of our initial business combination.

Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 ($100,000 of which has been drawn down as of the date of this prospectus) for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2017 or the closing of this offering. This loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $750,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts.

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In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

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 stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

We will enter into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares and private placement warrants, which is described under the heading “Principal Stockholders — Registration Rights.”

Following this offering, our audit committee must review and approve any related person transaction we propose to enter into. Our audit committee charter details the policies and procedures relating to transactions that may present actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest and may raise questions as to whether such transactions are consistent with the best interest of our company and our stockholders. A summary of such policies and procedures is set forth below.

Any potential related party transaction that is brought to the audit committee’s attention will be analyzed by the audit committee, in consultation with outside counsel or members of management, as appropriate, to determine whether the transaction or relationship does, in fact, constitute a related party transaction. At its meetings, the audit committee will be provided with the details of each new, existing or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, the business purpose of the transaction and the benefits to us and to the relevant related party.

In determining whether to approve a related party transaction, the audit committee must consider, among other factors, the following factors to the extent relevant:

         whether the terms of the transaction are fair to us and on the same basis as would apply if the transaction did not involve a related party;

         whether there are business reasons for us to enter into the transaction;

         whether the transaction would impair the independence of an outside director; and

         whether the transaction would present an improper conflict of interest for any director or executive officer.

Any member of the audit committee who has an interest in the transaction under discussion must abstain from any voting regarding the transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the audit committee, participate in some or all of the audit committee’s discussions of the transaction. Upon completion of its review of the transaction, the audit committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the transaction.

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Description of Securities

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock will consist of 200,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

Units

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our common stock and one-half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles its holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. This means that only whole warrants may be exercisable at any given time by a warrantholder. For example, if a warrant holder holds one-half of one warrant, such warrant shall not be exercisable. If a warrant holder holds two half warrants, such whole warrant will be exercisable for one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A holder of an odd number of units will not be able to exercise any one-half of one warrant unless it is combined with another one-half of one warrant. Warrants must be exercised for one whole share of our common stock. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the closing of this offering unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of common stock and warrants commence separate trading and prior to the consummation of the business combination, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of common stock and warrants. In no event will the common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering which will include this audited balance sheet, which is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

Common Stock

Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 6,468,750 shares of our common stock outstanding. Our initial stockholders will own 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Upon the closing of this offering, 28,125,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 843,750 founder shares by our sponsor). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

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

In accordance with NYSE MKT corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE MKT. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial

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business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our business combination. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, assuming all stockholders are present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination, we would need only 8,437,501 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or 37.5%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 1,406,251 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or approximately 6.3%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved.

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Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus.

Founder Shares

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, and (ii) our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our business combination and (B) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within such time period. If we submit our business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, assuming all stockholders are present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination, we would need only 8,437,501 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or 37.5%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 1,406,251 of the 22,500,000 public shares, or approximately 6.3%, sold in this offering to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved.

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

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same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, (x) subsequent to our business combination, the last sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Up to 843,750 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor (or its permitted transferees) on a pro rata basis depending on the exercise of the over-allotment option.

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering. However, the holders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.

Preferred Stock

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

Redeemable Warrants

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of this offering or 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. This means that 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, such warrant will not be exercisable. If a warrant holder holds two half warrants, such whole warrant will be exercisable for one share of our common stock. A holder of an odd number of units will not be able to exercise any one-half of one warrant unless it is combined with another one-half of one 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. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, unless an exemption is available. In the event that the conditions in the immediately preceding sentence are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of common stock underlying such unit.

We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 30 days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement for the registration, under the

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Securities Act, of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so 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 or register or qualify the shares under blue sky laws.

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

         in whole and not in part;

         at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

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

         if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share 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.

If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering.

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. However, the price of the common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price (for whole shares) after the redemption notice is issued.

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, our sponsor and its permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.

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A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

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

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 common stock on account of such shares of common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) as a result of the repurchase of shares of common stock by the company if the proposed initial business combination is presented to the stockholders of the company for approval, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of common stock in respect of such event.

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

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

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of our common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were

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entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the repurchase of shares of common stock by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the stockholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of common stock, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the common stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant in order to determine and realize the option value component of the warrant. This formula is to compensate the warrant holder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrant holder exercise the warrant within 30 days of the event. The Black-Scholes model is an accepted pricing model for estimating fair market value where no quoted market price for an instrument is available.

The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement will provide that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.

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 common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of common stock. After the issuance of shares of common stock 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 stockholders.

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. As a result, warrant holders not purchasing an even number of warrants must sell any odd number of warrants in order to obtain full value from the fractional interest that will not be issued.

Private Placement Warrants

The private placement warrants (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of

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Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. 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.

If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor and permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the shares of common stock 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 common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial 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. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, in which case we will effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock 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 stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of at least 65% of our common stock, other than provisions relating to redemption rights of our public stockholders, which will require the approval of all (100%) of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20.0% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any

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vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

         if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

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

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

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

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

         if our stockholders approve an amendment to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon such approval at a per-share price which is payable in cash and equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

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

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

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

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

         an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or

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

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

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

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

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

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors will be classified into two classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder 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 common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of the State of Delaware, the stockholder bringing such suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Special meeting of stockholders

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our CEO or by our chairman.

Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations

Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the secretary to our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90 th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the

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120 th day prior to the scheduled date of the annual meeting of stockholders. If our annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 45 days before or after such anniversary date, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received not earlier than the opening of business on the 120 th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the close of business on the 90 th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10 th day following the day on which we first publicly announce the date of the annual meeting. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice for an annual meeting. Specifically, a stockholder’s notice must include: (i) a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the annual meeting, the text of the proposal or business and the reasons for conducting such business at the annual meeting, (ii) the name and record address of such stockholder and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (iii) the class or series and number of shares of our capital stock owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and by the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (iv) a description of all arrangements or understandings between such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder, (v) any material interest of such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made in such business and (vi) a representation that such stockholder intends to appear in person or by proxy at the annual meeting to bring such business before such meeting. These notice requirements will be deemed satisfied by a stockholder as to any proposal (other than nominations) if the stockholder has notified us of such stockholder’s intention to present such proposal at an annual meeting in compliance with Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, and such stockholder has complied with the requirements of such rule for inclusion of such proposal in the proxy statement we prepare to solicit proxies for such annual meeting. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. The foregoing provisions may limit our stockholders’ ability to bring matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we will have 28,125,000 (or 32,343,750 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 22,500,000 shares (or 25,875,000 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 5,625,000 (or 6,468,750 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares and all 7,700,000 (or 8,442,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.

Rule 144

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

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

         1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 225,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 258,750 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares and private placement warrants (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrant) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Listing of Securities

We have applied to have our units listed on NYSE MKT under the symbol “HCAC.U.” We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE MKT on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date our shares of common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our shares of common stock and warrants will be listed separately on the NYSE MKT under the symbols “HCAC” and “HCAC WS,” respectively, on or promptly after their date of separation. We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE MKT on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date our shares of common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on the NYSE MKT. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE MKT.

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United States Federal Income Tax Considerations

The following discussion is a summary of the U.S. federal income tax consequences generally applicable to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Because the components of a unit are separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying common stock and warrant components of the unit, as the case may be. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of common stock and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying common stock and warrants that comprise the units). This discussion applies only to securities that are held as a capital asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.

This discussion does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors, such as:

         financial institutions;

         insurance companies;

         dealers or traders subject to a mark to market method of accounting with respect to the securities;

         persons holding the securities as part of a “straddle,” hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction;

         U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;

         partnerships or other pass through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes; and

         tax exempt entities.

If you are a partnership (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of your partners will generally depend on the status of the partners and your activities. Partnerships holding our securities and partners in such partnerships should consult their tax advisers as to the particular U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of our securities.

This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations as of the date hereof, changes to any of which subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described in this prospectus. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).

You are urged to consult your tax advisor 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 foreign jurisdiction.

Personal Holding Company Status

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

Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations,

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pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments. The PHC requirements may apply to us in the taxable year of the offering and/or future taxable years.

Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit

No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our common stock and one-half of one warrant. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one ordinary share and the warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make his or her own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult his or her tax adviser regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each share of common stock and the warrant should be the stockholder’s tax basis in such 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 one share of common stock and one–half of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the ordinary share and warrant based on their respective relative fair market values (as determined by each such unit holder based on all the relevant facts and circumstances). The separation of the share of common stock and the warrant comprising a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In the event that the separation of the share of common stock and the warrant comprising a unit is considered to be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it is possible that the holder of such unit could recognize gain or loss on such separation in a taxable exchange. In this case, such holder’s holding period in the share of common stock and warrant comprising the unit would likely commence the day following such taxable event. Each potential investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences to it in the event that the separation of a unit is considered a taxable event.

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

U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a “U.S. holder.” A U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of common stock or warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

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

         a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; or

         an estate or trust the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source.

Taxation of Distributions.  If we pay cash distributions to U.S. holders of shares of our common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in our common stock. Any remaining excess

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will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the common stock and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below.

Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder generally will constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the maximum tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then a corporation may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and non-corporate holders may be subject to tax on such dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.  Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our common stock or warrants which, in general, would include a redemption of common stock or warrants as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period, a U.S. holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the common stock or warrants. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for the common stock or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period is suspended, then non-corporate U.S. holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment, in which case any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares or warrants would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

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

Redemption of Common Stock.  In the event that a U.S. holder’s common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities — Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. holder’s common stock in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as sale of the common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions”. Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of common stock generally will be treated as a sale of the common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder,

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(ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. holder. These tests are explained more fully below.

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

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

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

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

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized because a U.S. holder may be deemed to have surrendered a portion of its warrants in a taxable transaction to pay the exercise price for the balance of warrants deemed exercised. In such event, a U.S. holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. holder’s tax basis in such warrants. In this case, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the shares of common stock received would equal the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial investment in the warrants deemed exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “— Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price of such

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warrants. A U.S. holder’s holding period for the common stock would commence on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrant.

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

Possible Constructive Distributions.  The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment to the number of such shares or to such exercise price increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock, in each case which is taxable to the U.S. holders of such shares as described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding.  In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants, unless the U.S. holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).

Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

Non U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a “Non U.S. holder.” A Non U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of common stock and warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

         a non resident alien individual, other than certain former citizens and residents of the United States subject to U.S. tax as expatriates;

         a foreign corporation; or

         an estate or trust that is not a U.S. holder;

but does not include an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition. If you are such an individual, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the sale or other disposition of a security.

Taxation of Distributions.  In general, any distributions we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E). Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the common stock, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable

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Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.

Dividends we pay to a Non-U.S. holder that are effectively connected with such Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or if a tax treaty applies are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder) will generally not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, provided such Non-U.S. holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same graduated individual or corporate rates applicable to U.S. holders. If the non-U.S. Holder is a corporation, dividends that are effectively connected income may also be subject to a “branch profits tax” at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty).

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

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

         the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder); or

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

Unless an applicable treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate).

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

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Redemption of Common Stock.  The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. holder’s common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities — Common Stock” generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. holder’s common stock, as described under “U.S. Holders — Redemption of Common Stock” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. holder will be as described above under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable.

Possible Constructive Distributions.  The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a Non-U.S. holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of shares of our common stock which is taxable to such Non-U.S. holders as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” above. A Non-U.S. holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax withholding under that section in the same manner as if such Non-U.S. holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest without any corresponding receipt of cash.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding.  In general, information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends and the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a United States person in order to avoid information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a treaty will generally satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the Internal Revenue Service.

FATCA Withholding Taxes.  Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance promulgated thereunder (commonly referred as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” or “FATCA”) generally impose withholding at a rate of 30% in certain circumstances on dividends in respect of, and, after December 31, 2018, gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of, our securities which are held by or through certain foreign financial institutions (including investment funds), unless any such institution (i) enters into, and complies with, an agreement with the IRS to report, on an annual basis, information with respect to interests in, and accounts maintained by, the institution that are owned by certain U.S. persons and by certain non-U.S. entities that are wholly or partially owned by U.S. persons and to withhold on certain payments, or (ii) if required under an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country, reports such information to its local tax authority, which will exchange such information with the U.S. authorities. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country may modify these requirements. Accordingly, the entity through which our securities are held will affect the determination of whether such withholding is required. Similarly, dividends in respect of, and, after December 31, 2018, gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of, our securities held by an investor that is a non-financial non-U.S. entity that does not qualify under certain exceptions will generally be subject to withholding at a rate of 30%, unless such entity either (i) certifies to us or the applicable withholding agent that such entity does not have any “substantial United States owners” or (ii) provides certain information regarding the entity’s “substantial United States owners,” which will in turn be provided to the U.S. Department of Treasury. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of FATCA on their investment in our securities.

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Underwriting

Under the terms and subject to the conditions contained in an underwriting agreement dated           , 2017 we have agreed to sell to the underwriters named below, for whom Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is acting as representative, the following respective numbers of units:

Underwriter

 

Number of Units

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

 

 

Stifel Nicolaus & Company

 

 

Total

 

22,500,000

The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units in the offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below.

We have granted to the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 3,375,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The option may be exercised only to cover any over-allotments of units.

The underwriters propose to offer the units initially at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selling group members at that price less a selling concession of $      per unit. The underwriters and the selling group members may allow a discount of $      per unit on sales to other broker/dealers. After the initial public offering, the underwriters may change the public offering price and concession and discount to broker/dealers.

The following table summarizes the compensation and estimated expenses we will pay:

 

 

Per Unit (1)

 

Total (1)

 

 

Without
Over-allotment

 

With
Over-allotment

 

Without
Over-allotment

 

With
Over-allotment

Underwriting Discounts and Commissions Paid by Us

 

$

0.55

 

$

0.55

 

$

15,125,000

 

$

17,393,750

____________

(1)       Includes approximately $0.33 per unit, or approximately $7.4 million (or up to approximately $8.5 million 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 in this prospectus. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only upon completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to approximately $0.33 multiplied by the number of shares of common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus.

We estimate that our out-of-pocket expenses for this offering will be approximately $750,000. We have agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel, not to exceed $25,000.

The representative has informed us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.

We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that we will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, any units, warrants, shares of our common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable for, our common stock; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement warrants, (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ over-allotment option (if any), (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement warrants and the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares, and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock (x) equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date following

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the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted transferees as described in this prospectus under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers 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.

The private placement warrants (including the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described in this prospectus under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in that respect.

We have applied to list our units on the NYSE MKT under the symbol “HCAC.U.” We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE MKT on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the common stock and warrants will be listed on NYSE MKT under the symbols “HCAC” and “HCAC WS,” respectively.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities.

The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, common stock or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.

If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we 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; and (ii) the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest shall be net of taxes payable by us and up to $500,000 of interest released to us annually for working capital purposes) to the public stockholders.

In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

         Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

         Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriters of units in excess of the number of units the underwriters are obligated to purchase, which creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of units over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing units in the open market.

         Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of units to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option. If the underwriters sell more units than could be covered by the over-allotment option, a naked short position, the position can only be closed out by buying units in the

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open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering.

         Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.

These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of our units. As a result the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the NYSE MKT or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

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

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. Credit Suisse was one of the lenders that provided debt financing to Hennessy II in connection with its initial business combination with Daseke and received customary fees in connection therewith. Stifel acted as financial advisor to Hennessy I in connection with its initial business combination with Blue Bird Corporation and to Hennessy II in connection with its initial business combination with Daseke and received customary fees in connection therewith.

In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the web sites maintained by one or more of the underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and one or more of the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The representative may agree to allocate a number of units to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.

The units are offered for sale in those jurisdictions in the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere where it is lawful to make such offers.

Each of the underwriters has represented and agreed that it has not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.

126

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 subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

European Economic Area

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

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

         to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), as permitted under the Prospectus Directive, subject to obtaining the prior consent of the relevant Dealer or Dealers nominated by the issuer for any such offer; or

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

provided that no such offer of units referred to in (a) to (c) above shall result in a requirement for us or any Dealer to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive, or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 16 of the Prospectus Directive.

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

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

We have not authorized and do not authorize the making of any offer of units through any financial intermediary on their behalf, other than offers made by the underwriters with a view to the final placement of the units as contemplated in this prospectus. Accordingly, no purchaser of the units, other than the underwriters, is authorized to make any further offer of the units on behalf of us or the underwriters.

127

Notice to Residents of France

Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units described in this prospectus has been submitted to the clearance procedures of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers or by the competent authority of another member state of the European Economic Area and notified to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units has been or will be:

         released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or

         used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of the units to the public in France.

         Such offers, sales and distributions will be made in France only:

         to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), in each case investing for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with, Article L.411-2, D.411-1, D.411-2, D.734-1, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier;

         to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or

         in a transaction that, in accordance with article L.411-2-II-1|Mbb[-or-2|Mbb[-or 3|Mbb[ of the French Code monétaire et financier and article 211-2 of the General Regulations (Règlement Général) of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, does not constitute a public offer (appel public à l’épargne).

The units may be resold directly or indirectly, only in compliance with Articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 through L.621-8-3 of the French Code monétaire et financier.

Notice to Residents of Hong Kong

The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.

Notice to Residents of Japan

The units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” shall mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.

128

Notice to Residents of 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:

         shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:

         to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than S$200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA;

         where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or

         where the transfer is by operation of law.

Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom

This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as a “relevant person”). The units are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase or otherwise acquire such units will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

129

Legal Matters

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, New York, New York, 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. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Los Angeles, California, advised the underwriters in connection with the offering of the securities.

Experts

Our financial statements, which include the balance sheet of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III as of April 4, 2017, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017, have been included in this prospectus in reliance upon the report of WithumSmith+Brown, PC, independent registered public accounting firm, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and upon the authority of WithumSmith+Brown, PC 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 reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file with the SEC at its public reference facility at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549.

You may also obtain copies of the documents at prescribed rates by writing to the Public Reference Section of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference facilities.

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Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

F-2

Financial Statements:

 

 

Balance Sheet

 

F-3

Statement of Operations

 

F-4

Statement of Stockholder’s Equity

 

F-5

Statement of Cash Flows

 

F-6

Notes to Financial Statements

 

F-7 – F-13

F-1

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholder of
Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), as of April 4, 2017, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III as of April 4, 2017, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC

New York, New York
May 30, 2017

F-2

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
BALANCE SHEET

April 4, 2017

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

Current asset – cash

 

$

25,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assets

 

$

25,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities – accrued expenses

 

$

17,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commitments and contingencies

 

 

 

 

Stockholder’s equity:

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized, none issued
or outstanding

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 29,000,000 authorized shares, 6,468,750 shares issued
and outstanding (1)

 

 

1,000

 

Additional paid-in-capital

 

 

24,000

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(17,000

)

Total stockholder’s equity

 

 

8,000

 

Total liabilities and stockholder’s equity

 

$

25,000

 

____________

(1)       Share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the forfeiture of 1,437,500 shares in May 2017 (see Note 5).

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

F-3

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

For the Period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017

Revenues

 

$

 

General and administrative expenses

 

 

17,000

 

Net loss attributable to common shares

 

$

(17,000

)

Weighted average common shares outstanding

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted (1)

 

 

5,625,000

 

Net loss per common share:

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted

 

$

(0.00

)

____________

(1)       Share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the forfeiture of 1,437,500 shares in May 2017 (see Note 5).

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

F-4

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

For the Period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017

 

 

Common Stock

 

Additional

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shares

 

Amount

 

Paid-in
Capital

 

Accumulated Deficit

 

Stockholder’s Equity

Sale of common stock to Sponsor at
$0.004 per share (1)

 

6,468,750

 

$

1,000

 

$

24,000

 

$

 

 

$

25,000

 

Net loss attributable to common shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(17,000

)

 

 

(17,000

)

Balances, April 4, 2017

 

6,468,750

 

$

1,000

 

$

24,000

 

$

(17,000

)

 

$

8,000

 

____________

(1)       Share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the forfeiture of 1,437,500 shares in May 2017 (see Note 5).

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

F-5

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the Period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017

Net loss

 

$

(17,000

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operations:

 

 

 

 

Increase in accrued expenses

 

 

17,000

 

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

 

Proceeds from sale of common stock to Sponsor

 

 

25,000

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

 

25,000

 

Increase in cash

 

 

25,000

 

Cash at beginning of period

 

 

 

Cash at end of period

 

$

25,000

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

F-6

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Organization and General:

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on January 3, 2017. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the “Securities Act,” as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”).

At April 4, 2017, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) through April 4, 2017 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Offering”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of its initial business combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Offering. The Company has selected December 31st as its fiscal year end. All dollar amounts are rounded to the nearest thousand dollars.

Sponsor and Proposed Financing:

The Company’s sponsor is Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The Company intends to finance a Business Combination with proceeds from a $225,000,000 public offering (the “Proposed Offering” — Note 3) and a $7,700,000 private placement (Note 4). Upon the closing of the Proposed Offering and the private placement, $225,000,000 (or $258,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full — Note 3) will be held in the Trust Account (discussed below).

The Trust Account:

The funds in the Trust Account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred and eighty (180) days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 which invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Funds will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below. The remaining proceeds from the Proposed Offering outside the Trust Account may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence expenses on acquisition targets and continuing general and administrative expenses.

The Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, other than the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes and up to $500,000 annually for working capital expenses, if any, none of the funds held in the Trust Account will be released until the earlier of: (i) the completion of the Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of 100% of the shares of common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering if the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (subject to the requirements of law); or (iii) the redemption of the public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its public shares if it does not complete its initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering.

Business Combination:

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Offering, although substantially all of the net proceeds of the Proposed Offering are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination with (or acquisition of) a Target Business. As used herein, “Target Business” must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the Trust Account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and up to $500,000 annually released to us for working capital) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with the Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.

F-7

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS (cont.)

The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for a Business Combination, will either (i) seek stockholder approval of the Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose in connection with which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the Business Combination, for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest but less taxes payable and up to $500,000 annually released to us for working capital, or (ii) provide stockholders with the opportunity to have their shares redeemed by the Company by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount in cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to commencement of the tender offer, including interest but less taxes payable and up to $500,000 annually released to us for working capital. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of the Business Combination or will allow stockholders to redeem their shares in a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its 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 the Company to seek stockholder approval unless a vote is required by NYSE MKT rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval, it will complete its Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. However, in no event will the Company redeem its public shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of a Business Combination. In such case, the Company would not proceed with the redemption of its public shares and the related Business Combination, and instead may search for an alternate Business Combination.

If the Company holds a stockholder vote or there is a tender offer for shares in connection with a Business Combination, a public stockholder will have the right to redeem its shares for an amount in cash equal to its pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest but less taxes payable and up to $500,000 annually released to us for working capital. As a result, such shares of common stock will be recorded at redemption amount and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Offering, in accordance with FASB ASC 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share ($225,000,000 held in the Trust Account divided by 22,500,000 public shares).

The Company will only have 24 months from the closing date of the Proposed Offering to complete its initial Business Combination. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within this period of time, it shall (i) cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible, but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares of common stock for a per share pro rata portion of the Trust Account, including interest, but less taxes payable (less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses) and up to $500,000 annually released to us for working capital and (iii) as promptly as possible following such redemption, dissolve and liquidate the balance of the Company’s net assets to its creditors and remaining stockholders, as part of its plan of dissolution and liquidation. The initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to participate in any redemption with respect to their initial shares; however, if the initial stockholders or any of the Company’s officers, directors or affiliates acquire shares of common stock in or after the Proposed Offering, they will be entitled to a pro rata share of the Trust Account upon the Company’s redemption or liquidation in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the required time period.

In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be less than the initial public offering price per Unit in the Proposed Offering.

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation:

The financial statements of the Company are presented in U.S. dollars and have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In connection with the Company’s

F-8

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (cont.)

assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASU 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern”, as of April 4, 2017, management has determined that the Company’s current liquidity including access to funds from the Sponsor entity (its sole shareholder, see Note 4) is sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed Offering or one year from the date of issuance of these financial statements.

Emerging Growth Company:

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 an accounting 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 accounting standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard.

Net Loss Per Common Share:

Net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period (after deducting 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture in connection with a Proposed Offering), plus to the extent dilutive the incremental number of shares of common stock to settle warrants, as calculated using the treasury stock method. At April 4, 2017, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted loss per common share is the same as basic loss per common share for the period.

Concentration of Credit Risk:

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which at times, may exceed the Federal depository insurance coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

Financial Instruments:

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet.

Use of Estimates:

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Deferred Offering Costs:

The Company complies with the requirements of the FASB ASC 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) Topic 5A — “Expenses of Offering”. Costs incurred in connection with preparation for the Proposed

F-9

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (cont.)

Offering, together with the underwriter discount, will be charged to capital upon completion of the Proposed Offering or charged to operations if the Proposed Offering is not completed.

Income Taxes:

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC, 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of April 4, 2017. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties at April 4, 2017. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

In August 2014, FASB issued ASU 2014-15, “Presentation of Financial Statements — Going Concern” (Subtopic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern. SU 2014-15 provides guidance on management’s responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an organization’s ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. For each reporting period, management will be required to evaluate whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about a company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the date the financial statements are issued. The amendments in ASU 2014-15 are effective for annual reporting periods ending after December 15, 2016 and for annual and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company has adopted the methodologies prescribed by ASU 2014-15 and it did not have a material effect on its financial position or results of operations. See Basis of Presentation for additional considerations.

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

Subsequent Events:

Management has evaluated subsequent events to determine if events or transactions occurring after the date of the financial statements were issued, require potential adjustment to or disclosure in the financial statements and has concluded that all such events that would require adjustment or disclosure have been recognized or disclosed.

NOTE 3 — PUBLIC OFFERING

Pursuant to the Proposed Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale up to 22,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one share of the Company’s common stock, $0.0001 par value and one half of one common stock purchase warrant (the “Warrants”). Each whole warrant offered in the Proposed Offering is exercisable to purchase one share of our common stock. Only whole warrants may be exercised. Under the terms of a proposed warrant agreement, the Company has agreed to use its best efforts to file a new registration statement under the Securities Act, following the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination.

F-10

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 3 — PUBLIC OFFERING (cont.)

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, the Company will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. Each Warrant will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering and will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. However, if the Company does not complete its initial Business Combination on or prior to the 24-month period allotted to complete the Business Combination, the Warrants will expire at the end of such period. If the Company is unable to deliver registered shares of common stock to the holder upon exercise of the Warrants during the exercise period, there will be no net cash settlement of these Warrants and the Warrants will expire worthless, unless they may be exercised on a cashless basis in the circumstances described in the warrant agreement. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants in whole and not in part at a price of $0.01 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, only in the event that the last sale price of the Company’s shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,375,000 additional Units to cover any over-allotments, at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The warrants that would be issued in connection with the over-allotment units are identical to the public warrants and have no net cash settlement provisions.

The Company expects to pay an underwriting discount of approximately 2.2% of the per Unit offering price to the underwriters at the closing of the Proposed Offering, with an additional fee (the “Deferred Discount”) of approximately 3.3% of the gross offering proceeds payable upon the Company’s completion of a Business Combination. The Deferred Discount will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event the Company completes its initial Business Combination.

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Founder Shares

During the period ended April 4, 2017, the Sponsor purchased 7,906,250 shares of common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Thereafter, the Company cancelled a portion of the Founder Shares, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 Founder Shares outstanding (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). As a result of the partial cancellations, the per-share purchase price increased to approximately $0.004 per share. In May 2017, the Sponsor transferred 1,125,000 Founder Shares to the Company’s officers and director nominees. The Founder Shares are identical to the common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering except that the Founder Shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below. The Sponsor has agreed to forfeit up to 843,750 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the initial stockholders will own 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Offering. If the Company increases or decreases the size of the Proposed Offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, the Company will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the Proposed Offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of the Company’s stockholders prior to the Proposed Offering at 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock upon the consummation of the Proposed Offering.

The Company’s initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, or earlier if, subsequent to the Company’s initial Business Combination, the last sale price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations

F-11

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (cont.)

and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Company’s initial Business Combination or (B) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after the initial Business Combination that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Private Placement Warrants

The Sponsor has agreed to purchase from the Company an aggregate of 7,700,000 warrants (or 8,442,500 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant (a purchase price of $7,700,000 or $8,442,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of the Proposed Offering (the “Private Placement Warrants”). Each Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at $11.50 per share. The purchase price of the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Offering to be held in the Trust Account pending completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination. The Private Placement Warrants (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination and they will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering. Otherwise, the Private Placement Warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the Warrants being sold as part of the Units in the Proposed Offering and have no net cash settlement provisions.

If the Company does not complete a Business Combination, then the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be part of the liquidating distribution to the public stockholders and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.

Registration Rights

The Company’s initial stockholders and holders of the Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed on or before the date of the prospectus for the Proposed Offering. The Company’s initial stockholders and holders of the Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by the Company. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. There will be no penalties associated with delays in registering the securities under the proposed registration rights agreement.

Related Party Loans

On March 31, 2017, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 by drawdowns of not less than $10,000 each against the issuance of an unsecured promissory note (the “Note”) to cover expenses related to the Proposed Offering. The Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2017 or the completion of the Proposed Offering. On April 10, 2017, the Company borrowed $50,000 under the Note, and on May 26, 2017, the Company borrowed an additional $50,000 under the Note.

Administrative Services Agreement and Other Agreements

The Company has agreed to pay $15,000 a month for office space, administrative services and secretarial support to an affiliate of the Sponsor, Hennessy Capital LLC. Services will commence on the date the securities are first listed on the NYSE MKT and will terminate upon the earlier of the consummation by the Company of an initial Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company.

F-12

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (cont.)

The Company has agreed to compensate its Chief Executive Officer and its President and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, with monthly deferred fees of $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, commencing upon the consummation of the Proposed Offering until the Company’s initial Business Combination to be paid in cash upon the successful completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company has also agreed to compensate its Chief Financial Officer $25,000 per month prior to the consummation of the Company’s initial business combination, of which 50% is payable upon the successful completion of the Company’s initial business combination for his services.

NOTE 5 — STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

Common Stock

The authorized common stock of the Company includes up to 29,000,000 shares. The Company intends to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 29,000,000 shares to 200,000,000 shares, by amending the Company’s certificate of incorporation on or prior to the effective date of the registration statement associated with the Proposed Offering. Holders of the Company’s common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock. At April 4, 2017, there were 6,468,750 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, 843,750 of which were forfeitable as described in Note 4. Subsequent to April 4, 2017, in May 2017, the Sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 Founder Shares resulting in a reduction in the aggregate outstanding shares from 7,906,250 shares to 6,468,750 shares. The May 2017 forfeiture has been reflected retroactively as though it had occurred at April 4, 2017.

Preferred Stock

The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. At April 4, 2017, there were no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

F-13

 

Part II

Information not Required in Prospectus

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:

Legal fees and expenses

 

$

300,000

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

45,000

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

37,500

SEC Expenses

 

 

30,000

FINRA Expenses

 

 

46,213

Travel and road show

 

 

20,000

Directors and officers insurance

 

 

125,000

NYSE MKT listing and filing fees

 

 

75,000

Miscellaneous expenses

 

 

71,287

Total offering expenses

 

$

750,000

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”).

Section 145 of the DGCL concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

(a)       A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

(b)       A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of

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Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

(c)       To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

(d)      Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

(e)       Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

(f)       The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

(g)      A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

(h)       For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

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(i)        For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

(j)        The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

(k)       The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a

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proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.

The right to indemnification conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other than those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our bylaws include provisions relating to the advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

We will enter into indemnity agreements with each of our officers and directors, a form of which is to be filed as an exhibit to this registration statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

Pursuant to the underwriting agreement to be filed as an exhibit to this registration statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriters and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

On March 31, 2017, Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, our sponsor, purchased an aggregate of 7,906,250 shares of our common stock, for an aggregate offering price of $25,000 at an average purchase price of approximately $0.003 per share. Thereafter, we cancelled a portion of the founder shares, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). As a result of the partial cancellations, the per-share purchase price increased to approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20.0% of the outstanding shares

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upon completion of this offering. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act.

In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase from us an aggregate of 7,700,000 private placement warrants (or 8,442,500 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at $1.00 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $7,700,000, or $8,442,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of this offering. This issuance will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

(a) Exhibits.  The list of exhibits following the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference.

(b) Financial Statements.  See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.

Item 17. Undertakings.

(a)       The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

(b)      Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

(c)       The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

(1)       For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

(2)       For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3)       For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or

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prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.

(4)       For the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

(i)        Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

(ii)       Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by an undersigned registrant;

(iii)      The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

(iv)      Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

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Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on the 30 th day of May, 2017.

 

 

 

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Daniel J. Hennessy

 

 

 

 

Daniel J. Hennessy
Chief Executive Officer

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Daniel J. Hennessy his true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution and resubstitution for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any and all amendments including post-effective amendments to this registration statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the SEC, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact or his substitute, each acting alone, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Name

 

Position

 

Date

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ Daniel J. Hennessy

 

Chairman of the Board of Directors and

 

May 30, 2017

Daniel J. Hennessy

 

Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ Nicholas A. Petruska

 

Executive Vice President, Chief

 

May 30, 2017

Nicholas A. Petruska

 

Financial Officer and Secretary

 

 

 

 

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

 

 

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Exhibit Index

Exhibit No.

 

Description

1.1

 

Form of Underwriting Agreement.

3.1

 

Certificate of Incorporation.

3.2

 

Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.

3.3

 

Bylaws.

4.1

 

Specimen Unit Certificate.

4.2

 

Specimen Common Stock Certificate.

4.3

 

Specimen Warrant Certificate.

4.4

 

Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.

5.1

 

Opinion of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP.

10.1

 

Promissory Note, dated March 31, 2017 issued to Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC.

10.2

 

Form of Letter Agreement between the Registrant and its officers, directors and security holders.

10.3

 

Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.

10.4

 

Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the Registrant and certain security holders.

10.5

 

Securities Subscription Agreement, dated March 31, 2017, between the Registrant and Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC.

10.6

 

Second Amended and Restated Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement dated May 26, 2017 between the Registrant and Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC.

10.7

 

Form of Indemnity Agreement.

10.8

 

Form of Administrative Services Agreement between the Registrant and Hennessy Capital LLC.

14

 

Form of Code of Ethics.

23.1

 

Consent of WithumSmith+Brown, PC.

23.2

 

Consent of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP (included on Exhibit 5.1).

24

 

Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this Registration Statement).

99.1

 

Form of Audit Committee Charter.

99.2

 

Form of Compensation Committee Charter.

99.3

 

Consent of Kevin M. Charlton.

99.4

 

Consent of Bradley Bell.

99.5

 

Consent of Peter Shea.

99.6

 

Consent of Richard Burns.

99.7

 

Consent of James F. O’Neil III.

99.8

 

Consent of Daniel R. DiMicco.

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Exhibit 1.1

 

 

 

 

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

 

22,500,000 Units

 

 

($10.00 per Unit)

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

 

 

[●], 2017

 

 

 

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

[●], 2017

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

     as Representative of the several Underwriters

     listed in Schedule A hereto

 

c/o Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

Eleven Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10010-3629

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), proposes to issue and sell to the underwriters named in Schedule A annexed hereto (the “ Underwriters ”), for whom Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (“ Credit Suisse ”) is acting as the representative (the “ Representative ”), an aggregate of 22,500,000 units (the “ Firm Units ”), each Unit consisting of one share of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “ Common Stock ”), of the Company and one-half of one warrant (the “ Public Warrants ”). In addition, solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, the Company proposes to grant to the Underwriters the option to purchase from the Company up to an additional 3,375,000 Units (the “ Additional Units ”). The Firm Units and the Additional Units are hereinafter collectively sometimes referred to as the “ Units .” The Units are described in the Prospectus which is referred to below.

 

The shares of Common Stock and Warrants (as defined below) included in the Units will not trade separately until the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus (unless Credit Suisse informs the Company of its decision to allow earlier separate trading), subject to (a) the Company’s preparation of an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the offering of the Units, (b) the filing of such audited balance sheet with the Commission on a Form 8-K or similar form by the Company that includes such audited balance sheet, and (c) the Company having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Each whole Public Warrant entitles its holder, upon exercise, to purchase one share of Common Stock for $11.50 per share during the period commencing on the later of thirty (30) days after the completion of an initial Business Combination (as defined below) or twelve (12) months from the date of the initial public offering contemplated by this Agreement (the “ Offering ”) and terminating on the five-year anniversary of the date of the completion of such initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation; provided, however, that pursuant to the Warrant Agreement (as defined below), a fractional warrant may not be exercised, so that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a holder thereof. As used herein, the term “ Business Combination ” (as described more fully in the Registration Statement (as defined below)) shall mean a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

 

The Company has prepared and filed, in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “ Act ”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-[●]) under the Act, including a prospectus, relating to the Units.

 

 

 

 

Except where the context otherwise requires, “ Registration Statement ,” as used herein, means the registration statement, as amended, at the time of such registration statement’s effectiveness for purposes of Section 11 of the Act, as such section applies to the respective Underwriters (the “ Effective Time ”), including (i) all documents filed as a part thereof, (ii) any information contained in a prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act, to the extent such information is deemed, pursuant to Rule 430A or Rule 430C under the Act, to be part of the registration statement at the Effective Time, and (iii) any registration statement filed to register the offer and sale of Units pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Act.

 

Except where the context otherwise requires, “ Prospectus ,” as used herein, means the prospectus, relating to the Units, filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act on or before the second business day after the date hereof (or such earlier time as may be required under the Act), or, if no such filing is required, the final prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time it became effective under the Act, in each case in the form furnished by the Company to the Representative for use by the Underwriters and by dealers in connection with the offering of the Units.

 

The Company has entered into an Investment Management Trust Agreement, effective as of [●], 2017, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“ CST ”), as trustee, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Registration Statement (the “ Trust Agreement ”), pursuant to which the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below) and certain proceeds of the Offering will be deposited and held in a trust account (the “ Trust Account ”) for the benefit of the Company, the Underwriters and the holders of the Firm Units and the Additional Units, if and when issued.

 

The Company has entered into a Warrant Agreement, effective as of [●], 2017, with respect to the Warrants (as defined below) with CST, as warrant agent, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Registration Statement (the “ Warrant Agreement ”), pursuant to which CST will act as warrant agent in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption, and exercise of the Warrants.

 

The Company has entered into a Securities Subscription Agreement, dated as of March 31, 2017 (the “ Subscription Agreement ”), with Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,906,250 shares of Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share (the “ Founder Shares ”). The Founder Shares are substantially similar to the Common Stock included in the Units except as described in the Prospectus.

 

The Sponsor has entered into a Securities Assignment Agreement, dated as of [●], 2017 (the “ Securities Assignment Agreement ”), with Bradley Bell, Richard Burns, Peter Shea, James F. O’Neil III, Daniel R. DiMicco, Nicholas A. Petruska and Kevin M. Charlton, each an individual, pursuant to which the Sponsor assigned 75,000 Founder Shares to each of Messrs. Bell, Burns, Shea, O’Neil and DiMicco and 250,000 Founder Shares to Mr. Petruska and 500,000 Founder Shares to Mr. Charlton. None of these Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture in the event the Over-Allotment Option (as defined below) is not exercised.

 

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The Company has entered into a Second Amended and Restated Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated as of May 26, 2017 (the “ Warrant Subscription Agreement ”), with the Sponsor, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 warrants (or up to 8,442,500 warrants depending on the extent to which the Over-Allotment Option is exercised in full), each entitling the holder to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share) (the “ Private Placement Warrants ” and, together with the Public Warrants, the “ Warrants ”). The Private Placement Warrants are substantially similar to the Public Warrants except as described in the Prospectus.

 

The Company has entered into a Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of [●], 2017, with the Sponsor and the other parties thereto, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the Registration Statement (the “ Registration Rights Agreement ”), pursuant to which the Company has granted certain registration rights in respect of the Founder Shares, the Private Placement Warrants and any shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any such Private Placement Warrants.

 

The Company has entered into an agreement, dated [●], 2017, with the Sponsor and each of the Company’s officers, directors and security holders prior to the Offering, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement (collectively, the “ Insider Letters ”).

 

The Company has entered into an Administrative Services Agreement, dated as of [●], 2017, with Hennessy Capital LLC, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Registration Statement (the “ Administrative Services Agreement ”), pursuant to which the Company will pay to Hennessy Capital LLC an aggregate monthly fee of $[●] for certain office space, utilities and secretarial support.

 

Preliminary Prospectus ,” as used herein, means, as of any time, the prospectus relating to the Units that is included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to that time.

 

Exempt Written Communication ,” as used herein, means each written communication, if any, by the Company or any person authorized to act on behalf of the Company made to one or more qualified institutional buyers (“ QIBs ”) as such term is defined in Rule 144A under the Act and/or one or more institutions that are accredited investors (“ IAIs ”), as defined in Rule 501(a) under the Act to determine whether such investors might have an interest in a contemplated securities offering.

 

Exempt Oral Communication ,” as used herein, means each oral communication made prior to the filing of the Registration Statement by the Company or any person authorized to act on behalf of the Company made to one or more QIBs and/or one or more IAIs to determine whether such investors might have an interest in a contemplated securities offering.

 

Permitted Exempt Written Communication ,” as used herein, means the documents listed on Schedule B attached hereto.

 

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Covered Exempt Written Communication ,” as used herein, means (i) each Exempt Written Communication that is not a Permitted Exempt Written Communication and (ii) each Permitted Exempt Written Communication.

 

Disclosure Package ,” as used herein, means, collectively, the Preliminary Prospectus, together with the pricing information set forth on Schedule B attached hereto.

 

Applicable Time ”, as used herein, means [●] [A.M./P.M.], New York City time, on [●], 2017.

 

As used in this Agreement, “ business day ” shall mean a day on which the New York Stock Exchange (the “ NYSE ”) is open for trading. The terms “herein,” “hereof,” “hereto,” “hereinafter” and similar terms, as used in this Agreement, shall in each case refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular section, paragraph, sentence or other subdivision of this Agreement. The term “or,” as used herein, is not exclusive.

 

The Company has prepared and filed, in accordance with Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “ Exchange Act ”), a registration statement (as amended, the “ Exchange Act Registration Statement ”) on Form 8-A (File No. 001-[●]) under the Exchange Act to register, under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act, the classes of securities consisting of the Units, the Common Stock and the Warrants.

 

The Company and the Underwriters agree as follows:

 

1.               Sale and Purchase . Upon the basis of the representations and warranties and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to issue and sell to the respective Underwriters and each of the Underwriters, severally and not jointly, agrees to purchase from the Company the number of Firm Units set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule A attached hereto, subject to adjustment in accordance with Section 8 hereof, in each case at a purchase price of $9.78 per Unit. The Company is advised by the Representative that the Underwriters intend (i) to make a public offering of their respective portions of the Firm Units as soon after the effective date of the Registration Statement as in the Representative’s judgment is advisable and (ii) initially to offer the Firm Units upon the terms set forth in the Prospectus.

 

In addition, the Company hereby grants to the several Underwriters the option (the “ Over-Allotment Option ”) to purchase, and upon the basis of the representations and warranties and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Underwriters shall have the right to purchase, severally and not jointly, from the Company, ratably in accordance with the number of Firm Units to be purchased by each of them, all or a portion of the Additional Units as may be necessary to cover over-allotments made in connection with the offering of the Firm Units, at the same purchase price per Firm Unit to be paid by the Underwriters to the Company. The Over-Allotment Option may be exercised by Credit Suisse on behalf of the several Underwriters at any time and from time to time on or before the forty-fifth day following the date of the Prospectus, by written notice to the Company. Such notice shall set forth the aggregate number of Additional Units as to which the Over-Allotment Option is being exercised and the date and time when the Additional Units are to be delivered (any such date and time being herein referred to as an “ additional time of purchase ”); provided , however , that no additional time of purchase shall be earlier than the “time of purchase” (as defined below) nor earlier than the second business day after the date on which the Over-Allotment Option shall have been exercised nor later than the tenth business day after the date on which the Over-Allotment Option shall have been exercised. The number of Additional Units to be sold to each Underwriter shall be the number which bears the same proportion to the aggregate number of Additional Units being purchased as the number of Firm Units set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter on Schedule A hereto bears to the total number of Firm Units (subject, in each case, to such adjustment as the Representative may determine to eliminate fractional shares), subject to adjustment in accordance with Section 8 hereof.

 

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In addition to the discount from the public offering price represented by the Purchase Price set forth in the first sentence of this Section 1, the Company hereby agrees to pay to the Underwriters a deferred discount of up to $0.33 per Unit (including both Firm Units and Additional Units) purchased hereunder (the “ Deferred Discount ”), subject to Section 4(nn) herein. The Underwriters hereby agree that if no Business Combination is consummated within the time period provided in the Trust Agreement and the funds held under the Trust Agreement are distributed to the holders of the Common Stock included in the Units sold pursuant to this Agreement (the “ Public Stockholders ”), (i) the Underwriters will forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount and (ii) the trustee under the Trust Agreement is authorized to distribute the Deferred Discount to the Public Stockholders on a pro rata basis.

 

2.               Payment and Delivery . Payment of the purchase price for the Firm Units (including the Deferred Discount) shall be made to the Company by federal funds wire transfer against delivery of the certificates for the Firm Units to the Representative through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (“ DTC ”) for the respective accounts of the Underwriters. Such payment and delivery shall be made at [10:00 A.M.], New York City time, on [●], 2017 (unless another time shall be agreed to by the Representative and the Company or unless postponed in accordance with the provisions of Section 8 hereof). The time at which such payment and delivery are to be made is hereinafter sometimes called the “ time of purchase .” Electronic transfer of the Firm Units shall be made to the Representative at the time of purchase in such names and in such denominations as the Representative shall specify.

 

Payment of the purchase price for the Additional Units (including the Deferred Discount) shall be made at the additional time of purchase in the same manner and at the same office and time of day as the payment for the Firm Units. Electronic transfer of the Additional Units shall be made to the Representative at the additional time of purchase in such names and in such denominations as the Representative shall specify.

 

Deliveries of the documents described in Section 6 hereof with respect to the purchase of the Units shall be made at the offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP at 300 South Grand Avenue, Suite 3400, Los Angeles, California 90071, at 9:00 A.M., New York City time, on the date of the closing of the purchase of the Firm Units or the Additional Units, as the case may be.

 

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3.               Representations and Warranties of the Company . The Company represents and warrants to and agrees with each of the Underwriters that:

 

(a)                 the Registration Statement has heretofore become effective under the Act or, with respect to any registration statement to be filed to register the offer and sale of Units pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Act, will be filed with the Commission and become effective under the Act no later than [10:00 P.M.], New York City time, on the date of determination of the public offering price for the Units; no stop order of the Commission preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, or the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, has been issued, and no proceedings for such purpose have been instituted or, to the Company’s knowledge, are contemplated by the Commission; the Exchange Act Registration Statement has become effective as provided in Section 12 of the Exchange Act;

 

(b)                as of the Effective Time, the Registration Statement complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Act and did not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; as of the Applicable Time, the Preliminary Prospectus complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Act (including, without limitation, Section 10(a) of the Act) and the Disclosure Package did not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; the Prospectus will comply, as of its date, the time of purchase and each additional time of purchase, if any, in all material respects, with the requirements of the Act (including, without limitation, Section 10(a) of the Act) and, as of the date the Prospectus is filed with the Commission, the time of purchase and any additional time of purchase, if any, the Prospectus will not, as then amended or supplemented, include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided , however , that the Company makes no representation or warranty in this Section 3(b) with respect to any statement contained in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with information concerning an Underwriter and furnished in writing by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representative to the Company expressly for use in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus;

 

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(c)                 prior to the execution of this Agreement, the Company has not, directly or indirectly, offered or sold any Units by means of any “prospectus” (within the meaning of the Act) or used any “prospectus” (within the meaning of the Act) in connection with the offer or sale of the Units, in each case other than the Preliminary Prospectus; the Company has not, directly or indirectly, prepared, used or referred to any “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Act); the Preliminary Prospectus dated [●], 2017 is a prospectus that, other than by reason of Rule 433 or Rule 431 under the Act, satisfies the requirements of Section 10 of the Act, including a price range where required by rule; the Company is and was an “ineligible issuer” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Act) as of the eligibility determination date for purposes of Rules 164 and 433 under the Act with respect to the offering of the Units contemplated by the Registration Statement; the parties hereto agree and understand that the content of any and all “road shows” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Act), Exempt Oral Communications and Covered Exempt Written Communications related to the offering of the Units contemplated hereby are solely the property of the Company; and the Company has caused there to be made available at least one version of a “ bona fide electronic road show” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Act) in a manner that, pursuant to Rule 433(d)(8)(ii) under the Act, causes the Company not to be required, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, to file, with the Commission, any Electronic Road Show; the Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Exempt Written Communication or Exempt Oral Communication other than the Permitted Exempt Written Communications or Exempt Oral Communications with the consent of the Representative with entities that are, based on the Company’s reasonable belief, qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representative to engage in Exempt Written Communications or Exempt Oral Communications; the Company reconfirms that the Representative has been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking the Exempt Written Communications and Exempt Oral Communications. The Company has not distributed any Exempt Written Communications other than those which were contemporaneous with a live oral presentation and were not left behind or distributed in advance to the audience and were in the form provided in advance to the Representative;

 

(d)                as of the date of this Agreement, the Company qualifies as an emerging growth company (“ EGC ”), as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Act;

 

(e)                 each Permitted Exempt Written Communication, if any, did not as of its date include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

 

(f)                 t he Company has, prior to the date of the Preliminary Prospectus, furnished to the Representative a list containing the names of the recipients of all Covered Exempt Written Communications and all Exempt Oral Communications;

 

(g)                the Company has filed publicly on the Commission’s EDGAR database at least 15 calendar days prior to any “road show,” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Act) any registration statements and registration amendments relating to the offer and sale of the Units;

 

(h)                each Covered Exempt Written Communication, if any, does not as of the date hereof conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus;

 

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(i)                  as of the date of this Agreement, the Company has an authorized and outstanding capitalization as set forth in the sections of the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus entitled “Capitalization” and “Description of Securities”, and, as of the time of purchase and any additional time of purchase, as the case may be, the Company shall have an authorized and outstanding capitalization as set forth in the sections of the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus entitled “Capitalization” and “Description of Securities”, each Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus; all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock, including the Units, of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable, have been issued in compliance with all applicable securities laws and were not issued in violation of any preemptive right, resale right, right of first refusal or similar right; the Units are duly listed, and admitted and authorized for trading, subject to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution, on the NYSE MKT (the “ NYSE MKT ”);

 

(j)                  the Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with full corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, to execute and deliver this Agreement, the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Subscription Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letters and the Administrative Services Agreement and to issue, sell and deliver the Units as contemplated herein and therein;

 

(k)                the Company is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation and is in good standing in each jurisdiction where the ownership or leasing of its properties or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified and in good standing would not, individually or in the aggregate, either (i) have a material adverse effect on the business, properties, financial condition, results of operations or prospects of the Company, (ii) prevent or materially interfere with consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or (iii) prevent the Units from being accepted for listing on, or result in the delisting of Units from the NYSE MKT (the occurrence of any such effect or any such prevention or interference or any such result described in the foregoing clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) being herein referred to as a “ Material Adverse Effect ”);

 

(l)                  the Company has no subsidiaries (as defined under the Act); the Company does not own, directly or indirectly, any shares of stock or any other equity interests or long-term debt securities of any corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, association or other entity; complete and correct copies of the charters and the bylaws of the Company and all amendments thereto have been delivered to the Representative, and, except as set forth in the exhibits to the Registration Statement, no changes therein will be made on or after the date hereof through and including the time of purchase or, if later, any additional time of purchase;

 

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(m)                the Units have been duly and validly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued and free of statutory and contractual preemptive rights, resale rights, rights of first refusal and similar rights;

 

(n)                the shares of Common Stock included in the Units have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free of statutory and contractual preemptive rights, resale rights, rights of first refusal and similar rights;

 

(o)                the Warrants included in the Units, when executed, authenticated, issued and delivered in the manner set forth in the Warrant Agreement against payment for the Units by the Underwriters as provided herein, will be duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered, and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(p)                the Private Placement Warrants, when delivered upon the consummation of this offering, will be duly executed, authenticated and issued, and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(q)                the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants included in the Units and the Private Placement Warrants have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance upon exercise thereof and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; the holders of such Common Stock are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; such Common Stock is not and will not be subject to any preemptive or other similar contractual rights granted by the Company; and all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of such Common Stock (other than such execution, countersignature and delivery at the time of issuance) has been duly and validly taken;

 

(r)                  the Founder Shares have been duly authorized and are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable;

 

(s)                 the capital stock of the Company, including the Units, conforms in all material respects to each description thereof, if any, contained in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and the certificates for the Units are in due and proper form;

 

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(t)                 this Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;

 

(u)                the Trust Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(v)                the Warrant Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(w)               the Subscription Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(x)                the Warrant Subscription Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor, in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(y)               the Registration Rights Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge (after reasonable inquiry in the case of the Sponsor), the Sponsor, and each director and officer of the Company, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(z)                each of the Insider Letters has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge (after reasonable inquiry in the case of the Sponsor), the Sponsor, each such executive officer, director and director nominee of the Company, respectively, enforceable against the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge (after reasonable inquiry in the case of the Sponsor), the Sponsor, each such executive officer, director and director nominee of the Company, respectively in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

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(aa)              the Administrative Services Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability;

 

(bb)             the Company is not in breach or violation of or in default under (nor has any event occurred which, with notice, lapse of time or both, would result in any breach or violation of, constitute a default under or give the holder of any indebtedness (or a person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a part of such indebtedness under) (A) its charter or bylaws, or (B) any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, bank loan or credit agreement or other evidence of indebtedness, or any license, lease, contract or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound or affected, or (C) any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule, or (D) any rule or regulation of any self-regulatory organization or other non-governmental regulatory authority (including, without limitation, the rules and regulations of the NYSE MKT), or (E) any decree, judgment or order applicable to it or any of its properties;

 

(cc)              the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letters, the issuance and sale of the Units and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby will not, and the execution, delivery, and performance of the Subscription Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby did not, conflict with, result in any breach or violation of or constitute a default under (nor constitute any event which, with notice, lapse of time or both, would result in any breach or violation of, constitute a default under or give the holder of any indebtedness (or a person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a part of such indebtedness under) (or result in the creation or imposition of a lien, charge or encumbrance on any property or assets of the Company pursuant to) (A) the charter or bylaws of the Company, or (B) any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, bank loan or credit agreement or other evidence of indebtedness, or any license, lease, contract or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound or affected, or (C) any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule, or (D) any rule or regulation of any self-regulatory organization or other non-governmental regulatory authority (including, without limitation, the rules and regulations of the NYSE MKT), or (E) any decree, judgment or order applicable to the Company or any of its properties;

 

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(dd)             no approval, authorization, consent or order of or filing with any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority or agency, or of or with any self-regulatory organization or other non-governmental regulatory authority (including, without limitation, the NYSE MKT), or approval of the stockholders of the Company, is required in connection with the issuance and sale of the Units or in connection with the transactions contemplated in the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Subscription Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Insider Letters or the Administrative Services Agreement or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, other than (i) registration of the Units under the Act, which has been effected (or, with respect to any registration statement to be filed hereunder pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Act, will be effected in accordance herewith), (ii) any necessary qualification under the securities or blue sky laws of the various jurisdictions in which the Units are being offered by the Underwriters, (iii) under the Conduct Rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“ FINRA ”), (iv) any listing applications and related consents or any notices required by NYSE MKT in the ordinary course of the offering of the Units and (v) filings with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act;

 

(ee)               except as described in the Registration Statement (excluding the exhibits thereto), each Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, (i) no person has the right, contractual or otherwise, to cause the Company to issue or sell to it any Units or shares of any other capital stock or other equity interests of the Company, (ii) no person has any preemptive rights, resale rights, rights of first refusal or other rights to purchase any Units or shares of any other capital stock of or other equity interests in the Company and (iii) no person has the right to act as an underwriter or as a financial advisor to the Company in connection with the offer and sale of the Units; no person has the right, contractual or otherwise, to cause the Company to register under the Act any Units or shares of any other capital stock of or other equity interests in the Company or to include any such shares or interests in the Registration Statement or the offering contemplated thereby;

 

(ff)               the Company has all necessary licenses, authorizations, consents and approvals and has made all necessary filings required under any applicable law, regulation or rule, and has obtained all necessary licenses, authorizations, consents and approvals from other persons, in order to conduct its business; the Company is not in violation of, or in default under, nor has it received notice of any proceedings relating to revocation or modification of, any such license, authorization, consent or approval or any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule or any decree, order or judgment applicable to the Company, except where such violation, default, revocation or modification would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

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(gg)              there are no actions, suits, claims, investigations or proceedings pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened or contemplated to which the Company or any of its directors or officers is or would be a party or of which its properties is or would be subject at law or in equity, before or by any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority or agency, or before or by any self-regulatory organization or other non-governmental regulatory authority (including, without limitation, the NYSE MKT), except any such action, suit, claim, investigation or proceeding which, if resolved adversely to the Company, would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(hh)             WithumSmith+Brown, PC, whose report on the financial statements of the Company is included in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, are independent registered public accountants as required by the Act and by the rules of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board;

 

(ii)                the financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, together with the related notes and schedules present fairly the financial position of the Company as of the dates indicated and the results of operations, cash flows and changes in stockholders’ equity of the Company for the periods specified and have been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the Act and Exchange Act and in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“ GAAP ”) applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved; there are no financial statements (historical or pro forma) that are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that are not included as required; the Company does not have any material liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent (including any off-balance sheet obligations), not described in the Registration Statement (excluding the exhibits thereto), the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and all disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term is defined by the rules and regulations of the Commission) comply with Regulation G of the Exchange Act and Item 10 of Regulation S-K under the Act, to the extent applicable;

 

(jj)                 subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, in each case excluding any amendments or supplements to the foregoing made after the execution of this Agreement, there has not been (i) any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in the business, properties, management, financial condition or results of operations of the Company, (ii) any transaction which is material to the Company, (iii) any obligation or liability, direct or contingent (including any off-balance sheet obligations), incurred by the Company, which is material to the Company, (iv) any change in the capital stock or outstanding indebtedness of the Company or (v) any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made on the capital stock of the Company;

 

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(kk)               the Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Units and the application of the proceeds thereof, will not be, an “investment company” or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company,” as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “ Investment Company Act ”);

 

(ll)                the Company does not own any property (real or personal, excluding for the purposes of this Section 3(ll), the matters covered by Section 3(mm)); the property described in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus as being available for use by the Company is available for use thereby under a valid and enforceable agreement;

 

(mm)            the Company does not own or possess any inventions, patent applications, patents, trademarks (whether registered or unregistered), tradenames, service names, copyrights, trade secrets or other proprietary information owned or licensed by it; the Company has not infringed or is infringing the intellectual property of a third party, and the Company has not received notice of a claim by a third party to the contrary;

 

(nn)             the Company is not subject to any federal, state, local or foreign law, statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, order, decree, judgment, injunction, permit, license, authorization or other binding requirement, or common law, relating to health, safety or the protection, cleanup or restoration of the environment or natural resources, including those relating to the distribution, processing, generation, treatment, storage, disposal, transportation, other handling or release or threatened release of Hazardous Materials (“ Environmental Laws ”), and “ Hazardous Materials ” means any material (including, without limitation, pollutants, contaminants, hazardous or toxic substances or wastes) that is regulated by or may give rise to liability under any Environmental Law;

 

(oo)              all tax returns required to be filed by the Company have been timely filed (within any applicable time limit extensions permitted by the relevant tax authority), and all taxes and other assessments of a similar nature (whether imposed directly or through withholding) including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable thereto due or claimed to be due from such entities have been timely paid, other than those being contested in good faith and for which adequate reserves have been provided;

 

(pp)             other than directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, the Company does not maintain any insurance covering its operations, personnel and businesses; such directors’ and officers’ liability insurance is in full force and effect on the date hereof and will be in full force and effect at the time of purchase and each additional time of purchase, if any; the Company does not have reason to believe that it will not be able to (i) renew any such insurance as and when such insurance expires or (ii) obtain comparable coverage from similar institutions;

 

(qq)              the Company has not sent or received any communication regarding termination of, or intent not to renew, any of the contracts or agreements referred to or described in any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, or referred to or described in, or filed as an exhibit to, the Registration Statement, and no such termination or non-renewal has been threatened by the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any other party to any such contract or agreement;

 

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(rr)                solely to the extent that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission thereunder (the “ Sarbanes-Oxley Act ”) have been applicable to the Company, there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company to comply with any applicable provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Company has taken all necessary actions to ensure that it is in compliance with all provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that are in effect and with which the Company is required to comply;

 

(ss)              the Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences;

 

(tt)                the Company maintains effective “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act to the extent required by such rule); the Company is not aware of (i) any material weakness in internal control over financial reporting or (ii) any change in internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;

 

(uu)              all statistical or market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company reasonably believes to be reliable and accurate;

 

(vv)            none of the Company, the Sponsor, or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, director nominee, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company: (i) has used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity; (ii) has made any direct or indirect unlawful contribution or payment to any official of, or candidate for, or any employee of, any federal, state or foreign office from corporate funds; (iii) has made any bribe, unlawful rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment; or (iv) is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the OECD Convention on Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (“ OECD Convention ”), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “ FCPA ”) or any similar law or regulation to which the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company is subject, including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA. The Company, the Sponsor and the Company’s directors and officers, and, to the knowledge of the Company, the Company’s agents, employees and affiliates have each conducted the business of the Company and their own businesses on behalf of the Company in compliance with the FCPA and any applicable similar law or regulation and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith;

 

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(ww)           the operations of the Company and, to the knowledge of the Company after reasonable inquiry, the Sponsor and its affiliates are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the applicable money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the applicable rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “ Money Laundering Laws ”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened;

 

(xx)              neither the Company nor, to the knowledge of the Company (after reasonable inquiry in the case of the Sponsor), the Sponsor or any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company is currently subject to any sanctions administered or enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury or any other relevant sanctions authority; and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Units contemplated hereby, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds, to any joint venture partner or other person or entity for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any sanctions administered or enforced by such authorities;

 

(yy)             the Company acknowledges that, in accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act, the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients;

 

(zz)               to the knowledge of the Company (after reasonable inquiry in the case of the Sponsor), all information contained in the questionnaires (the “ Questionnaires ”) completed by the Sponsor and the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees and provided to the Underwriters is true and correct and the Company has not become aware of any information that would cause the information disclosed in the Questionnaires completed by the Sponsor or the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees to become inaccurate and incorrect;

 

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(aaa)           prior to the date hereof, the Company has not identified any acquisition target and has not, nor to its knowledge, has anyone on its behalf, initiated any substantive discussions with an entity that the Company will acquire in its initial Business Combination;

 

(bbb)          there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company to, or to the knowledge of the Company after reasonable inquiry, any of the Company’s officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable) and immediately following the Effective Time the Company and, to the knowledge of the Company after reasonable inquiry, the officers or directors of the Company, in their capacities as such, will be in compliance with, the phase-in provisions of the rules and regulations of the NYSE MKT and all other provisions of the NYSE MKT corporate governance requirements set forth in the NYSE MKT LLC Company Guide;

 

(ccc)           the issuance and sale of the Units as contemplated hereby will not cause any holder of any shares of capital stock, securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for capital stock or options, warrants or other rights to purchase capital stock or any other securities of the Company to have any right to acquire any shares of preferred stock of the Company;

 

(ddd)          except pursuant to this Agreement, the Company has not incurred any liability for any finder’s or broker’s fee or agent’s commission in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or by the Registration Statement;

 

(eee)           neither the Company nor, to the knowledge of the Company (after reasonable inquiry in the case of the Sponsor), the Sponsor nor any of their respective directors or officers, affiliates or controlling persons has taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed, or which has constituted or might reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Units; and

 

(fff)             to the Company’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, there are no affiliations or associations between (i) any member of FINRA and (ii) the Company or any of the Company’s officers, directors or 5% or greater security holders or any beneficial owner of the Company’s unregistered equity securities that were acquired at any time on or after the 180th day immediately preceding the date the Registration Statement was initially filed with the Commission, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement (excluding the exhibits thereto), the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

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In addition, any certificate signed by any officer of the Company in his capacity as an officer of the Company and delivered to any Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the offering of the Units shall be deemed to be a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter.

 

4.               Certain Covenants of the Company . The Company hereby agrees:

 

(a)                 to furnish such information as may be reasonably required and otherwise to cooperate in qualifying the Units for offering and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of such states or other jurisdictions as the Representative may designate and to maintain such qualifications in effect so long as the Representative may request for the distribution of the Units; provided , however , that the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to consent to the service of process under the laws of any such jurisdiction (except service of process with respect to the offering and sale of the Units); and to promptly advise the Representative of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Units for offer or sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose;

 

(b)                to make available to the Underwriters in New York City, as soon as practicable after this Agreement becomes effective, and thereafter from time to time to furnish to the Underwriters, as many copies of the Prospectus (or of the Prospectus as amended or supplemented if the Company shall have made any amendments or supplements thereto after the effective date of the Registration Statement) as the Underwriters may request for the purposes contemplated by the Act; in case any Underwriter is required to deliver (whether physically or through compliance with Rule 172 under the Act or any similar rule), in connection with the sale of the Units, a prospectus after the nine-month period referred to in Section 10(a)(3) of the Act, the Company will prepare, at its expense, promptly upon request such amendment or amendments to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as may be necessary to permit compliance with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;

 

(c)                if, at the time this Agreement is executed and delivered, it is necessary or appropriate for a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, or a Registration Statement under Rule 462(b) under the Act, to be filed with the Commission and become effective before the Units may be sold, the Company will use its best efforts to cause such post-effective amendment or such Registration Statement to be filed and become effective, and will pay any applicable fees in accordance with the Act, as soon as possible; and the Company will advise the Representative promptly and, if requested by the Representative, will confirm such advice in writing, (i) when such post-effective amendment or such Registration Statement has become effective, and (ii) if Rule 430A under the Act is used, when the Prospectus is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act (which the Company agrees to file in a timely manner in accordance with such Rules);

 

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(d)                for so long as a prospectus is required by the Act to be delivered (whether physically or through compliance with Rule 172 under the Act or any similar rule) to notify the Representative immediately upon an event that causes the Company to no longer qualify as an EGC;

 

(e)                 to advise the Representative promptly, confirming such advice in writing, of any request by the Commission for amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Exchange Act Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or for additional information with respect thereto, or of notice of institution of proceedings for, or the entry of a stop order, suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement and, if the Commission should enter a stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, to use its best efforts to obtain the lifting or removal of such order as soon as possible; to advise the Representative promptly of any proposal to amend or supplement the Registration Statement or the Exchange Act Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, and to provide the Representative and the Underwriters’ counsel copies of any such documents for review and comment a reasonable amount of time prior to any proposed filing and to file no such amendment or supplement to which the Representative shall object in writing;

 

(f)                 subject to Section 4(e) hereof, to file promptly all reports and documents and any preliminary or definitive proxy or information statement required to be filed by the Company with the Commission in order to comply with the Exchange Act for so long as a prospectus is required by the Act to be delivered (whether physically or through compliance with Rule 172 under the Act or any similar rule) in connection with any sale of Units; and to provide the Representative, for the Representative’s review and comment, with a copy of such reports and statements and other documents to be filed by the Company pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during such period a reasonable amount of time prior to any proposed filing, and to file no such report, statement or document to which the Representative shall have objected in writing; and to promptly notify the Representative of such filing;

 

(g)                 to advise the Underwriters promptly of the happening of any event within the period during which a prospectus is required by the Act to be delivered (whether physically or through compliance with Rule 172 under the Act or any similar rule) in connection with any sale of Units, which event could require the making of any change in the Prospectus then being used so that the Prospectus would not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading, and to advise the Underwriters promptly if, during such period, it shall become necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus to cause the Prospectus to comply with the requirements of the Act, and, in each case, during such time, subject to Section 4(e) hereof, to prepare and furnish, at the Company’s expense, to the Underwriters promptly such amendments or supplements to such Prospectus as may be necessary to reflect any such change or to effect such compliance;

 

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(h)                 to make generally available (within the meaning of Rule 158 under the Act) to its security holders, and, if not available on the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System (“ EDGAR ”), to deliver to the Representative, an earnings statement of the Company (which will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act) covering a period of twelve months beginning after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Act) as soon as is reasonably practicable after the termination of such twelve-month period but in any case not later than the date determined in accordance with the provisions of the last paragraph of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158(c) thereunder;

 

(i)                  to furnish to the Representative two (2) copies of the Registration Statement, as initially filed with the Commission, and of all amendments thereto (including all exhibits thereto) and sufficient copies of the foregoing (other than exhibits) for distribution to each of the other Underwriters;

 

(j)                 if requested by the Representative, to furnish to the Representative as early as practicable prior to the time of purchase and any additional time of purchase, as the case may be, but not later than two business days prior thereto, a copy of the latest available unaudited interim and monthly consolidated financial statements, if any, of the Company which have been read by the Company’s independent registered public accountants, as stated in their letter to be furnished pursuant to Section 6(b) hereof, provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to furnish any materials pursuant to this clause if such materials are available via EDGAR;

 

(k)                to apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Units in the manner set forth under the caption “Use of Proceeds” in the Prospectus and to file such reports with the Commission with respect to the sale of the Units and the application of the proceeds therefrom as may be required by Rule 463 under the Act;

 

(l)                  to pay all costs, expenses, fees and taxes in connection with (i) the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, and the printing and furnishing of copies of each thereof to the Underwriters and to dealers (including costs of mailing and shipment), (ii) the registration, issue, sale and delivery of the Units including any stock or transfer taxes and stamp or similar duties payable upon the sale, issuance or delivery of the Units to the Underwriters, (iii) the producing, word processing and/or printing of this Agreement, any dealer agreements and any closing documents (including compilations thereof) and the reproduction and/or printing and furnishing of copies of each thereof to the Underwriters and (except closing documents) to dealers (including costs of mailing and shipment, (iv) the qualification of the Units for offering and sale under state or foreign laws and the determination of their eligibility for investment under state or foreign law (including the legal fees and filing fees and other disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters) and the printing and furnishing of copies of any blue sky surveys or legal investment surveys to the Underwriters and to dealers, (v) any listing of the Units on any securities exchange or qualification of the Units for listing on the NYSE MKT and any registration thereof under the Exchange Act, (vi) any filing for review of the public offering of the Units by FINRA, including the legal fees (not to exceed $25,000) and filing fees and other disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters relating to FINRA matters, (vii) the fees and disbursements of any transfer agent or registrar for the Units, (viii) the costs and expenses of the Company relating to presentations or meetings undertaken in connection with the marketing of the offering and sale of the Units to prospective investors and the Underwriters’ sales forces, including, without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations, travel, lodging and other expenses incurred by the officers of the Company and any such consultants, and the cost of any pre-approved aircraft chartered in connection with the road show, the costs of all Exempt Oral Communications and Covered Exempt Written Communications, (ix) the costs and expenses of qualifying the Units for inclusion in the book-entry settlement system of the DTC, (x) the preparation and filing of the Exchange Act Registration Statement, including any amendments thereto, and (xi) the performance of the Company’s other obligations hereunder;

 

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(m)               beginning on the date hereof and ending on, and including, the date that is 180 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “ Lock-Up Period ”), without the prior written consent of Credit Suisse, not to (i) issue, sell, offer to sell, contract or agree to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agree to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder, with respect to, any Unit or any other securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Units, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, or any warrants or other rights to purchase, the foregoing, (ii) file or cause to become effective a registration statement under the Act relating to the offer and sale of any Unit or any other securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Units, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, or any warrants or other rights to purchase, the foregoing, (iii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of Units or any other securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Units, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for, or any warrants or other rights to purchase, the foregoing, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of Units or such other securities, in cash or otherwise or (iv) publicly announce an intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (i), (ii) or (iii), except, in each case, that the Company may (a) issue and sell the Private Placement Warrants, (b) issue and sell the Additional Units on exercise of the option provided for in Section 1 hereof, (c) register with the Commission pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, in accordance with the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, the resale of the Founder Shares and the Warrants and Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and (d) issue securities in connection with a Business Combination;

 

(n)                at least one business day prior to the time of purchase, if the Sponsor shall have caused the purchase price for the Private Placement Warrants to be wired to the Company, the Company shall direct the trustee under the Trust Agreement to deposit such funds into the Trust Account and to hold such funds in escrow therein;

 

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(o)                prior to the time of purchase or any additional time of purchase, as the case may be, to provide the Representative with reasonable advance notice of and opportunity to comment on any press release or other communication directly or indirectly and hold no press conferences with respect to the Company, the financial condition, results of operations, business, properties, assets, or liabilities of the Company, or the offering of the Units, and to issue no such press release or communications or hold such press conference without the Representative’s prior consent;

 

(p)                not, at any time at or after the execution of this Agreement, to, directly or indirectly, offer or sell any Units by means of any “prospectus” (within the meaning of the Act), or use any “prospectus” (within the meaning of the Act) in connection with the offer or sale of the Units, in each case other than the Prospectus;

 

(q)                 not to take, directly or indirectly, any action designed, or which will constitute, or has constituted, or might reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Units;

 

(r)                  to use its best efforts to cause the Units, including the shares of Common Stock and the Public Warrants, to be listed on the NYSE MKT and to maintain the listing of the Units, including the Common Stock and the Public Warrants, on the NYSE MKT;

 

(s)                 for a period commencing at the Effective Time and ending at least five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company will use its best efforts to maintain the registration of the Units, Common Stock and Warrants under the provisions of the Exchange Act, except, in the case of the Units, after the completion of a Business Combination; the Company will not deregister the Units, Common Stock or Warrants under the Exchange Act (except, in the case of the Units, after the completion of a Business Combination) without the prior written consent of the Representative; “ Liquidation ” means the distributions of the Trust Account to the Public Stockholders in connection with the redemption of shares of Common Stock held by the Public Stockholders pursuant to the terms of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination;

 

(t)                  the Company shall, on the date hereof, retain its independent registered public accounting firm to audit the balance sheet of the Company as of the time of purchase (the “ Audited Balance Sheet ”) reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the Offering at the time of purchase; as soon as the Audited Balance Sheet becomes available, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four business days after the time of purchase, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which Report shall contain the Company’s Audited Balance Sheet; additionally, upon the Company’s receipt of the proceeds from the exercise of all or any portion of the Over-Allotment Option provided for in Section 1 hereof, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four business days after the receipt of such proceeds, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which report shall disclose the Company’s sale of the Additional Units and its receipt of the proceeds therefrom;

 

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(u)                for a period commencing on the Effective Time and ending at least five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the Common Stock and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company, at its expense, shall cause its regularly engaged independent registered public accounting firm to review (but not audit) the Company’s financial statements for each of the first three fiscal quarters prior to the announcement of quarterly financial information, the filing of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the mailing, if any, of quarterly financial information to stockholders;

 

(v)                for a period commencing at the Effective Time and ending at least five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company shall, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from either Representative, furnish to the Representative copies of such financial statements and other periodic and special reports as the Company from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any class of securities, and promptly furnish to the Representative: (i) a copy of such registration statements, financial statements and periodic and special reports as the Company shall be required to file with the Commission and from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any such class of its securities; and (ii) such additional documents and information with respect to the Company and the affairs of any future subsidiaries of the Company as either Underwriter may from time to time reasonably request, all subject to the execution of a satisfactory confidentiality agreement;

 

(w)              for a period commencing at the Effective Time and ending at least five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the Common Stock and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company shall retain a warrant agent;

 

(x)                in no event will the amounts payable by the Company for office space and secretarial and administrative services exceed $15,000 per month in the aggregate until the earlier of the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or the Liquidation occurs;

 

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(y)                the Company will not consummate a Business Combination with any entity that is affiliated with the Sponsor or any of the Company’s officers or directors unless it obtains an opinion from a qualified independent accounting firm or an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA that such Business Combination is fair to the Company’s stockholders from a financial point of view; other than as set forth in this subsection, the Company shall not pay the Sponsor or its affiliates or any of the Company’s executive officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates any fees or compensation for services rendered to the Company prior to, or in connection with, the consummation of a Business Combination; provided , however , that such officers, directors and affiliates (i) may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them related to identifying, investigating and consummating a Business Combination to the extent that such expenses do not exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the Trust Account; (ii) may be repaid for loans as described in the Registration Statement; (iii) may be paid $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement; (iv) solely in the case of the Chief Financial Officer, may receive a payment of $25,000 per month following consummation of the Offering until the consummation of a Business Combination, of which 50% is payable upon successful completion of a Business Combination for such officer’s services; (v) solely in the case of the Chief Executive Officer, may receive monthly deferred fees of $100,000, payable upon successful completion of a Business Combination for such officer’s services; and (vi) solely in the case of the President, may receive monthly deferred fees of $50,000, payable upon successful completion of a Business Combination for such officer’s services;

 

(z)                 for a period of 90 days following the Effective Time, in the event any person or entity (regardless of any FINRA affiliation or association) is engaged to assist the Company in its search for a merger candidate or to provide any other merger and acquisition services, or has provided or will provide any investment banking, financial, advisory and/or consulting services to the Company, the Company agrees that it shall promptly provide to FINRA (via a FINRA submission), the Representative and counsel for the Underwriters a notification prior to entering into the agreement or transaction relating to a potential Business Combination: (i) the identity of the person or entity providing any such services; (ii) complete details of all such services and copies of all agreements governing such services prior to entering into the agreement or transaction; and (iii) justification as to why the value received by any person or entity for such services is not underwriting compensation for the Offering; the Company also agrees that proper disclosure of such arrangement or potential arrangement will be made in the tender offer materials or proxy statement, as applicable, which the Company may file in connection with the Business Combination for purposes of offering redemption of shares held by its stockholders or for soliciting stockholder approval, as applicable;

 

(aa)              the Company shall advise FINRA, the Representative and counsel for the Underwriters if the Company is aware that any 5% or greater stockholder of the Company becomes an affiliate or associated person of a member of FINRA participating in the distribution of the Company’s securities;

 

(bb)             the Company shall cause the proceeds of the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to be held in the Trust Account to be invested only in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act as set forth in the Trust Agreement and disclosed in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus; the Company will otherwise conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become subject to the Investment Company Act; furthermore, once the Company consummates a Business Combination, it will not be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act;

 

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(cc)              during the period prior to the Company’s initial Business Combination or the Liquidation occurs, the Company may instruct the trustee under the Trust Agreement to release from the Trust Account, solely from interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account, the amounts necessary to pay taxes and fund working capital (which amounts for working capital shall not exceed $500,000 annually) of the Company; otherwise, all funds held in the Trust Account (including any interest income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and working capital released to the Company (which amounts for working capital shall not exceed $500,000 annually))) will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination or the Liquidation; provided, however, that in the event of the Liquidation, up to $100,000 of interest income may be released to the Company if the proceeds of the Offering held outside of the Trust Account are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing the Company’s plan of dissolution;

 

(dd)              the Company will reserve and keep available the maximum number of its authorized but unissued securities that are issuable upon exercise of any of the Warrants outstanding from time to time;

 

(ee)              prior to the consummation of a Business Combination or the Liquidation, the Company shall not issue any shares of Common Stock, Warrants or any options or other securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, or any shares of preferred stock, in each case, that participate in any manner in the Trust Account or that vote as a class with the Common Stock on a Business Combination;

 

(ff)               the Company’s independent directors will review on a quarterly basis all payments made to the Sponsor, to the Company’s officers or directors, or to the Company’s or any of such other persons’ respective affiliates;

 

(gg)               the Company agrees that it will use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the Company from becoming subject to Rule 419 under the Act prior to the consummation of any Business Combination, including, but not limited to, using its best efforts to prevent any of the Company’s outstanding securities from being deemed to be a “penny stock” as defined in Rule 3a-51-1 under the Exchange Act during such period;

 

(hh)              to the extent required by Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act, the Company will maintain “ disclosure controls and procedures ” (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) and a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary in order to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences;

 

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(ii)                as soon as legally required to do so, the Company and its directors and officers, in their capacities as such, shall take all actions necessary to comply with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications, and to comply with the rules and regulations of the NYSE MKT;

 

(jj)                the Company shall not take any action or omit to take any action that would cause the Company to be in breach or violation of its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, or its Bylaws, as amended;

 

(kk)              the Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than its independent auditors), prospective target businesses, lenders or other entities with which it does business enter into agreements waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Stockholders;

 

(ll)                the Company may consummate the initial Business Combination and conduct redemptions of shares of Common Stock for cash upon consummation of such Business Combination without a stockholder vote pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, including the filing of tender offer documents with the Commission; such tender offer documents will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under the Commission’s proxy rules and will provide each stockholder of the Company with the opportunity prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination to redeem the shares of Common Stock held by such stockholder for an amount of cash equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account representing (x) the net proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (y) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and working capital released to the Company (which amounts for working capital shall not exceed $500,000 annually)), divided by (B) the total number of shares of Common Stock sold as part of the Units in the Offering (the “ Public Shares ”) then outstanding; if, however, the Company elects not to file such tender offer documents, a stockholder vote is required by law in connection with the initial Business Combination, or the Company decides to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will submit such Business Combination to the Company’s stockholders for their approval (“ Business Combination Vote ”); with respect to the initial Business Combination Vote, if any, the Sponsor and each of the Company’s directors and officers party to an Insider Letter has agreed to vote all of their respective Founder Shares and any other shares of Common Stock purchased during or after the Offering in favor of the Company’s initial Business Combination; if the Company seeks stockholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company will offer to each Public Stockholder the right to have its shares of Common Stock redeemed in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules of the Commission at a per share redemption price (the “ Redemption Price ”) equal to (I) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account representing (1) the net proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (2) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and working capital released to the Company (which amounts for working capital shall not exceed $500,000 annually)), divided by (II) the total number of Public Shares then outstanding; if the Company seeks stockholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company may proceed with such Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares voted by the stockholders at a duly-held stockholders meeting are voted to approve such Business Combination; if, after seeking and receiving such stockholder approval, the Company elects to so proceed, it will redeem shares of Common Stock, at the Redemption Price, from those Public Stockholders who affirmatively requested such redemption; only Public Stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights, in accordance with the applicable tender offer or proxy materials related to such Business Combination, shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account in connection with an initial Business Combination, and the Company shall pay no distributions with respect to any other holders or shares of capital stock of the Company in connection therewith; in the event that the Company does not effect a Business Combination by twenty-four (24) months from the closing of the Offering, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten (10) business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and working capital (which amounts for working capital shall not exceed $500,000 annually) released to the Company and less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish the Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and subject to the requirement that any refund of income taxes in excess of $100,000 that were paid from the Trust Account that is received after the redemption shall be distributed to the former Public Stockholders, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law; only Public Stockholders shall be entitled to receive such redemption amounts and the Company shall pay no such redemption amounts or any distributions in liquidation with respect to any other shares of capital stock of the Company; the Company will not propose any amendment to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Shares if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination within twenty-four (24) months from the closing of the Offering, as described in Section 9.2(d) of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, unless the Company offers the right to redeem the Public Shares in connection with such amendment;

 

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(mm)            in the event that the Company desires or is required by an applicable law or regulation to cause an announcement (“ Business Combination Announcement ”) to be placed in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or any other news or media publication or outlet or to be made via a public filing with the Commission announcing the consummation of the Business Combination that indicates that the Underwriters were the underwriters in the Offering, the Company shall supply the Representative with a draft of the Business Combination Announcement and provide the Representative with a reasonable advance opportunity to comment thereon, subject to the agreement of the Underwriters to keep confidential such draft announcement in accordance with such Underwriter’s standard policies regarding confidential information;

 

(nn)             upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination, the Company will pay to the Underwriters the Deferred Discount pro rata based on the number of Firm Units set forth opposite the name of each Underwriter in Schedule A attached hereto; payment of the Deferred Discount will be made out of the proceeds of this Offering held in the Trust Account; the Underwriters shall have no claim to payment of any interest earned on the portion of the proceeds held in the Trust Account representing the Deferred Discount; if the Company fails to consummate its initial Business Combination within twenty-four (24) months from the closing of the Offering, the Deferred Discount will not be paid to the Underwriters and will, instead, be included in the Liquidation distribution of the proceeds held in the Trust Account made to the Public Stockholders; in connection with any such Liquidation, the Underwriters forfeit any rights or claims to the Deferred Discount;

 

(oo)              for so long as the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13(g) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, to maintain a transfer agent and, if necessary under the jurisdiction of incorporation of the Company, a registrar for the Common Stock; and

 

(pp)             to announce the Underwriters’ intention to release any director or “officer” (within the meaning of Rule 16a-1(f) under the Exchange Act) of the Company from any of the lock-up restrictions imposed by any Insider Letter, by issuing, through a major news service, a press release, the form of which is attached as Exhibit A hereto, that is satisfactory to Credit Suisse promptly following the Company’s receipt of any notification from Credit Suisse in which the Underwriters indicate such intention, but in any case not later than the close of the second business day prior to the date on which such release or waiver is to become effective; provided , however , that nothing shall prevent Credit Suisse, on behalf of the Underwriters, from announcing the same through a major news service, irrespective of whether the Company has made the required announcement; and further provided that no such announcement shall be made of any release or waiver granted solely to permit a transfer of securities that is not for consideration and where the transferee has agreed in writing to be bound by the terms of an Insider Letter.

 

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5.               Reimbursement of the Underwriters’ Expenses . If, after the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Units are not delivered for any reason other than the termination of this Agreement pursuant to the fifth paragraph of Section 8 hereof or the default by one or more of the Underwriters in its or their respective obligations hereunder, the Company shall, in addition to paying the amounts described in Section 4(l), reimburse the Underwriters for all of their out-of-pocket expenses, including the fees and disbursements of their counsel.

 

6.               Conditions of the Underwriters’ Obligations . The several obligations of the Underwriters hereunder are subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company on the date hereof, at the time of purchase and, if applicable, at the additional time of purchase, the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions precedent:

 

(a)                  The Company shall furnish to the Representative at the time of purchase and, if applicable, at the additional time of purchase, an opinion of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, counsel for the Company, addressed to the Underwriters, and dated the time of purchase or the additional time of purchase, as the case may be, with executed copies for each Underwriter, and in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative.

 

(b)                 The Representative shall have received from WithumSmith+Brown, PC letters dated, respectively, the date of this Agreement, the date of the Prospectus, the time of purchase and, if applicable, the additional time of purchase, and addressed to the Underwriters (with executed copies for each Underwriter ) in the forms satisfactory to the Representative, which letters shall cover, without limitation, the various financial disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

(c)                  The Representative shall have received at the time of purchase and, if applicable, at the additional time of purchase, the favorable opinion of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, dated the time of purchase or the additional time of purchase, as the case may be, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative.

 

(d)                 No Prospectus or amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus shall have been filed to which either Representative shall have objected in writing.

 

(e)                  The Registration Statement, the Exchange Act Registration Statement and any registration statement required to be filed, prior to the sale of the Units, under the Act pursuant to Rule 462(b) shall have been filed and shall have become effective under the Act or the Exchange Act, as the case may be. If Rule 430A under the Act is used, the Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act at or before 5:30 P.M., New York City time, on the second full business day after the date of this Agreement (or such earlier time as may be required under the Act).

 

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(f)                 Prior to and at the time of purchase, and, if applicable, the additional time of purchase, (i) no stop order with respect to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been issued under the Act or proceedings initiated under Section 8(d) or 8(e) of the Act; (ii) the Registration Statement and all amendments thereto shall not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; (iii) neither the Preliminary Prospectus nor the Prospectus, and no amendment or supplement thereto, shall include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading; (iv) no Disclosure Package, and no amendment or supplement thereto, shall include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading; and (v) none of the Permitted Exempt Written Communications, if any, shall include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading.

 

(g)                The Company will, at the time of purchase and, if applicable, at the additional time of purchase, deliver to the Representative a certificate of its Chief Executive Officer and its Chief Financial Officer, dated the time of purchase or the additional time of purchase, as the case may be, in the form attached as Exhibit B hereto.

 

(h)                The Company shall have furnished to the Representative such other documents and certificates as to the accuracy and completeness of any statement in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus as of the time of purchase and, if applicable, the additional time of purchase, as the Representative may reasonably request.

 

(i)                  The Company shall have furnished to the Representative at the time of purchase and deliver to the Representative executed copies of the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Subscription Agreement, the Securities Assignment Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement and the Insider Letters.

 

(j)                  The Units shall have been approved for listing on the NYSE MKT, subject only to notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution at or prior to the time of purchase or the additional time of purchase, as the case may be.

 

(k)                FINRA shall not have raised any objection with respect to the fairness or reasonableness of the underwriting, or other arrangements of the transactions, contemplated hereby.

 

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7.               Effective Date of Agreement; Termination . This Agreement shall become effective when the parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement.

 

The obligations of the several Underwriters hereunder shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representative, if (1) since the time of execution of this Agreement or the earlier respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus there has been any change or any development involving a prospective change in the business, properties, management, financial condition or results of operations of the Company, the effect of which change or development is, in the sole judgment of the Representative, so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Units on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or (2) since the time of execution of this Agreement, there shall have occurred: (A) a suspension or material limitation in trading in securities generally on the NYSE, the NYSE MKT or the NASDAQ; (B) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the NYSE MKT; (C) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities declared by either federal or New York State authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States; (D) an outbreak or escalation of hostilities or acts of terrorism involving the United States or a declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war; or (E) any other calamity or crisis or any change in financial, political or economic conditions in the United States or elsewhere, if the effect of any such event specified in clause (D) or (E), in the sole judgment of the Representative, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Units on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, or (3) since the time of execution of this Agreement, there shall have occurred any downgrading, or any notice or announcement shall have been given or made of: (A) any intended or potential downgrading or (B) any watch, review or possible change that does not indicate an affirmation or improvement in the rating accorded any securities of or guaranteed by the Company by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as that term is defined in Rule 436(g)(2) under the Act.

 

If the Representative elects to terminate this Agreement as provided in this Section 7, the Company and each other Underwriter shall be notified promptly in writing.

 

If the sale to the Underwriters of the Units, as contemplated by this Agreement, is not carried out by the Underwriters for any reason permitted under this Agreement, or if such sale is not carried out because the Company shall be unable to comply with any of the terms of this Agreement, the Company shall not be under any obligation or liability under this Agreement (except to the extent provided in Sections 4(l), 5 and 9 hereof), and the Underwriters shall be under no obligation or liability to the Company under this Agreement (except to the extent provided in Section 9 hereof) or to one another hereunder.

 

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8.               Increase in Underwriters’ Commitments . Subject to Sections 6 and 7 hereof, if any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to take up and pay for the Firm Units to be purchased by it hereunder (otherwise than for a failure of a condition set forth in Section 6 hereof or a reason sufficient to justify the termination of this Agreement under the provisions of Section 7 hereof) and if the number of Firm Units which all Underwriters so defaulting shall have agreed but failed to take up and pay for does not exceed 10% of the total number of Firm Units, the non-defaulting Underwriters (including the Underwriters, if any, substituted in the manner set forth below) shall take up and pay for (in addition to the aggregate number of Firm Units they are obligated to purchase pursuant to Section 1 hereof) the number of Firm Units agreed to be purchased by all such defaulting Underwriters, as hereinafter provided. Such Firm Units shall be taken up and paid for by such non-defaulting Underwriters in such amount or amounts as the Representative may designate with the consent of each Underwriter so designated or, in the event no such designation is made, such Firm Units shall be taken up and paid for by all non-defaulting Underwriters pro rata in proportion to the aggregate number of Firm Units set forth opposite the names of such non-defaulting Underwriters in Schedule A .

 

Without relieving any defaulting Underwriter from its obligations hereunder, the Company agrees with the non-defaulting Underwriters that it will not sell any Firm Units hereunder unless all of the Firm Units are purchased by the Underwriters (or by substituted Underwriters selected by the Representative with the approval of the Company or selected by the Company with the Representative’s approval).

 

If a new Underwriter or Underwriters are substituted by the Underwriters or by the Company for a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters in accordance with the foregoing provision, the Company or the Representative shall have the right to postpone the time of purchase for a period not exceeding five business days in order that any necessary changes in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and other documents may be effected.

 

The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall refer to and include any Underwriter substituted under this Section 8 with like effect as if such substituted Underwriter had originally been named in Schedule A hereto.

 

If the aggregate number of Firm Units which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed to purchase exceeds 10% of the total number of Firm Units which all Underwriters agreed to purchase hereunder, and if neither the non-defaulting Underwriters nor the Company shall make arrangements within the five business day period stated above for the purchase of all the Firm Units which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed to purchase hereunder, this Agreement shall terminate without further act or deed and without any liability on the part of the Company to any Underwriter and without any liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter to the Company. Nothing in this paragraph, and no action taken hereunder, shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter from liability in respect of any default of such Underwriter under this Agreement.

 

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9.               Indemnity and Contribution .

 

(a)                  The Company agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each Underwriter, its partners, directors, officers and members, any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and any “affiliate” (within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act) of such Underwriter that sells Units on behalf of such Underwriter, and the successors and assigns of all of the foregoing persons, from and against any loss, damage, expense, liability or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which, jointly or severally, any such Underwriter or any such person may incur under the Act, the Exchange Act, the common law or otherwise, insofar as such loss, damage, expense, liability or claim arises out of or is based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or in the Registration Statement as amended by any post-effective amendment thereof by the Company) or arises out of or is based upon any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as any such loss, damage, expense, liability or claim arises out of or is based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in, and in conformity with information concerning such Underwriter furnished in writing by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representative to the Company expressly for use in, the Registration Statement or arises out of or is based upon any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact in the Registration Statement in connection with such information, which material fact was not contained in such information and which material fact was required to be stated in such Registration Statement or was necessary to make such information not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact included in any Prospectus (the term Prospectus for the purpose of this Section 9 being deemed to include any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements to the foregoing), in any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Act), in any Covered Exempt Written Communication, in any “issuer information” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Act) of the Company, which “issuer information” is required to be, or is, filed with the Commission, or in any Prospectus together with any combination of one or more Covered Exempt Written Communications, if any, or arises out of or is based upon any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, except, with respect to such Prospectus or any Permitted Exempt Written Communication, insofar as any such loss, damage, expense, liability or claim arises out of or is based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in, and in conformity with information concerning such Underwriter furnished in writing by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representative to the Company expressly for use in, such Prospectus or Permitted Exempt Written Communication or arises out of or is based upon any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact in such Prospectus or Permitted Exempt Written Communication in connection with such information, which material fact was not contained in such information and which material fact was necessary in order to make the statements in such information, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

 

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(b)                Each Underwriter severally agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company, its directors and officers, and any person who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the successors and assigns of all of the foregoing persons, from and against any loss, damage, expense, liability or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which, jointly or severally, the Company or any such person may incur under the Act, the Exchange Act, the common law or otherwise, insofar as such loss, damage, expense, liability or claim arises out of or is based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in, and in conformity with information concerning such Underwriter furnished in writing by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representative to the Company expressly for use in, the Registration Statement (or in the Registration Statement as amended by any post-effective amendment thereof by the Company), or arises out of or is based upon any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact in such Registration Statement in connection with such information, which material fact was not contained in such information and which material fact was required to be stated in such Registration Statement or was necessary to make such information not misleading or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in, and in conformity with information concerning such Underwriter furnished in writing by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representative to the Company expressly for use in, a Prospectus or a Permitted Exempt Written Communication, or arises out of or is based upon any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact in such Prospectus or Permitted Exempt Written Communication in connection with such information, which material fact was not contained in such information and which material fact was necessary in order to make the statements in such information, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

 

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(c)                 If any action, suit or proceeding (each, a “ Proceeding ”) is brought against a person (an “ indemnified party ”) in respect of which indemnity may be sought against the Company or an Underwriter (as applicable, the “ indemnifying party ”) pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), respectively, of this Section 9, such indemnified party shall promptly notify such indemnifying party in writing of the institution of such Proceeding and such indemnifying party shall assume the defense of such Proceeding, including the retention of counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party, and pay all legal or other fees and expenses related to such Proceeding or incurred in connection with such indemnified party’s enforcement of subsection (a) or (b) of this Section 9; provided , however , that the omission to so notify such indemnifying party shall not relieve such indemnifying party from any liability that such indemnifying party may have to any indemnified party or otherwise. The indemnified party or parties shall have the right to retain its or their own counsel in any such case, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such indemnified party or parties unless (i) the retention of such counsel shall have been authorized in writing by the indemnifying party in connection with the defense of such Proceeding, (ii) the indemnifying party shall not have, within a reasonable period of time in light of the circumstances, retained counsel to defend such Proceeding or (iii) such indemnified party or parties shall have reasonably concluded that there may be defenses available to it or them that are different from, additional to or in conflict with those available to such indemnifying party (in which case such indemnifying party shall not have the right to direct the defense of such Proceeding on behalf of the indemnified party or parties), in any of which events such fees and expenses shall be borne by such indemnifying party and paid as incurred (it being understood, however, that such indemnifying party shall not be liable for the fees or expenses of more than one separate counsel (in addition to any local counsel) in any one Proceeding or series of related Proceedings in the same jurisdiction representing the indemnified parties who are parties to such Proceeding). The indemnifying party shall not be liable for any settlement of any Proceeding effected without its written consent, such indemnifying party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the indemnified party or parties from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by the second sentence of this Section 9(c), then the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any Proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 60 business days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall not have fully reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement and (iii) such indemnified party shall have given the indemnifying party at least 30 days’ prior notice of its intention to settle. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened Proceeding in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party, unless such settlement includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such Proceeding and does not include an admission of fault or culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of such indemnified party.

 

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(d)                If the indemnification provided for in this Section 9 is unavailable to an indemnified party under subsections (a) and (b) of this Section 9 or insufficient to hold an indemnified party harmless in respect of any losses, damages, expenses, liabilities or claims referred to therein, then each applicable indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, damages, expenses, liabilities or claims (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand from the Offering or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, damages, expenses, liabilities or claims, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the total proceeds from the Offering (net of underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses) received by the Company, and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, bear to the aggregate public offering price of the Units. The relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the losses, damages, expenses, liabilities and claims referred to in this subsection shall be deemed to include any legal or other fees or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with investigating, preparing to defend or defending any Proceeding.

 

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(e)                  The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 9 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in subsection (d) above. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 9, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Units underwritten by such Underwriter and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damage which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) with respect to a claim shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation with respect to such claim. The Underwriters’ obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 9 are several in proportion to their respective underwriting commitments and not joint.

 

(f)                  The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in this Section 9 and the covenants, warranties and representations of the Company contained in this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, its partners, directors, officers or members or any person (including each partner, officer, director or member of such person) who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, or by or on behalf of the Company, its respective directors or officers or any person who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and shall survive any termination of this Agreement or the issuance and delivery of the Units. The Company and each Underwriter agree promptly to notify each other of the commencement of any Proceeding against it and, in the case of the Company, against any of the Company’s officers or directors in connection with the issuance and sale of the Units, or in connection with the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus.

 

10.             Information Furnished by the Underwriters . The following statements set forth under the heading “Underwriting”: (a) the list of Underwriters and their respective roles and participation in the sale of the Units, (b) the sentence related to the Underwriter’s intention not to make sales to discretionary accounts, (c) the paragraphs related to stabilization, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids, and (d) the two sentences related to the Underwriters’ prior relationships with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. I and Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II, in the Prospectus constitute the only information furnished by or on behalf of the Underwriters, as such information is referred to in Sections 3 and 9 hereof.

 

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11.             Notices . Except as otherwise herein provided, all statements, requests, notices and agreements shall be in writing or by telegram or facsimile and, if to the Underwriters, shall be sufficient in all respects if delivered or sent to Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010-3629, Attention: LCD-IBD; if to the Company, shall be sufficient in all respects if delivered or sent to the Company at the offices of the Company at 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014, Attention: Daniel J. Hennessy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

 

12.             Governing Law; Construction . This Agreement and any claim, counterclaim or dispute of any kind or nature whatsoever arising out of or in any way relating to this Agreement (“ Claim ”), directly or indirectly, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York without regard to the conflicts of law principles thereof. The section headings in this Agreement have been inserted as a matter of convenience of reference and are not a part of this Agreement.

 

13.             Submission to Jurisdiction . Except as set forth below, no Claim may be commenced, prosecuted or continued in any court other than the courts of the State of New York located in the City and County of New York or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which courts shall have jurisdiction over the adjudication of such matters, and the Company and each Underwriter consents to jurisdiction of such courts and personal service with respect thereto. Each Underwriter and the Company hereby consents to personal jurisdiction, service and venue in any court in which any Claim arising out of or in any way relating to this Agreement is brought by any third party against any Underwriter or any indemnified party. Each Underwriter and the Company (on its behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates) each waive all right to trial by jury in any action, proceeding or counterclaim (whether based upon contract, tort or otherwise) in any way arising out of or relating to this Agreement. The Company and each Underwriter agrees that a final judgment in any such action, proceeding or counterclaim brought in any such court shall be conclusive and binding upon the Company and each Underwriter, respectively, and may be enforced in any other courts to the jurisdiction of which the Company and each Underwriter, respectively, is or may be subject, by suit upon such judgment.

 

14.             Parties at Interest . The Agreement herein set forth has been and is made solely for the benefit of the Underwriters and the Company and to the extent provided in Section 9 hereof the controlling persons, partners, directors, employees, agents, officers, members and affiliates referred to in such Section, and their respective successors, assigns, heirs, personal representatives and executors and administrators. No other person, partnership, association or corporation (including a purchaser, as such purchaser, from any of the Underwriters) shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement.

 

- 37 -  

 

 

15.             No Fiduciary Relationship . The Company hereby acknowledges that the Underwriters are acting solely as underwriters in connection with the purchase and sale of the Company’s securities. The Company further acknowledges that the Underwriters are acting pursuant to a contractual relationship created solely by this Agreement entered into on an arm’s length basis, and in no event do the parties intend that the Underwriters act or be responsible as a fiduciary to the Company, the directors, officers, stockholders or creditors of the Company or any other person in connection with any activity that the Underwriters may undertake or have undertaken in furtherance of the purchase and sale of the Company’s securities, either before or after the date hereof. The Underwriters hereby expressly disclaim any fiduciary or similar obligations to the Company, either in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any matters leading up to such transactions, and the Company hereby confirms its understanding and agreement to that effect. The Company and the Underwriters agree that they are each responsible for making their own independent judgments with respect to any such transactions and that any opinions or views expressed by the Underwriters to the Company regarding such transactions, including, but not limited to, any opinions or views with respect to the price or market for the Company’s securities, do not constitute advice or recommendations to the Company. The Company and the Underwriters agree that the Underwriters are acting as principal and not the agent or fiduciary of the Company, and no Underwriter has assumed, and none of them will assume, any advisory responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether any Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters). The Company hereby waives and releases, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that the Company may have against the Underwriters with respect to any breach or alleged breach of any fiduciary, advisory or similar duty to the Company in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any matters leading up to such transactions.

 

16.             Counterparts . This Agreement may be signed by the parties in one or more counterparts which together shall constitute one and the same agreement among the parties. Delivery of a signed counterpart of this Agreement by e-mail or facsimile transmission shall constitute valid and sufficient delivery thereof.

 

17.             Successors and Assigns . This Agreement shall be binding upon the Underwriters and the Company and their successors and assigns and any successor or assign of any substantial portion of the Company’s and any of the Underwriters’ respective businesses and/or assets.

 

 

[ The Remainder of This Page Intentionally Left Blank; Signature Page Follows ]

 

- 38 -  

 

 

If the foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding among the Company and the several Underwriters, please so indicate in the space provided below for that purpose, whereupon this Agreement and your acceptance shall constitute a binding agreement among the Company and the Underwriters, severally.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp . III
   
  By:  
  Name:  
  Title:  

 

- 39 -  

 

 

Accepted and agreed to as of the date first above written, on behalf of themselves and the other several Underwriters named in Schedule A

 

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC  
   
By:    
Name:    
Title:    

 

- 40 -  

 

 

SCHEDULE A

 

Underwriter  

Number of Firm Units

 
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC     [● ]
Stifel Nicolaus & Company.     [● ]
[●]     [● ]
Total     [● ]

 

- 41 -  

 

 

SCHEDULE B

 

Permitted Exempt Written Communications

 

Presentation dated [●] 2017

 

Pricing Information Provided Orally by Underwriters

 

Price per Unit to the public: $10.00

 

Number of Units Offered: 22,500,000

 

- 42 -  

 

 

EXHIBIT A

 

[Form of Press Release]

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

[●], 2017

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “ Company ”) announced today that Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, a lead book-running manager in the Company’s recent initial public offering of 22,500,000 Units, intends to [waive] [release] a lock-up restriction, along with the other underwriters of such offering whose consent is required, relating to [●] Units held by [certain officers or directors] [an officer or director] of the Company. The [waiver] [release] will take effect on [●], 20[●], after which such shares may be sold or otherwise disposed of.

 

This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

  A- 1  

 

 

EXHIBIT B

 

OFFICERS’ CERTIFICATE

 

Each of the undersigned, Daniel J. Hennessy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and Nicholas A. Petruska, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, on behalf of the Company, does hereby certify pursuant to Section 6(g) of that certain Underwriting Agreement dated [●], 2017 (the “ Underwriting Agreement ”) among the Company and, on behalf of the several Underwriters named therein, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, that as of [●], 2017:

 

1. He has reviewed the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

2. The representations and warranties of the Company as set forth in the Underwriting Agreement are true and correct as of the date hereof and as if made on the date hereof.

 

3. The Company has performed all of its obligations under the Underwriting Agreement as are to be performed at or before the date hereof.

 

4. The conditions set forth in paragraph (f) of Section 6 of the Underwriting Agreement have been met.

 

Capitalized terms used herein without definition shall have the respective meanings ascribed to them in the Underwriting Agreement.

 

  B- 1  

 

 

In Witness Whereof, the undersigned have hereunto set their hands on [●], 2017.

 

  By:  
  Name:  
  Title:  

 

  By:  
  Name:  
  Title:  

 

 

 

B-2

 

 

Exhibit 3.1

 

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

OF

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

The undersigned, for the purposes of forming a corporation under the laws of the State of Delaware, does make, file and record this Certificate of Incorporation, and does hereby certify as follows:

 

FIRST:                The name of the corporation is Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Corporation”).

 

SECOND:           The address of the Corporation’s registered office in the State of Delaware is Corporation Service Company, 2711 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE 19808, New Castle County. The name of the Corporation’s registered agent at such address is Corporation Service Company.

 

THIRD:               The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended from time to time (the “DGCL”).

 

FOURTH:           The total number of shares of all classes of capital stock which the Corporation shall have authority to issue is 30,000,000, of which 29,000,000 shares shall be Common Stock of the par value of $.0001 per share and 1,000,000 shares shall be Preferred Stock of the par value of $.0001 per share.

 

A.        Preferred Stock. The Board of Directors is expressly granted authority to issue shares of the Preferred Stock, in one or more series, and to fix for each such series such voting powers, full or limited, and such designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights and such qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof as shall be stated and expressed in the resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors providing for the issue of such series (a “Preferred Stock Designation”) and as may be permitted by the DGCL. The number of authorized shares of Preferred Stock may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares of the capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, without a separate vote of the holders of the Preferred Stock, or any series thereof, unless a vote of any such holders is required pursuant to any Preferred Stock Designation.

 

B.        Common Stock. Except as otherwise required by law or as otherwise provided in any Preferred Stock Designation, the holders of the Common Stock shall exclusively possess all voting power and each share of Common Stock shall have one vote.

 

   

 

 

FIFTH:                The name and mailing address of the sole incorporator of the Corporation are as follows:

 

Name: Stuart Neuhauser, Esq.
Address: c/o Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
  1345 Avenue of the Americas, 11 th Floor
  New York, NY 10105

 

SIXTH:               The following provisions are inserted for the management of the business and for the conduct of the affairs of the Corporation, and for further definition, limitation and regulation of the powers of the Corporation and of its directors and stockholders:

 

A.        Election of directors need not be by ballot unless the by-laws of the Corporation so provide.

 

B.         The Board of Directors shall have the power, without the assent or vote of the stockholders, to make, alter, amend, change, add to or repeal the by-laws of the Corporation.

 

C.         The directors in their discretion may submit any contract or act for approval or ratification at any annual meeting of the stockholders or at any meeting of the stockholders called for the purpose of considering any such act or contract, and any contract or act that shall be approved or be ratified by the vote of the holders of a majority of the stock of the Corporation which is represented in person or by proxy at such meeting and entitled to vote thereat (provided that a lawful quorum of stockholders be there represented in person or by proxy) shall be as valid and binding upon the Corporation and upon all the stockholders as though it had been approved or ratified by every stockholder of the Corporation, whether or not the contract or act would otherwise be open to legal attack because of directors’ interests, or for any other reason.

 

D.         In addition to the powers and authorities hereinbefore or by statute expressly conferred upon them, the directors are hereby empowered to exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Corporation; subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of the statutes of Delaware, of this Certificate of Incorporation, and to any by-laws from time to time made by the stockholders; provided, however, that no by-law so made shall invalidate any prior act of the directors which would have been valid if such by-law had not been made.

 

SEVENTH:         A.       A director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty by such director as a director, except for liability (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the Corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) under Section 174 of the DGCL, or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Corporation shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or modification of this paragraph A by the stockholders of the Corporation shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a director of the Corporation with respect to events occurring prior to the time of such repeal or modification.

 

  2  

 

 

B.        The Corporation, to the full extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL, as amended from time to time, shall indemnify all persons whom it may indemnify pursuant thereto. Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which such officer or director may be entitled to indemnification hereunder shall be paid by the Corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the Corporation as authorized hereby.

 

EIGHTH:            Whenever a compromise or arrangement is proposed between this Corporation and its creditors or any class of them and/or between this Corporation and its stockholders or any class of them, any court of equitable jurisdiction within the State of Delaware may, on the application in a summary way of this Corporation or of any creditor or stockholder thereof or on the application of any receiver or receivers appointed for this Corporation under Section 291 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code or on the application of trustees in dissolution or of any receiver or receivers appointed for this Corporation under Section 279 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code order a meeting of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of this Corporation, as the case may be, to be summoned in such manner as the said court directs. If a majority in number representing three fourths in value of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of this Corporation, as the case may be, agree to any compromise or arrangement and to any reorganization of this Corporation as a consequence of such compromise or arrangement, the said compromise or arrangement and the said reorganization shall, if sanctioned by the court to which the said application has been made, be binding on all the creditors or class of creditors, and/or on all the stockholders or class of stockholders, of this Corporation, as the case may be, and also on this Corporation.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned incorporator has executed this Certificate of Incorporation this 3 rd day of January, 2017.

 

  /s/ Stuart Neuhauser
  Stuart Neuhauser
  Sole Incorporator

 

 

3

Exhibit 3.2

 

AMENDED AND RESTATED
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
OF
HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

[●], 2017

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “ Corporation ”), DOES HEREBY CERTIFY AS FOLLOWS:

 

1.       The name of the Corporation is “ Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III ”.  The original certificate of incorporation of the Corporation was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on January 3, 2017 (the “ Original Certificate ”). 

 

2.       This Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “ Amended and Restated Certificate ”), which both restates and amends the provisions of the Original Certificate, was duly adopted in accordance with Sections 228, 242 and 245 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended from time to time (the “ DGCL ”).

 

3.      This Amended and Restated Certificate shall become effective on the date of filing with Secretary of State of Delaware.

 

4.       The text of the Original Certificate is hereby restated and amended in its entirety to read as follows:

 

ARTICLE I
NAME

 

The name of the corporation is Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “ Corporation ”).

 

ARTICLE II
PURPOSE

 

The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the DGCL.  In addition to the powers and privileges conferred upon the Corporation by law and those incidental thereto, the Corporation shall possess and may exercise all the powers and privileges that are necessary or convenient to the conduct, promotion or attainment of the business or purposes of the Corporation, including, but not limited to, effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Corporation and one or more businesses (a “ Business Combination ”).

 

ARTICLE III
REGISTERED AGENT

 

The address of the Corporation’s registered office in the State of Delaware is 2711 Centerville Road, Suite #400, in the City of Wilmington, County of New Castle, State of Delaware, 19808, and the name of the Corporation’s registered agent at such address is Corporation Service Company.

 

ARTICLE IV
CAPITALIZATION

 

Section 4.1              Authorized Capital Stock .  The total number of shares of all classes of capital stock which the Corporation is authorized to issue is 201,000,000 shares, consisting of (a) 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”) and (b) 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Preferred Stock ”). 

 

Section 4.2              Preferred Stock .  Subject to  Article IX  of this Amended and Restated Certificate, the Board of Directors of the Corporation (the “ Board ”) is hereby expressly authorized to provide out of the unissued shares of the Preferred Stock for one or more series of Preferred Stock and to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series and to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional, special and other rights, if any, of each such series and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, as shall be stated in the resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board providing for the issuance of such series and included in a certificate of designation (a “ Preferred Stock Designation ”) filed pursuant to the DGCL, and the Board is hereby expressly vested with the authority to the full extent provided by law, now or hereafter, to adopt any such resolution or resolutions.

 

 
 

 

Section 4.3              Common Stock.

 

(a)            Voting.

 

(i)         Except as otherwise required by law or this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the holders of the shares of Common Stock shall exclusively possess all voting power with respect to the Corporation.

 

(ii)        Except as otherwise required by law or this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the holders of shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to one vote for each such share on each matter properly submitted to the stockholders of the Corporation on which the holders of the shares of Common Stock are entitled to vote.

 

(iii)       Except as otherwise required by law or this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, the holders of the shares of Common Stock shall have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors and on all other matters properly submitted to a vote of the stockholders of the Corporation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, except as otherwise required by law or this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the holders of the shares of Common Stock shall not be entitled to vote on any amendment to this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any amendment to any Preferred Stock Designation) that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of Preferred Stock if the holders of such affected series of Preferred Stock are entitled, either separately or together with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation) or the DGCL.

 

(b)            Dividends.   Subject to applicable law, the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock and the provisions of  Article IX  hereof, the holders of the shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive such dividends and other distributions (payable in cash, property or capital stock of the Corporation) when, as and if declared thereon by the Board from time to time out of any assets or funds of the Corporation legally available therefor and shall share equally on a per share basis in such dividends and distributions.

 

(c)            Liquidation, Dissolution or Winding Up of the Corporation.   Subject to applicable law, the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock and the provisions of  Article IX  hereof, in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, after payment or provision for payment of the debts and other liabilities of the Corporation, the holders of the shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive all the remaining assets of the Corporation available for distribution to its stockholders, ratably in proportion to the number of shares of Common Stock held by them.

 

Section 4.4              Rights and Options .  The Corporation has the authority to create and issue rights, warrants and options entitling the holders thereof to acquire from the Corporation any shares of its capital stock of any class or classes, with such rights, warrants and options to be evidenced by or in instrument(s) approved by the Board.  The Board is empowered to set the exercise price, duration, times for exercise and other terms and conditions of such rights, warrants or options; provided, however, that the consideration to be received for any shares of capital stock issuable upon exercise thereof may not be less than the par value thereof.

 

  2  
 

 

ARTICLE V
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

Section 5.1             Board Powers .  The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by, or under the direction of, the Board.  In addition to the powers and authority expressly conferred upon the Board by statute, this Amended and Restated Certificate or the Bylaws of the Corporation (“ Bylaws ”), the Board is hereby empowered to exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Corporation, subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of the DGCL, this Amended and Restated Certificate, and any Bylaws adopted by the stockholders of the Corporation; provided, however, that no Bylaws hereafter adopted by the stockholders of the Corporation shall invalidate any prior act of the Board that would have been valid if such Bylaws had not been adopted.

 

Section 5.2              Number, Election and Term .

 

(a)            The number of directors of the Corporation, other than those who may be elected by the holders of one or more series of the Preferred Stock voting separately by class or series, shall be fixed from time to time exclusively by the Board pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Board.

 

(b)            Subject to  Section 5.5  hereof, the Board shall be divided into two classes, as nearly equal in number as possible and designated Class I and Class II.  The Board is authorized to assign members of the Board already in office to Class I or Class II.  The term of the initial Class I Directors shall expire at the first annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation following the effectiveness of this Amended and Restated Certificate and the term of the initial Class II Directors shall expire at the second annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation following the effectiveness of this Amended and Restated Certificate.  At each succeeding annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, beginning with the first annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation following the effectiveness of this Amended and Restated Certificate, each of the successors elected to replace the class of directors whose term expires at that annual meeting shall be elected for a two-year term or until the election and qualification of their respective successors in office, subject to their earlier death, resignation or removal.  Subject to  Section 5.5  hereof, if the number of directors that constitutes the Board is changed, any increase or decrease shall be apportioned by the Board among the classes so as to maintain the number of directors in each class as nearly equal as possible, but in no case shall a decrease in the number of directors constituting the Board shorten the term of any incumbent director. Subject to the rights of the holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock, voting separately by class or series, to elect directors pursuant to the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock, the election of directors shall be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon. The Board is hereby expressly authorized, by resolution or resolutions thereof, to assign members of the Board already in office to the aforesaid classes at the time this Amended and Restated Certificate (and therefore such classification) becomes effective in accordance with the DGCL.

 

(c)           Subject to  Section 5.5  hereof, a director shall hold office until the annual meeting for the year in which his or her term expires and until his or her successor has been elected and qualified, subject, however, to such director’s earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal.

 

(d)           Unless and except to the extent that the Bylaws shall so require, the election of directors need not be by written ballot. The holders of shares of Common Stock shall not have cumulative voting rights.

 

Section 5.3              Newly Created Directorships and Vacancies .  Subject to  Section 5.5  hereof, newly created directorships resulting from an increase in the number of directors and any vacancies on the Board resulting from death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, removal or other cause may be filled solely and exclusively by a majority vote of the remaining directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director (and not by stockholders), and any director so chosen shall hold office for the remainder of the full term of the class of directors to which the new directorship was added or in which the vacancy occurred and until his or her successor has been elected and qualified, subject, however, to such director’s earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal.

 

  3  
 

 

Section 5.4             Removal .  Subject to  Section 5.5  hereof, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

 

Section 5.5             Preferred Stock - Directors .  Notwithstanding any other provision of this  Article V , and except as otherwise required by law, whenever the holders of one or more series of the Preferred Stock shall have the right, voting separately by class or series, to elect one or more directors, the term of office, the filling of vacancies, the removal from office and other features of such directorships shall be governed by the terms of such series of the Preferred Stock as set forth in this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation) and such directors shall not be included in any of the classes created pursuant to this  Article V  unless expressly provided by such terms.

  

ARTICLE VI
BYLAWS

 

In furtherance and not in limitation of the powers conferred upon it by law, the Board shall have the power and is expressly authorized to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the Bylaws by the affirmative vote of a majority of the total number of directors present at a regular or special meeting of the Board at which there is a quorum or by unanimous written consent. The Bylaws also may be adopted, amended, altered or repealed by the stockholders of the Corporation; provided, however, that in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation required by law or by this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders of the Corporation to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the Bylaws; and provided further, however, that no Bylaws hereafter adopted by the stockholders of the Corporation shall invalidate any prior act of the Board that would have been valid if such Bylaws had not been adopted.

 

ARTICLE VII
SPECIAL MEETINGS OF STOCKHOLDERS; ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT

 

Section 7.1             Special Meetings .  Subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any outstanding series of the Preferred Stock, and to the requirements of applicable law, special meetings of stockholders of the Corporation may be called only by the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, or the Board pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Board, and the ability of the stockholders of the Corporation to call a special meeting is hereby specifically denied.  Except as provided in the foregoing sentence, special meetings of stockholders of the Corporation may not be called by another person or persons.

 

Section 7.2             Advance Notice .  Advance notice of stockholder nominations for the election of directors and of business to be brought by stockholders before any meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation shall be given in the manner provided in the Bylaws.

 

Section 7.3             Action by Written Consent .  Except as may be otherwise provided for or fixed pursuant to this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation) relating to the rights of the holders of any outstanding series of Preferred Stock, subsequent to the consummation of the Corporation’s initial public offering of securities (the “ Offering ”), any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders of the Corporation must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders of the Corporation. 

 

ARTICLE VIII
LIMITED LIABILITY; INDEMNIFICATION

 

Section 8.1             Limitation of Director Liability .  A director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted under the DGCL as the same exists or may hereafter be amended unless a director violated its duty of loyalty to the Corporation or its stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived improper personal benefit from its actions as a director.  Any amendment, modification or repeal of the foregoing sentence shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a director of the Corporation hereunder in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to the time of such amendment, modification or repeal.

 

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Section 8.2             Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses .

 

(a)           To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended, the Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless each person who is or was made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “ proceeding ”) by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director or officer of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, other enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (an “ indemnitee ”), whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent, or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, employee or agent, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred by such indemnitee in connection with such proceeding.  The Corporation shall to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law pay the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an indemnitee in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding in advance of its final disposition; provided, however, that, to the extent required by applicable law, such payment of expenses in advance of the final disposition of the proceeding shall be made only upon receipt of an undertaking, by or on behalf of the indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that the indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified under this  Section 8.2  or otherwise.  The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses conferred by this  Section 8.2  shall be contract rights and such rights shall continue as to an indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors and administrators.  Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this  Section 8.2(a) , except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses, the Corporation shall indemnify and advance expenses to an indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board.

 

(b)           The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses conferred on any indemnitee by this  Section 8.2  shall not be exclusive of any other rights that any indemnitee may have or hereafter acquire under law, this Amended and Restated Certificate, the Bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

 

(c)           Any repeal or amendment of this  Section 8.2  by the stockholders of the Corporation or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provision of this Amended and Restated Certificate inconsistent with this  Section 8.2 , shall, unless otherwise required by law, be prospective only (except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis than permitted prior thereto), and shall not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision in respect of any proceeding (regardless of when such proceeding is first threatened, commenced or completed) arising out of, or related to, any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

 

(d)           This  Section 8.2  shall not limit the right of the Corporation, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other than indemnitees. 

 

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ARTICLE IX
BUSINESS COMBINATION REQUIREMENTS; EXISTENCE

 

Section 9.1             General .

 

(a)           The provisions of this  Article IX  shall apply during the period commencing upon the effectiveness of this Amended and Restated Certificate and terminating upon the consummation of the Corporation’s initial Business Combination and no amendment to this  Article IX  shall be effective prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination unless approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least sixty-five percent (65%) of all then outstanding shares of the Common Stock; provided, however, no amendment to Sections 9.1(a), 9.2(a), 9.2(d) and 9.7 of this Article IX shall be effective prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination unless approved by the unanimous (100%) affirmative vote of the holders of all then outstanding shares of Common Stock.

 

(b)           Immediately after the Offering, a certain amount of the net offering proceeds received by the Corporation in the Offering (including the proceeds of any exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) and certain other amounts specified in the Corporation’s registration statement on Form S-1, as initially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on [●], 2017, as amended (the “ Registration Statement ”), shall be deposited in a trust account (the “ Trust Account ”), established for the benefit of the Public Stockholders (as defined below) pursuant to a trust agreement described in the Registration Statement.  Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes and up to $500,000 of interest annually for working capital purposes, none of the funds held in the Trust Account (including the interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account) will be released from the Trust Account until the earliest to occur of (i) the completion of the initial Business Combination, (ii) the redemption of 100% of the Offering Shares (as defined below) if the Corporation is unable to complete its initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Offering and (iii) the redemption of shares in connection with a vote seeking to amend any provisions of the Amended and Restated Certificate relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity (as described in  Section 9.7 ).  Holders of shares of Common Stock included as part of the units sold in the Offering (the “ Offering Shares ”) (whether such Offering Shares were purchased in the Offering or in the secondary market following the Offering and whether or not such holders are affiliates of Hennessy Capital Partners III, LLC (the “ Sponsor ”) or officers or directors of the Corporation) are referred to herein as “ Public Stockholders.

 

Section 9.2             Redemption Rights .

 

(a)           Prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, the Corporation shall provide all holders of Offering Shares with the opportunity to have their Offering Shares redeemed upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination pursuant to, and subject to the limitations of,  Sections 9.2(b)  and  9.2(c)  (such rights of such holders to have their Offering Shares redeemed pursuant to such Sections, the “ Redemption Rights ”) hereof for cash equal to the applicable redemption price per share determined in accordance with  Section 9.2(b)  hereof (the “ Redemption Price ”); provided, however, that the Corporation shall not redeem Offering Shares to the extent that such redemption would result in the Corporation’s failure to have net tangible assets (as determined in accordance with Rule 3a51-1(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ”) (or any successor rule)) in excess of $5.0 million or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to the initial Business Combination upon consummation of the initial Business Combination (such limitation hereinafter called the “ Redemption Limitation ”).  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Amended and Restated Certificate, there shall be no Redemption Rights or liquidating distributions with respect to any warrant issued pursuant to the Offering. 

 

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(b)           If the Corporation offers to redeem the Offering Shares other than in conjunction with a stockholder vote on an initial Business Combination with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act (or any successor rules or regulations) and filing proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ SEC ”), the Corporation shall offer to redeem the Offering Shares upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, in accordance with the provisions of  Section 9.2(a)  hereof pursuant to a tender offer in accordance with Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act (or any successor rule or regulation) (such rules and regulations hereinafter called the “ Tender Offer Rules ”) which it shall commence prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination and shall file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination that contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial Business Combination and the Redemption Rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act (or any successor rule or regulation) (such rules and regulations hereinafter called the “ Proxy Solicitation Rules ”), even if such information is not required under the Tender Offer Rules; provided, however, that if a stockholder vote is required by law to approve the proposed initial Business Combination, or the Corporation decides to submit the proposed initial Business Combination to the stockholders for their approval for business or other legal reasons, the Corporation shall offer to redeem the Offering Shares, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.2(a)  hereof in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the Proxy Solicitation Rules (and not the Tender Offer Rules) at a price per share equal to the Redemption Price calculated in accordance with the following provisions of this Section 9.2(b) .  In the event that the Corporation offers to redeem the Offering Shares pursuant to a tender offer in accordance with the Tender Offer Rules, the Redemption Price per share of the Common Stock payable to holders of the Offering Shares tendering their Offering Shares pursuant to such tender offer shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing:  (i) the aggregate amount on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest not previously released to the Corporation to pay its taxes and up to $500,000 of interest annually for working capital purposes, by (ii) the total number of then outstanding Offering Shares.  If the Corporation offers to redeem the Offering Shares in conjunction with a stockholder vote on the proposed initial Business Combination pursuant to a proxy solicitation, the Redemption Price per share of the Common Stock payable to holders of the Offering Shares exercising their Redemption Rights shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the aggregate amount on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest not previously released to the Corporation to pay its taxes and up to $500,000 of interest annually for working capital purposes, by (b) the total number of then outstanding Offering Shares.

 

(c)           If the Corporation offers to redeem the Offering Shares in conjunction with a stockholder vote on an initial Business Combination pursuant to a proxy solicitation, a Public Stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “ group ” (as defined under Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), shall be restricted from seeking Redemption Rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Offering Shares without the prior consent of the Corporation.

 

(d)           In the event that the Corporation has not consummated an initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Offering, the Corporation shall (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the Offering Shares in consideration of a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest not previously released to the Corporation to pay its taxes and up to $500,000 of interest annually for working capital purposes (less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses), by (B) the total number of then outstanding Offering Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish rights of the Public Stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and the Board in accordance with applicable law, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Corporation’s obligations under the DGCL to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law.

 

(e)           If the Corporation offers to redeem the Offering Shares in conjunction with a stockholder vote on an initial Business Combination, the Corporation shall consummate the proposed initial Business Combination only if (i) such initial Business Combination is approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of the Common Stock that are voted at a stockholder meeting held to consider such initial Business Combination and (ii) the Redemption Limitation is not exceeded.

 

(f)            If the Corporation conducts a tender offer pursuant to Section 9.2(b), the Corporation shall consummate the proposed initial Business Combination only if the Redemption Limitation is not exceeded. 

 

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Section 9.3             Distributions from the Trust Account .

 

(a)           A Public Stockholder shall be entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only as provided in  Sections 9.2(a) 9.2(b) 9.2(d)  or  9.7  hereof.  In no other circumstances shall a Public Stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in or to distributions from the Trust Account, and no stockholder other than a Public Stockholder shall have any interest in or to the Trust Account.

 

(b)           Each Public Stockholder that does not exercise its Redemption Rights shall retain its interest in the Corporation and shall be deemed to have given its consent to the release of the remaining funds in the Trust Account to the Corporation, and following payment to any Public Stockholders exercising their Redemption Rights, the remaining funds in the Trust Account shall be released to the Corporation.

 

(c)           The exercise by a Public Stockholder of the Redemption Rights shall be conditioned on such Public Stockholder following the specific procedures for redemptions set forth by the Corporation in any applicable tender offer or proxy materials sent to the Public Stockholders relating to the proposed initial Business Combination.  Payment of the amounts necessary to satisfy the Redemption Rights properly exercised shall be made as promptly as practical after the consummation of the initial Business Combination.

 

Section 9.4             Share Issuances .  Prior to the consummation of the Corporation’s initial Business Combination, the Corporation shall not issue any additional shares of capital stock of the Corporation that would entitle the holders thereof to receive funds from the Trust Account or vote on any initial Business Combination, on any pre-Business Combination activity or on any amendment to this Article IX .

 

Section 9.5             Transactions with Affiliates .  In the event the Corporation enters into an initial Business Combination with a target business that is affiliated with the Sponsor, or the directors or officers of the Corporation, the Corporation, or a committee of the independent directors of the Corporation, shall obtain an opinion from an independent accounting firm or an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that such Business Combination is fair to the Corporation from a financial point of view.

 

Section 9.6             No Transactions with Other Blank Check Companies .  The Corporation shall not enter into an initial Business Combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

 

Section 9.7             Additional Redemption Rights .  If, in accordance with  Section 9.1(a) , any amendment is made to this  Article IX , the Public Stockholders shall be provided with the opportunity to redeem their Offering Shares upon the approval of any such amendment, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest not previously released to the Corporation to pay its taxes and up to $500,000 of interest annually for working capital purposes, divided by the number of then outstanding Offering Shares; provided, however, that any such amendment will be voided, and this Article IX will remain unchanged, if any stockholders who wish to redeem are unable to redeem due to the Redemption Limitation.

 

ARTICLE X
CORPORATE OPPORTUNITY

 

To the extent allowed by law, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any other analogous doctrine, shall not apply with respect to the Corporation or any of its officers or directors, and the Corporation renounces any expectancy that any of the directors or officers of the Corporation will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to the Corporation, except, the doctrine of corporate opportunity shall apply with respect to any of the directors or officers of the Corporation only with respect to a corporate opportunity that was offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation and such opportunity is one the Corporation is legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for the Corporation to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to the Corporation without violating any legal obligation.

  

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ARTICLE XI
AMENDMENT OF AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

 

The Corporation reserves the right at any time and from time to time to amend, alter, change or repeal any provision contained in this Amended and Restated Certificate (including any Preferred Stock Designation), and other provisions authorized by the laws of the State of Delaware at the time in force that may be added or inserted, in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by this Amended and Restated Certificate and the DGCL; and, except as set forth in  Article VIII , all rights, preferences and privileges of whatever nature herein conferred upon stockholders, directors or any other persons by and pursuant to this Amended and Restated Certificate in its present form or as hereafter amended are granted subject to the right reserved in this  Article XI provided , however , that  Article IX  of this Amended and Restated Certificate may be amended only as provided therein.

 

ARTICLE XII

Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits

 

Section 12.1            Forum. Unless the Corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any stockholder (including a beneficial owner) to bring (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Corporation, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Corporation to the Corporation or the Corporation’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Corporation, its directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or this Amended and Restated Certificate or the Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Corporation, its directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine, except for, as to each of (i) through (iv) above, any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction.

 

Section 12.2            Consent to Jurisdiction . If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of Section 12.1 immediately above is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “ Foreign Action ”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (i) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce Section 12.1 immediately above (an “ FSC Enforcement Action ”) and (ii) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such FSC Enforcement Action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the Foreign Action as agent for such stockholder.

 

ARTICLE XII
SEVERABILITY

 

If any provision or provisions (or any part thereof) of this Amended and Restated Certificate shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable as applied to any person, entity or circumstance for any reason whatsoever, then, to the fullest extent permitted by law, (i) the validity, legality and enforceability of such provisions in any other circumstance and of the remaining provisions of this Amended and Restated Certificate (including, without limitation, each portion of any paragraph of this Amended and Restated Certificate containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable that is not itself held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) and the application of such provision to other persons or entities and circumstances shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby, and (ii) the provisions of this Amended and Restated Certificate (including, without limitation, each portion of any paragraph of this Amended and Restated Certificate containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to permit the Corporation to protect its directors, officers, employees and agents from personal liability in respect of their good faith service or for the benefit of the Corporation to the fullest extent permitted by law.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III has caused this Amended and Restated Certificate to be duly executed and acknowledged in its name and on its behalf by an authorized officer as of the date first set forth above.

 

  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
     
  By:                     
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title: Chief  Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Signature Page to Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation]

 

 

 

10

 

Exhibit 3.3

 

BY LAWS  

OF  

HENNESSY CAPITAL Acquisition CORP. III  

(THE “CORPORATION”)

 

ARTICLE I

 

OFFICES

 

Section 1.1. Registered Office . The registered office of the Corporation within the State of Delaware shall be located at either (a) the principal place of business of the Corporation in the State of Delaware or (b) the office of the corporation or individual acting as the Corporation’s registered agent in Delaware.

 

Section 1.2. Additional Offices . The Corporation may, in addition to its registered office in the State of Delaware, have such other offices and places of business, both within and outside the State of Delaware, as the Board of Directors of the Corporation (the “ Board ”) may from time to time determine or as the business and affairs of the Corporation may require.

 

ARTICLE II

 

STOCKHOLDERS MEETINGS

 

Section 2.1. Annual Meetings . The annual meeting of stockholders shall be held at such place, either within or without the State of Delaware and time and on such date as shall be determined by the Board and stated in the notice of the meeting, provided that the Board may in its sole discretion determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication pursuant to  Section 9.5(a) . At each annual meeting, the stockholders entitled to vote on such matters shall elect those directors of the Corporation to fill any term of a directorship that expires on the date of such annual meeting and may transact any other business as may properly be brought before the meeting.

 

Section 2.2. Special Meetings . Subject to the rights of the holders of any outstanding series of the preferred stock of the Corporation (“ Preferred Stock ”), and to the requirements of applicable law, special meetings of stockholders, for any purpose or purposes, may be called only by the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, or the Board pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Board, and may not be called by any other person. Special meetings of stockholders shall be held at such place, either within or without the State of Delaware, and at such and time and on such date as shall be determined by the Board and stated in the Corporation’s notice of the meeting, provided that the Board may in its sole discretion determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication pursuant to  Section 9.5(a) .

 

Section 2.3. Notices. Written notice of each stockholders meeting stating the place, if any, date, and time of the meeting, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such meeting and the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, if such date is different from the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, shall be given in the manner permitted by  Section 9.3  to each stockholder entitled to vote thereat as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, by the Corporation not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting unless otherwise required by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “ DGCL ”). If said notice is for a stockholders meeting other than an annual meeting, it shall in addition state the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, and the business transacted at such meeting shall be limited to the matters so stated in the Corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto). Any meeting of stockholders as to which notice has been given may be postponed, and any meeting of stockholders as to which notice has been given may be cancelled, by the Board upon public announcement (as defined in Section 2.7(c)) given before the date previously scheduled for such meeting.

 

 

 

 

Section 2.4. Quorum . Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Corporation’s Certificate of Incorporation, as the same may be amended or restated from time to time (the “ Certificate of Incorporation ”) or these By Laws, the presence, in person or by proxy, at a stockholders meeting of the holders of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Corporation representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote at such meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at such meeting, except that when specified business is to be voted on by a class or series of stock voting as a class, the holders of shares representing a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of such class or series shall constitute a quorum of such class or series for the transaction of such business. If a quorum shall not be present or represented by proxy at any meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation, the chairman of the meeting may adjourn the meeting from time to time in the manner provided in  Section 2.6  until a quorum shall attend. The stockholders present at a duly convened meeting may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough stockholders to leave less than a quorum. Shares of its own stock belonging to the Corporation or to another corporation, if a majority of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote in the election of directors of such other corporation is held, directly or indirectly, by the Corporation, shall neither be entitled to vote nor be counted for quorum purposes; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not limit the right of the Corporation or any such other corporation to vote shares held by it in a fiduciary capacity.

 

Section 2.5. Voting of Shares .

 

(a)  Voting Lists . The Secretary of the Corporation (the “ Secretary ”) shall prepare, or shall cause the officer or agent who has charge of the stock ledger of the Corporation to prepare and make, at least 10 days before every meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders of record entitled to vote at such meeting; provided, however, that if the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote is less than 10 days before the meeting date, the list shall reflect the stockholders entitled to vote as of the tenth day before the meeting date, arranged in alphabetical order and showing the address and the number and class of shares registered in the name of each stockholder. Nothing contained in this Section 2.5(a) shall require the Corporation to include electronic mail addresses or other electronic contact information on such list. Such list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder, for any purpose germane to the meeting, during ordinary business hours for a period of at least 10 days prior to the meeting: (i) on a reasonably accessible electronic network, provided that the information required to gain access to such list is provided with the notice of the meeting, or (ii) during ordinary business hours, at the principal place of business of the Corporation. In the event that the Corporation determines to make the list available on an electronic network, the Corporation may take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is available only to stockholders of the Corporation. If the meeting is to be held at a place, then the list shall be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time thereof, and may be inspected by any stockholder who is present. If a meeting of stockholders is to be held solely by means of remote communication as permitted by Section 9.5(a), the list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder during the whole time of the meeting on a reasonably accessible electronic network, and the information required to access such list shall be provided with the notice of meeting. The stock ledger shall be the only evidence as to who are the stockholders entitled to examine the list required by this Section 2.5(a) or to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of stockholders.

 

(b)  Manner of Voting . At any stockholders meeting, every stockholder entitled to vote may vote in person or by proxy. If authorized by the Board, the voting by stockholders or proxy holders at any meeting conducted by remote communication may be effected by a ballot submitted by electronic transmission (as defined in  Section 9.3 ), provided that any such electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which the Corporation can determine that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder or proxy holder. The Board, in its discretion, or the chairman of the meeting of stockholders, in such person’s discretion, may require that any votes cast at such meeting shall be cast by written ballot.

 

(c)  Proxies . Each stockholder entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders or to express consent or dissent to corporate action in writing without a meeting may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder by proxy, but no such proxy shall be voted or acted upon after three years from its date, unless the proxy provides for a longer period. Proxies need not be filed with the Secretary until the meeting is called to order, but shall be filed with the Secretary before being voted. Without limiting the manner in which a stockholder may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy, either of the following shall constitute a valid means by which a stockholder may grant such authority. No stockholder shall have cumulative voting rights.

 

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(i) A stockholder may execute a writing authorizing another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy. Execution may be accomplished by the stockholder or such stockholder’s authorized officer, director, employee or agent signing such writing or causing such person’s signature to be affixed to such writing by any reasonable means, including, but not limited to, by facsimile signature.

 

(ii) A stockholder may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder as proxy by transmitting or authorizing the transmission of an electronic transmission to the person who will be the holder of the proxy or to a proxy solicitation firm, proxy support service organization or like agent duly authorized by the person who will be the holder of the proxy to receive such transmission, provided that any such electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which it can be determined that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder. Any copy, facsimile telecommunication or other reliable reproduction of the writing or transmission authorizing another person or persons to act as proxy for a stockholder may be substituted or used in lieu of the original writing or transmission for any and all purposes for which the original writing or transmission could be used; provided that such copy, facsimile telecommunication or other reproduction shall be a complete reproduction of the entire original writing or transmission.

 

(d)  Required Vote . Subject to the rights of the holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock, voting separately by class or series, to elect directors pursuant to the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock, at all meetings of stockholders at which a quorum is present, the election of directors shall be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon. All other matters presented to the stockholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be determined by the vote of a majority of the votes cast by the stockholders present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote thereon, unless the matter is one upon which, by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By Laws or applicable stock exchange rules, a different vote is required, in which case such provision shall govern and control the decision of such matter.

 

(e)  Inspectors of Election . The Board may, and shall if required by law, in advance of any meeting of stockholders, designate one or more persons as inspectors of election, who may be employees of the Corporation or otherwise serve the Corporation in other capacities, to act at such meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof and to make a written report thereof. The Board may appoint one or more persons as alternate inspectors to replace any inspector who fails to act. If no inspectors of election or alternates are appointed by the Board, the chairman of the meeting shall appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting. Each inspector, before discharging his or her duties, shall take and sign an oath faithfully to execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his or her ability. The inspectors shall ascertain and report the number of outstanding shares and the voting power of each; determine the number of shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and the validity of proxies and ballots; count all votes and ballots and report the results; determine and retain for a reasonable period a record of the disposition of any challenges made to any determination by the inspectors; and certify their determination of the number of shares represented at the meeting and their count of all votes and ballots. No person who is a candidate for an office at an election may serve as an inspector at such election. Each report of an inspector shall be in writing and signed by the inspector or by a majority of them if there is more than one inspector acting at such meeting. If there is more than one inspector, the report of a majority shall be the report of the inspectors.

 

Section 2.6. Adjournments . Any meeting of stockholders, annual or special, may be adjourned by the chairman of the meeting, from time to time, whether or not there is a quorum, to reconvene at the same or some other place. Notice need not be given of any such adjourned meeting if the date, time, and place, if any, thereof, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such adjourned meeting are announced at the meeting at which the adjournment is taken. At the adjourned meeting the stockholders, or the holders of any class or series of stock entitled to vote separately as a class, as the case may be, may transact any business that might have been transacted at the original meeting. If the adjournment is for more than 30 days, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at the meeting. If after the adjournment a new record date for stockholders entitled to vote is fixed for the adjourned meeting, the Board shall fix a new record date for notice of such adjourned meeting in accordance with Section 9.2 , and shall give notice of the adjourned meeting to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such adjourned meeting as of the record date fixed for notice of such adjourned meeting.

 

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Section 2.7. Advance Notice for Business .

 

(a)  Annual Meetings of Stockholders . No business may be transacted at an annual meeting of stockholders, other than business that is either (i) specified in the Corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto) given by or at the direction of the Board, (ii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by or at the direction of the Board or (iii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by any stockholder of the Corporation (x) who is a stockholder of record entitled to vote at such annual meeting on the date of the giving of the notice provided for in this  Section 2.7(a)  and on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at such annual meeting and (y) who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this  Section 2.7(a) . Notwithstanding anything in this  Section 2.7(a)  to the contrary, only persons nominated for election as a director to fill any term of a directorship that expires on the date of the annual meeting pursuant to  Section 3.2  will be considered for election at such meeting.

 

(i) In addition to any other applicable requirements, for business (other than nominations) to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder, such stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary and such business must otherwise be a proper matter for stockholder action. Subject to  Section 2.7(a)(iii) , a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary with respect to such business, to be timely, must be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so received not earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the close of business on the 90th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting is first made by the Corporation. The public announcement of an adjournment of an annual meeting shall not commence a new time period for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described in this Section 2.7(a).

 

(ii) To be in proper written form, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary with respect to any business (other than nominations) must set forth as to each such matter such stockholder proposes to bring before the annual meeting (A) a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the annual meeting, the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and in the event such business includes a proposal to amend these By Laws, the language of the proposed amendment) and the reasons for conducting such business at the annual meeting, (B) the name and record address of such stockholder and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (C) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and by the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, (D) a description of all arrangements or understandings between such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder, (E) any material interest of such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made in such business and (F) a representation that such stockholder (or a qualified representative of such stockholder) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the annual meeting to bring such business before the meeting.

 

(iii) The foregoing notice requirements of this  Section 2.7(a)  shall be deemed satisfied by a stockholder as to any proposal (other than nominations) if the stockholder has notified the Corporation of such stockholder’s intention to present such proposal at an annual meeting in compliance with Rule 14a-8 (or any successor thereof) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ”), and such stockholder has complied with the requirements of such rule for inclusion of such proposal in a proxy statement prepared by the Corporation to solicit proxies for such annual meeting. No business shall be conducted at the annual meeting of stockholders except business brought before the annual meeting in accordance with the procedures set forth in this  Section 2.7(a) , provided, however, that once business has been properly brought before the annual meeting in accordance with such procedures, nothing in this  Section 2.7(a)  shall be deemed to preclude discussion by any stockholder of any such business. If the Board or the chairman of the annual meeting determines that any stockholder proposal was not made in accordance with the provisions of this  Section 2.7(a)  or that the information provided in a stockholder’s notice does not satisfy the information requirements of this Section 2.7(a) , such proposal shall not be presented for action at the annual meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 2.7(a) , if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the annual meeting of stockholders of the Corporation to present the proposed business, such proposed business shall not be transacted, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such matter may have been received by the Corporation.

 

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(iv) In addition to the provisions of this  Section 2.7(a) , a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth herein. Nothing in this  Section 2.7(a)  shall be deemed to affect any rights of stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act.

 

(b)  Special Meetings of Stockholders . Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Nominations of persons for election to the Board may be made at a special meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting only pursuant to  Section 3.2 .

 

(c)  Public Announcement . For purposes of these By Laws, “ public announcement ” shall mean disclosure in a press release reported by the Dow Jones News Service, Associated Press or comparable national news service or in a document publicly filed by the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Sections 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (or any successor thereto).

 

Section 2.8. Conduct of Meetings . The chairman of each annual and special meeting of stockholders shall be the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act of the Chief Executive Officer or if the Chief Executive Officer is not a director, the President (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President or if the President is not a director, such other person as shall be appointed by the Board. The date and time of the opening and the closing of the polls for each matter upon which the stockholders will vote at a meeting shall be announced at the meeting by the chairman of the meeting. The Board may adopt such rules and regulations for the conduct of the meeting of stockholders as it shall deem appropriate. Except to the extent inconsistent with these By Laws or such rules and regulations as adopted by the Board, the chairman of any meeting of stockholders shall have the right and authority to convene and to adjourn the meeting, to prescribe such rules, regulations and procedures and to do all such acts as, in the judgment of such chairman, are appropriate for the proper conduct of the meeting. Such rules, regulations or procedures, whether adopted by the Board or prescribed by the chairman of the meeting, may include, without limitation, the following: (a) the establishment of an agenda or order of business for the meeting; (b) rules and procedures for maintaining order at the meeting and the safety of those present; (c) limitations on attendance at or participation in the meeting to stockholders of record of the Corporation, their duly authorized and constituted proxies or such other persons as the chairman of the meeting shall determine; (d) restrictions on entry to the meeting after the time fixed for the commencement thereof; and (e) limitations on the time allotted to questions or comments by participants. Unless and to the extent determined by the Board or the chairman of the meeting, meetings of stockholders shall not be required to be held in accordance with the rules of parliamentary procedure. The secretary of each annual and special meeting of stockholders shall be the Secretary or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, an Assistant Secretary so appointed to act by the chairman of the meeting. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary and all Assistant Secretaries, the chairman of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

 

Section 2.9. Consents in Lieu of Meeting . Unless otherwise provided by the Certificate of Incorporation, and subject to the proviso in  Sections 2.1 and 2.2,  until the Corporation consummates an initial public offering (“ Offering ”), any action required to be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders, or any action which may be taken at any annual or special meeting of such stockholders, may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of outstanding stock entitled to vote on such matters having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted, and shall be delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in the State of Delaware, its principal place of business, or an officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

 

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Every written consent shall bear the date of signature of each stockholder who signs the consent, and no written consent shall be effective to take the corporate action referred to therein unless, within 60 days of the earliest dated consent delivered in the manner required by this section and the DGCL to the Corporation, written consents signed by a sufficient number of holders entitled to vote to take action are delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in Delaware, its principal place of business or an officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

 

ARTICLE III

 

DIRECTORS

 

Section 3.1. Powers . The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed by or under the direction of the Board, which may exercise all such powers of the Corporation and do all such lawful acts and things as are not by statute or by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these By Laws required to be exercised or done by the stockholders. Directors need not be stockholders or residents of the State of Delaware.

 

Section 3.2. Advance Notice for Nomination of Directors .

 

(a) Only persons who are nominated in accordance with the following procedures shall be eligible for election as directors of the Corporation, except as may be otherwise provided by the terms of one or more series of Preferred Stock with respect to the rights of holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock to elect directors. Nominations of persons for election to the Board at any annual meeting of stockholders, or at any special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of electing directors as set forth in the Corporation’s notice of such special meeting, may be made (i) by or at the direction of the Board or (ii) by any stockholder of the Corporation (x) who is a stockholder of record entitled to vote in the election of directors on the date of the giving of the notice provided for in this  Section 3.2  and on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting and (y) who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this  Section 3.2 .

 

(b) In addition to any other applicable requirements, for a nomination to be made by a stockholder, such stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation (i) in the case of an annual meeting, not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so received not earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day before the meeting and not later than the later of (x) the close of business on the 90th day before the meeting or (y) the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting was first made by the Corporation; and (ii) in the case of a special meeting of stockholders called for the purpose of electing directors, not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the special meeting is first made by the Corporation. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting or special meeting commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described in this  Section 3.2 .

 

(c) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (b) to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors to be elected to the Board at an annual meeting is greater than the number of directors whose terms expire on the date of the annual meeting and there is no public announcement by the Corporation naming all of the nominees for the additional directors to be elected or specifying the size of the increased Board before the close of business on the 90th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders, a stockholder’s notice required by this  Section 3.2  shall also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for the additional directorships created by such increase that are to be filled by election at such annual meeting, if it shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the date on which such public announcement was first made by the Corporation.

 

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(d) To be in proper written form, a stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must set forth (i) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election as a director (A) the name, age, business address and residence address of the person, (B) the principal occupation or employment of the person, (C) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially or of record by the person and (D) any other information relating to the person that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; and (ii) as to the stockholder giving the notice (A) the name and record address of such stockholder as they appear on the Corporation’s books and the name and address of the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, (B) the class or series and number of shares of capital stock of the Corporation that are owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, (C) a description of all arrangements or understandings relating to the nomination to be made by such stockholder among such stockholder, the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, each proposed nominee and any other person or persons (including their names), (D) a representation that such stockholder (or a qualified representative of such stockholder) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to nominate the persons named in its notice and (E) any other information relating to such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Such notice must be accompanied by a written consent of each proposed nominee to being named as a nominee and to serve as a director if elected.

 

(e) If the Board or the chairman of the meeting of stockholders determines that any nomination was not made in accordance with the provisions of this  Section 3.2 , or that the information provided in a stockholder’s notice does not satisfy the information requirements of this Section 3.2 , then such nomination shall not be considered at the meeting in question. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this  Section 3.2 , if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the meeting of stockholders of the Corporation to present the nomination, such nomination shall be disregarded, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such nomination may have been received by the Corporation.

 

(f) In addition to the provisions of this  Section 3.2 , a stockholder shall also comply with all of the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth herein. Nothing in this  Section 3.2  shall be deemed to affect any rights of the holders of Preferred Stock to elect directors pursuant to the Certificate of Incorporation.

 

Section 3.3. Compensation . Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, the Board shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors. The directors may be reimbursed their expenses, if any, of attendance at each meeting of the Board, including for service on a committee of the Board, and may be paid either a fixed sum for attendance at each meeting of the Board or other compensation as director. No such payment shall preclude any director from serving the Corporation in any other capacity and receiving compensation therefor. Members of committees of the Board may be allowed like compensation and reimbursement of expenses for service on the committee.

  

ARTICLE IV

 

BOARD MEETINGS

 

Section 4.1. Annual Meetings . The Board shall meet as soon as practicable after the adjournment of each annual stockholders meeting at the place of the annual stockholders meeting unless the Board shall fix another time and place and give notice thereof in the manner required herein for special meetings of the Board. No notice to the directors shall be necessary to legally convene this meeting, except as provided in this Section 4.1 .

 

Section 4.2. Regular Meetings . Regularly scheduled, periodic meetings of the Board may be held without notice at such times, dates and places (within or without the State of Delaware) as shall from time to time be determined by the Board.

 

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Section 4.3. Special Meetings . Special meetings of the Board (a) may be called by the Chairman of the Board or President and (b) shall be called by the Chairman of the Board, President or Secretary on the written request of at least a majority of directors then in office, or the sole director, as the case may be, and shall be held at such time, date and place (within or without the State of Delaware) as may be determined by the person calling the meeting or, if called upon the request of directors or the sole director, as specified in such written request. Notice of each special meeting of the Board shall be given, as provided in  Section 9.3 , to each director (i) at least 24 hours before the meeting if such notice is oral notice given personally or by telephone or written notice given by hand delivery or by means of a form of electronic transmission and delivery; (ii) at least two days before the meeting if such notice is sent by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service; and (iii) at least five days before the meeting if such notice is sent through the United States mail. If the Secretary shall fail or refuse to give such notice, then the notice may be given by the officer who called the meeting or the directors who requested the meeting. Any and all business that may be transacted at a regular meeting of the Board may be transacted at a special meeting. Except as may be otherwise expressly provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By Laws, neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any special meeting need be specified in the notice or waiver of notice of such meeting. A special meeting may be held at any time without notice if all the directors are present or if those not present waive notice of the meeting in accordance with Section 9.4 .

 

Section 4.4. Quorum; Required Vote . A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board, and the act of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the Board, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws. If a quorum shall not be present at any meeting, a majority of the directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present.

 

Section 4.5. Consent In Lieu of Meeting . Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board or any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing or by electronic transmission, and the writing or writings or electronic transmission or transmissions (or paper reproductions thereof) are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board or committee. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.

 

Section 4.6. Organization . The chairman of each meeting of the Board shall be the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) or, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Executive Officer or if the Chief Executive Officer is not a director, the President (if he or she shall be a director) or in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President or if the President is not a director, a chairman elected from the directors present. The Secretary shall act as secretary of all meetings of the Board. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, an Assistant Secretary shall perform the duties of the Secretary at such meeting. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary and all Assistant Secretaries, the chairman of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

 

ARTICLE V

 

COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS

 

Section 5.1. Establishment . The Board may by resolution passed by a majority of the Board designate one or more committees, each committee to consist of one or more of the directors of the Corporation. Each committee shall keep regular minutes of its meetings and report the same to the Board when required. The Board shall have the power at any time to fill vacancies in, to change the membership of, or to dissolve any such committee.

 

Section 5.2. Available Powers . Any committee established pursuant to  Section 5.1  hereof, to the extent permitted by applicable law and by resolution of the Board, shall have and may exercise all of the powers and authority of the Board in the management of the business and affairs of the Corporation, and may authorize the seal of the Corporation to be affixed to all papers that may require it.

 

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Section 5.3. Alternate Members . The Board may designate one or more directors as alternate members of any committee, who may replace any absent or disqualified member at any meeting of such committee. In the absence or disqualification of a member of the committee, the member or members thereof present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not he, she or they constitute a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board to act at the meeting in place of any such absent or disqualified member.

 

Section 5.4. Procedures . Unless the Board otherwise provides, the time, date, place, if any, and notice of meetings of a committee shall be determined by such committee. At meetings of a committee, a majority of the number of members of the committee (but not including any alternate member, unless such alternate member has replaced any absent or disqualified member at the time of, or in connection with, such meeting) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The act of a majority of the members present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the committee, except as otherwise specifically provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By Laws or the Board. If a quorum is not present at a meeting of a committee, the members present may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than an announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present. Unless the Board otherwise provides and except as provided in these By Laws, each committee designated by the Board may make, alter, amend and repeal rules for the conduct of its business. In the absence of such rules each committee shall conduct its business in the same manner as the Board is authorized to conduct its business pursuant to Article III and Article IV of these By Laws.

 

ARTICLE VI

 

OFFICERS

 

Section 6.1. Officers . The officers of the Corporation elected by the Board shall be a Chairman of the Board, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, a Secretary and such other officers (including without limitation, Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries and a Treasurer) as the Board from time to time may determine. Officers elected by the Board shall each have such powers and duties as generally pertain to their respective offices, subject to the specific provisions of this  Article VI . Such officers shall also have such powers and duties as from time to time may be conferred by the Board. The Chief Executive Officer or President may also appoint such other officers (including without limitation one or more Vice Presidents and Controllers) as may be necessary or desirable for the conduct of the business of the Corporation. Such other officers shall have such powers and duties and shall hold their offices for such terms as may be provided in these By Laws or as may be prescribed by the Board or, if such officer has been appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President, as may be prescribed by the appointing officer.

 

(a)  Chairman of the Board . The Chairman of the Board shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The Chairman of the Board shall have general supervision and control of the acquisition activities of the Corporation subject to the ultimate authority of the Board, and shall be responsible for the execution of the policies of the Board with respect to such matters. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The powers and duties of the Chairman of the Board shall not include supervision or control of the preparation of the financial statements of the Corporation (other than through participation as a member of the Board). The position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer may be held by the same person.

 

(b)  Chief Executive Officer . The Chief Executive Officer shall be the chief executive officer of the Corporation, shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Corporation and general control of all of its business subject to the ultimate authority of the Board, and shall be responsible for the execution of the policies of the Board with respect to such matters, except to the extent any such powers and duties have been prescribed to the Chairman of the Board pursuant to  Section 6.1(a)  above. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The position of Chief Executive Officer and President may be held by the same person.

 

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(c)  President . The President shall make recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer on all operational matters that would normally be reserved for the final executive responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer. In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, the President (if he or she shall be a director) shall preside when present at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board. The President shall also perform such duties and have such powers as shall be designated by the Board. The position of President and Chief Executive Officer may be held by the same person.

 

(d)  Vice Presidents . In the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the President, the Vice President (or in the event there be more than one Vice President, the Vice Presidents in the order designated by the Board) shall perform the duties and have the powers of the President. Any one or more of the Vice Presidents may be given an additional designation of rank or function.

 

(e)  Secretary .

 

(i) The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the stockholders, the Board and (as required) committees of the Board and shall record the proceedings of such meetings in books to be kept for that purpose. The Secretary shall give, or cause to be given, notice of all meetings of the stockholders and special meetings of the Board and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer or President. The Secretary shall have custody of the corporate seal of the Corporation and the Secretary, or any Assistant Secretary, shall have authority to affix the same to any instrument requiring it, and when so affixed, it may be attested by his or her signature or by the signature of such Assistant Secretary. The Board may give general authority to any other officer to affix the seal of the Corporation and to attest the affixing thereof by his or her signature.

 

(ii) The Secretary shall keep, or cause to be kept, at the principal executive office of the Corporation or at the office of the Corporation’s transfer agent or registrar, if one has been appointed, a stock ledger, or duplicate stock ledger, showing the names of the stockholders and their addresses, the number and classes of shares held by each and, with respect to certificated shares, the number and date of certificates issued for the same and the number and date of certificates cancelled.

 

(f)  Assistant Secretaries . The Assistant Secretary or, if there be more than one, the Assistant Secretaries in the order determined by the Board shall, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Secretary, perform the duties and have the powers of the Secretary.

 

(g)  Chief Financial Officer . The Chief Financial Officer shall perform all duties commonly incident to that office (including, without limitation, the care and custody of the funds and securities of the Corporation, which from time to time may come into the Chief Financial Officer’s hands and the deposit of the funds of the Corporation in such banks or trust companies as the Board, the Chief Executive Officer or the President may authorize).

 

(h)  Treasurer . The Treasurer shall, in the absence (or inability or refusal to act) of the Chief Financial Officer, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Chief Financial Officer.

 

Section 6.2. Term of Office; Removal; Vacancies . The elected officers of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Board and shall hold office until their successors are duly elected and qualified by the Board or until their earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, or removal from office. Any officer may be removed, with or without cause, at any time by the Board. Any officer appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President may also be removed, with or without cause, by the Chief Executive Officer or President, as the case may be, unless the Board otherwise provides. Any vacancy occurring in any elected office of the Corporation may be filled by the Board. Any vacancy occurring in any office appointed by the Chief Executive Officer or President may be filled by the Chief Executive Officer, or President, as the case may be, unless the Board then determines that such office shall thereupon be elected by the Board, in which case the Board shall elect such officer.

 

Section 6.3. Other Officers . The Board may delegate the power to appoint such other officers and agents, and may also remove such officers and agents or delegate the power to remove same, as it shall from time to time deem necessary or desirable.

 

Section 6.4. Multiple Officeholders; Stockholder and Director Officers . Any number of offices may be held by the same person unless the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws otherwise provide. Officers need not be stockholders or residents of the State of Delaware.

 

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ARTICLE VII

 

SHARES

 

Section 7.1. Certificated and Uncertificated Shares . The shares of the Corporation may be certificated or uncertificated, subject to the sole discretion of the Board and the requirements of the DGCL.

 

Section 7.2. Multiple Classes of Stock . If the Corporation shall be authorized to issue more than one class of stock or more than one series of any class, the Corporation shall (a) cause the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights to be set forth in full or summarized on the face or back of any certificate that the Corporation issues to represent shares of such class or series of stock or (b) in the case of uncertificated shares, within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of such shares, send to the registered owner thereof a written notice containing the information required to be set forth on certificates as specified in clause (a) above; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided by applicable law, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, there may be set forth on the face or back of such certificate or, in the case of uncertificated shares, on such written notice a statement that the Corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences or rights.

 

Section 7.3. Signatures . Each certificate representing capital stock of the Corporation shall be signed by or in the name of the Corporation by (a) the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, the President or a Vice President and (b) the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Corporation. Any or all the signatures on the certificate may be a facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate shall have ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, such certificate may be issued by the Corporation with the same effect as if such person were such officer, transfer agent or registrar on the date of issue.

 

Section 7.4. Consideration and Payment for Shares .

 

(a) Subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation, shares of stock may be issued for such consideration, having in the case of shares with par value a value not less than the par value thereof, and to such persons, as determined from time to time by the Board. The consideration may consist of any tangible or intangible property or any benefit to the Corporation including cash, promissory notes, services performed, contracts for services to be performed or other securities, or any combination thereof.

 

(b) Subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation, shares may not be issued until the full amount of the consideration has been paid, unless upon the face or back of each certificate issued to represent any partly paid shares of capital stock or upon the books and records of the Corporation in the case of partly paid uncertificated shares, there shall have been set forth the total amount of the consideration to be paid therefor and the amount paid thereon up to and including the time said certificate representing certificated shares or said uncertificated shares are issued.

 

Section 7.5. Lost, Destroyed or Wrongfully Taken Certificates .

 

(a) If an owner of a certificate representing shares claims that such certificate has been lost, destroyed or wrongfully taken, the Corporation shall issue a new certificate representing such shares or such shares in uncertificated form if the owner: (i) requests such a new certificate before the Corporation has notice that the certificate representing such shares has been acquired by a protected purchaser; (ii) if requested by the Corporation, delivers to the Corporation a bond sufficient to indemnify the Corporation against any claim that may be made against the Corporation on account of the alleged loss, wrongful taking or destruction of such certificate or the issuance of such new certificate or uncertificated shares; and (iii) satisfies other reasonable requirements imposed by the Corporation.

 

(b) If a certificate representing shares has been lost, apparently destroyed or wrongfully taken, and the owner fails to notify the Corporation of that fact within a reasonable time after the owner has notice of such loss, apparent destruction or wrongful taking and the Corporation registers a transfer of such shares before receiving notification, the owner shall be precluded from asserting against the Corporation any claim for registering such transfer or a claim to a new certificate representing such shares or such shares in uncertificated form.

 

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Section 7.6. Transfer of Stock .

 

(a) If a certificate representing shares of the Corporation is presented to the Corporation with an endorsement requesting the registration of transfer of such shares or an instruction is presented to the Corporation requesting the registration of transfer of uncertificated shares, the Corporation shall register the transfer as requested if:

 

(i) in the case of certificated shares, the certificate representing such shares has been surrendered;

  

(ii)(A) with respect to certificated shares, the endorsement is made by the person specified by the certificate as entitled to such shares; (B) with respect to uncertificated shares, an instruction is made by the registered owner of such uncertificated shares; or (C) with respect to certificated shares or uncertificated shares, the endorsement or instruction is made by any other appropriate person or by an agent who has actual authority to act on behalf of the appropriate person;

 

(iii) the Corporation has received a guarantee of signature of the person signing such endorsement or instruction or such other reasonable assurance that the endorsement or instruction is genuine and authorized as the Corporation may request;

 

(iv) the transfer does not violate any restriction on transfer imposed by the Corporation that is enforceable in accordance with  Section 7.8(a) ; and

 

(v) such other conditions for such transfer as shall be provided for under applicable law have been satisfied.

 

(b) Whenever any transfer of shares shall be made for collateral security and not absolutely, the Corporation shall so record such fact in the entry of transfer if, when the certificate for such shares is presented to the Corporation for transfer or, if such shares are uncertificated, when the instruction for registration of transfer thereof is presented to the Corporation, both the transferor and transferee request the Corporation to do so.

 

Section 7.7. Registered Stockholders . Before due presentment for registration of transfer of a certificate representing shares of the Corporation or of an instruction requesting registration of transfer of uncertificated shares, the Corporation may treat the registered owner as the person exclusively entitled to inspect for any proper purpose the stock ledger and the other books and records of the Corporation, vote such shares, receive dividends or notifications with respect to such shares and otherwise exercise all the rights and powers of the owner of such shares, except that a person who is the beneficial owner of such shares (if held in a voting trust or by a nominee on behalf of such person) may, upon providing documentary evidence of beneficial ownership of such shares and satisfying such other conditions as are provided under applicable law, may also so inspect the books and records of the Corporation.

 

Section 7.8. Effect of the Corporation’s Restriction on Transfer .

 

(a) A written restriction on the transfer or registration of transfer of shares of the Corporation or on the amount of shares of the Corporation that may be owned by any person or group of persons, if permitted by the DGCL and noted conspicuously on the certificate representing such shares or, in the case of uncertificated shares, contained in a notice, offering circular or prospectus sent by the Corporation to the registered owner of such shares within a reasonable time prior to or after the issuance or transfer of such shares, may be enforced against the holder of such shares or any successor or transferee of the holder including an executor, administrator, trustee, guardian or other fiduciary entrusted with like responsibility for the person or estate of the holder.

 

(b) A restriction imposed by the Corporation on the transfer or the registration of shares of the Corporation or on the amount of shares of the Corporation that may be owned by any person or group of persons, even if otherwise lawful, is ineffective against a person without actual knowledge of such restriction unless: (i) the shares are certificated and such restriction is noted conspicuously on the certificate; or (ii) the shares are uncertificated and such restriction was contained in a notice, offering circular or prospectus sent by the Corporation to the registered owner of such shares prior to or within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of such shares.

 

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Section 7.9. Regulations . The Board shall have power and authority to make such additional rules and regulations, subject to any applicable requirement of law, as the Board may deem necessary and appropriate with respect to the issue, transfer or registration of transfer of shares of stock or certificates representing shares. The Board may appoint one or more transfer agents or registrars and may require for the validity thereof that certificates representing shares bear the signature of any transfer agent or registrar so appointed.

 

ARTICLE VIII

 

INDEMNIFICATION

 

Section 8.1. Right to Indemnification . To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended, the Corporation shall indemnify and hold harmless each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (hereinafter a “ proceeding ”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director or officer of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, other enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (hereinafter an “ Indemnitee ”), whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent, or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, employee or agent, against all liability and loss suffered and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred by such Indemnitee in connection with such proceeding; provided, however, that, except as provided in  Section 8.3  with respect to proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify an Indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such Indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board.

 

Section 8.2. Right to Advancement of Expenses . In addition to the right to indemnification conferred in  Section 8.1 , an Indemnitee shall also have the right to be paid by the Corporation to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law the expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees) incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition (hereinafter an “ advancement of expenses ”); provided, however, that, if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by an Indemnitee in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such Indemnitee, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) shall be made only upon the Corporation’s receipt of an undertaking (hereinafter an “ undertaking ”), by or on behalf of such Indemnitee, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that such Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified under this  Article VIII  or otherwise.

  

Section 8.3. Right of Indemnitee to Bring Suit . If a claim under  Section 8.1  or  Section 8.2  is not paid in full by the Corporation within 60 days after a written claim therefor has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for an advancement of expenses, in which case the applicable period shall be 20 days, the Indemnitee may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim. If successful in whole or in part in any such suit, or in a suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Indemnitee shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting or defending such suit. In (a) any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification hereunder (but not in a suit brought by an Indemnitee to enforce a right to an advancement of expenses) it shall be a defense that, and (b) in any suit brought by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the Corporation shall be entitled to recover such expenses upon a final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal (hereinafter a “ final adjudication ”) that, the Indemnitee has not met any applicable standard for indemnification set forth in the DGCL. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its directors who are not parties to such action, a committee of such directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances because the Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the DGCL, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including a determination by its directors who are not parties to such action, a committee of such directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) that the Indemnitee has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall create a presumption that the Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct or, in the case of such a suit brought by the Indemnitee, shall be a defense to such suit. In any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification or to an advancement of expenses hereunder, or by the Corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the burden of proving that the Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to such advancement of expenses, under this  Article VIII  or otherwise shall be on the Corporation.

 

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Section 8.4. Non-Exclusivity of Rights . The rights provided to any Indemnitee pursuant to this  Article VIII  shall not be exclusive of any other right, which such Indemnitee may have or hereafter acquire under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, these By Laws, an agreement, a vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

 

Section 8.5. Insurance . The Corporation may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

 

Section 8.6. Indemnification of Other Persons . This  Article VIII  shall not limit the right of the Corporation to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other than Indemnitees. Without limiting the foregoing, the Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board, grant rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses to any employee or agent of the Corporation and to any other person who is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, to the fullest extent of the provisions of this  Article VIII  with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of Indemnitees under this  Article VIII .

 

Section 8.7. Amendments . Any repeal or amendment of this  Article VIII  by the Board or the stockholders of the Corporation or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provision of these By Laws inconsistent with this  Article VIII , will, to the extent permitted by applicable law, be prospective only (except to the extent such amendment or change in applicable law permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights to Indemnitees on a retroactive basis than permitted prior thereto), and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing hereunder in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision; provided however, that amendments or repeals of this Article VIII shall require the affirmative vote of the stockholders holding at least 66.7% of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation.

 

Section 8.8. Certain Definitions . For purposes of this  Article VIII , (a) references to “ other enterprise ” shall include any employee benefit plan; (b) references to “ fines ” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; (c) references to “ serving at the request of the Corporation ” shall include any service that imposes duties on, or involves services by, a person with respect to any employee benefit plan, its participants, or beneficiaries; and (d) a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interest of the Corporation” for purposes of Section 145 of the DGCL.

 

Section 8.9. Contract Rights . The rights provided to Indemnitees pursuant to this  Article VIII  shall be contract rights and such rights shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, agent or employee and shall inure to the benefit of the Indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators.

 

Section 8.10. Severability . If any provision or provisions of this  Article VIII  shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (a) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this  Article VIII  shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby; and (b) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this  Article VIII  (including, without limitation, each such portion of this Article VIII  containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested by the provision held invalid, illegal or unenforceable.

 

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ARTICLE IX

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

Section 9.1. Place of Meetings . If the place of any meeting of stockholders, the Board or committee of the Board for which notice is required under these By Laws is not designated in the notice of such meeting, such meeting shall be held at the principal business office of the Corporation; provided, however, if the Board has, in its sole discretion, determined that a meeting shall not be held at any place, but instead shall be held by means of remote communication pursuant to  Section 9.5  hereof, then such meeting shall not be held at any place.

 

Section 9.2. Fixing Record Dates .

 

(a) In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to notice of any meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof, the Board may fix a record date, which shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board, and which record date shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting. If the Board so fixes a date, such date shall also be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting unless the Board determines, at the time it fixes such record date, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the date for making such determination. If no record date is fixed by the Board, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the business day next preceding the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the business day next preceding the day on which the meeting is held. A determination of stockholders of record entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall apply to any adjournment of the meeting; provided, however, that the Board may fix a new record date for the adjourned meeting, and in such case shall also fix as the record date for stockholders entitled to notice of such adjourned meeting the same or an earlier date as that fixed for determination of stockholders entitled to vote in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Section 9.2(a) at the adjourned meeting.

 

(b) In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights or the stockholders entitled to exercise any rights in respect of any change, conversion or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action, the Board may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 60 days prior to such action. If no record date is fixed, the record date for determining stockholders for any such purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the Board adopts the resolution relating thereto.

 

Section 9.3. Means of Giving Notice .

 

(a)  Notice to Directors . Whenever under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws notice is required to be given to any director, such notice shall be given either (i) in writing and sent by mail, or by a nationally recognized delivery service, (ii) by means of facsimile telecommunication or other form of electronic transmission, or (iii) by oral notice given personally or by telephone. A notice to a director will be deemed given as follows: (i) if given by hand delivery, orally, or by telephone, when actually received by the director, (ii) if sent through the United States mail, when deposited in the United States mail, with postage and fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the director at the director’s address appearing on the records of the Corporation, (iii) if sent for next day delivery by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service, when deposited with such service, with fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the director at the director’s address appearing on the records of the Corporation, (iv) if sent by facsimile telecommunication, when sent to the facsimile transmission number for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation, (v) if sent by electronic mail, when sent to the electronic mail address for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation, or (vi) if sent by any other form of electronic transmission, when sent to the address, location or number (as applicable) for such director appearing on the records of the Corporation.

 

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(b)  Notice to Stockholders . Whenever under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws notice is required to be given to any stockholder, such notice may be given (i) in writing and sent either by hand delivery, through the United States mail, or by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service for next day delivery, or (ii) by means of a form of electronic transmission consented to by the stockholder, to the extent permitted by, and subject to the conditions set forth in Section 232 of the DGCL. A notice to a stockholder shall be deemed given as follows: (i) if given by hand delivery, when actually received by the stockholder, (ii) if sent through the United States mail, when deposited in the United States mail, with postage and fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at the stockholder’s address appearing on the stock ledger of the Corporation, (iii) if sent for next day delivery by a nationally recognized overnight delivery service, when deposited with such service, with fees thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at the stockholder’s address appearing on the stock ledger of the Corporation, and (iv) if given by a form of electronic transmission consented to by the stockholder to whom the notice is given and otherwise meeting the requirements set forth above, (A) if by facsimile transmission, when directed to a number at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice, (B) if by electronic mail, when directed to an electronic mail address at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice, (C) if by a posting on an electronic network together with separate notice to the stockholder of such specified posting, upon the later of (1) such posting and (2) the giving of such separate notice, and (D) if by any other form of electronic transmission, when directed to the stockholder. A stockholder may revoke such stockholder’s consent to receiving notice by means of electronic communication by giving written notice of such revocation to the Corporation. Any such consent shall be deemed revoked if (1) the Corporation is unable to deliver by electronic transmission two consecutive notices given by the Corporation in accordance with such consent and (2) such inability becomes known to the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary or to the Corporation’s transfer agent, or other person responsible for the giving of notice; provided, however, the inadvertent failure to treat such inability as a revocation shall not invalidate any meeting or other action.

 

(c)  Electronic Transmission . “ Electronic transmission ” means any form of communication, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved and reviewed by a recipient thereof, and that may be directly reproduced in paper form by such a recipient through an automated process, including but not limited to transmission by telex, facsimile telecommunication, electronic mail, telegram and cablegram.

 

(d)  Notice to Stockholders Sharing Same Address . Without limiting the manner by which notice otherwise may be given effectively by the Corporation to stockholders, any notice to stockholders given by the Corporation under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws shall be effective if given by a single written notice to stockholders who share an address if consented to by the stockholders at that address to whom such notice is given. A stockholder may revoke such stockholder’s consent by delivering written notice of such revocation to the Corporation. Any stockholder who fails to object in writing to the Corporation within 60 days of having been given written notice by the Corporation of its intention to send such a single written notice shall be deemed to have consented to receiving such single written notice.

  

(e)  Exceptions to Notice Requirements . Whenever notice is required to be given, under the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, to any person with whom communication is unlawful, the giving of such notice to such person shall not be required and there shall be no duty to apply to any governmental authority or agency for a license or permit to give such notice to such person. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to any such person with whom communication is unlawful shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. In the event that the action taken by the Corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate with the Secretary of State of Delaware, the certificate shall state, if such is the fact and if notice is required, that notice was given to all persons entitled to receive notice except such persons with whom communication is unlawful.

 

Whenever notice is required to be given by the Corporation, under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, to any stockholder to whom (1) notice of two consecutive annual meetings of stockholders and all notices of stockholder meetings or of the taking of action by written consent of stockholders without a meeting to such stockholder during the period between such two consecutive annual meetings, or (2) all, and at least two payments (if sent by first-class mail) of dividends or interest on securities during a 12-month period, have been mailed addressed to such stockholder at such stockholder’s address as shown on the records of the Corporation and have been returned undeliverable, the giving of such notice to such stockholder shall not be required. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to such stockholder shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. If any such stockholder shall deliver to the Corporation a written notice setting forth such stockholder’s then current address, the requirement that notice be given to such stockholder shall be reinstated. In the event that the action taken by the Corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate with the Secretary of State of Delaware, the certificate need not state that notice was not given to persons to whom notice was not required to be given pursuant to Section 230(b) of the DGCL. The exception in subsection (1) of the first sentence of this paragraph to the requirement that notice be given shall not be applicable to any notice returned as undeliverable if the notice was given by electronic transmission.

 

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Section 9.4. Waiver of Notice . Whenever any notice is required to be given under applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these By Laws, a written waiver of such notice, signed before or after the date of such meeting by the person or persons entitled to said notice, or a waiver by electronic transmission by the person entitled to said notice, shall be deemed equivalent to such required notice. All such waivers shall be kept with the books of the Corporation. Attendance at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except where a person attends for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting was not lawfully called or convened.

  

Section 9.5. Meeting Attendance via Remote Communication Equipment.

 

(a)  Stockholder Meetings . If authorized by the Board in its sole discretion, and subject to such guidelines and procedures as the Board may adopt, stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting and proxy holders not physically present at a meeting of stockholders may, by means of remote communication:

 

(i) participate in a meeting of stockholders; and

 

(ii) be deemed present in person and vote at a meeting of stockholders, whether such meeting is to be held at a designated place or solely by means of remote communication, provided that (A) the Corporation shall implement reasonable measures to verify that each person deemed present and permitted to vote at the meeting by means of remote communication is a stockholder or proxy holder, (B) the Corporation shall implement reasonable measures to provide such stockholders and proxy holders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting and, if entitled to vote, to vote on matters submitted to the applicable stockholders, including an opportunity to read or hear the proceedings of the meeting substantially concurrently with such proceedings, and (C) if any stockholder or proxy holder votes or takes other action at the meeting by means of remote communication, a record of such votes or other action shall be maintained by the Corporation.

 

(b)  Board Meetings . Unless otherwise restricted by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, members of the Board or any committee thereof may participate in a meeting of the Board or any committee thereof by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other. Such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at the meeting, except where a person participates in the meeting for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting was not lawfully called or convened.

 

Section 9.6. Dividends . The Board may from time to time declare, and the Corporation may pay, dividends (payable in cash, property or shares of the Corporation’s capital stock) on the Corporation’s outstanding shares of capital stock, subject to applicable law and the Certificate of Incorporation.

 

Section 9.7. Reserves . The Board may set apart out of the funds of the Corporation available for dividends a reserve or reserves for any proper purpose and may abolish any such reserve.

 

Section 9.8. Contracts and Negotiable Instruments . Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these By Laws, any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument may be executed and delivered in the name and on behalf of the Corporation by such officer or officers or other employee or employees of the Corporation as the Board may from time to time authorize. Such authority may be general or confined to specific instances as the Board may determine. The Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or any Vice President may execute and deliver any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument in the name and on behalf of the Corporation. Subject to any restrictions imposed by the Board, the Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer, President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or any Vice President may delegate powers to execute and deliver any contract, bond, deed, lease, mortgage or other instrument in the name and on behalf of the Corporation to other officers or employees of the Corporation under such person’s supervision and authority, it being understood, however, that any such delegation of power shall not relieve such officer of responsibility with respect to the exercise of such delegated power.

 

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Section 9.9. Fiscal Year . The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be fixed by the Board.

 

Section 9.10. Seal . The Board may adopt a corporate seal, which shall be in such form as the Board determines. The seal may be used by causing it or a facsimile thereof to be impressed, affixed or otherwise reproduced.

 

Section 9.11. Books and Records . The books and records of the Corporation may be kept within or outside the State of Delaware at such place or places as may from time to time be designated by the Board.

 

Section 9.12. Resignation . Any director, committee member or officer may resign by giving notice thereof in writing or by electronic transmission to the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or the Secretary. The resignation shall take effect at the time specified therein, or at the time of receipt of such notice if no time is specified or the specified time is earlier than the time of such receipt. Unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

 

Section 9.13. Surety Bonds . Such officers, employees and agents of the Corporation (if any) as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President or the Board may direct, from time to time, shall be bonded for the faithful performance of their duties and for the restoration to the Corporation, in case of their death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal from office, of all books, papers, vouchers, money and other property of whatever kind in their possession or under their control belonging to the Corporation, in such amounts and by such surety companies as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President or the Board may determine. The premiums on such bonds shall be paid by the Corporation and the bonds so furnished shall be in the custody of the Secretary.

 

Section 9.14. Securities of Other Corporations . Powers of attorney, proxies, waivers of notice of meeting, consents in writing and other instruments relating to securities owned by the Corporation may be executed in the name of and on behalf of the Corporation by the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, any Vice President or any officers authorized by the Board. Any such officer, may, in the name of and on behalf of the Corporation, take all such action as any such officer may deem advisable to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of security holders of any corporation in which the Corporation may own securities, or to consent in writing, in the name of the Corporation as such holder, to any action by such corporation, and at any such meeting or with respect to any such consent shall possess and may exercise any and all rights and power incident to the ownership of such securities and which, as the owner thereof, the Corporation might have exercised and possessed. The Board may from time to time confer like powers upon any other person or persons.

 

Section 9.15. Amendments . The Board shall have the power to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By Laws. The affirmative vote of a majority of the Board shall be required to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By Laws. The By Laws also may be adopted, amended, altered or repealed by the stockholders; provided, however, that in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation required by applicable law or the Certificate of Incorporation, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power (except as otherwise provided in Section 8.7) of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the By Laws.

 

 

18

 

 

Exhibit 4.1

 

NUMBER UNITS

U-[●]

 

SEE REVERSE FOR CERTAIN

DEFINITIONS

 

CUSIP 42588L 204

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

UNITS CONSISTING OF ONE SHARE OF COMMON STOCK AND ONE-HALF OF ONE WARRANT
TO PURCHASE ONE SHARE OF COMMON STOCK

 

THIS CERTIFIES THAT                                         is the owner of                     Units.

 

Each Unit ( “Unit” ) consists of one (1) share of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share ( “Common Stock” ), of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the  “Company” ), and one-half of one warrant (the  “Warrant” ). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share (subject to adjustment) of Common Stock for $11.50 per share (subject to adjustment). Each Warrant will become exercisable on the later of (i) thirty (30) days after the Company’s completion of a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses (each a  “Business Combination” ), or (ii) twelve (12) months from the closing of the Company’s initial public offering, and will expire unless exercised before 5:00 p.m., New York City Time, on the date that is five (5) years after the date on which the Company completes its initial Business Combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation (the  “Expiration Date” ). The Common Stock and Warrants comprising the Units represented by this certificate are not transferable separately prior to             , 20            , unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC elects to allow separate trading earlier, subject to the Company’s filing of a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission containing an audited balance sheet reflecting the Company’s receipt of the gross proceeds of the offering and issuing a press release announcing when separate trading will begin. The terms of the Warrants are governed by a Warrant Agreement, dated as of             , 2017, between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as Warrant Agent, and are subject to the terms and provisions contained therein, all of which terms and provisions the holder of this certificate consents to by acceptance hereof. Copies of the Warrant Agreement are on file at the office of the Warrant Agent at 1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor, New York, New York 10004, and are available to any Warrant holder on written request and without cost.

 

This certificate is not valid unless countersigned by the Transfer Agent and Registrar of the Company.

 

Witness the facsimile signature of its duly authorized officers.

 

     
Secretary   President

 

 

 

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

 

The Company will furnish without charge to each unitholder who so requests, a statement of the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof of the Company and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights.

 

The following abbreviations, when used in the inscription on the face of this certificate, shall be construed as though they were written out in full according to applicable laws or regulations:

 

TEN COM as tenants in common UNIF GIFT MIN ACT                     Custodian
           
TEN ENT as tenants by the entireties     (Cust)
          (Minor)
          Under Uniform Gifts to Minors
         
JT TEN as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common     Act                      
(State)

 

Additional abbreviations may also be used though not in the above list.

 

For value received,                hereby sell, assign and transfer unto                  

 

PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR

OTHER

IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF ASSIGNEE

 

 

(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME AND ADDRESS, INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE)

  

         
         

 

                                          Units represented by the within Certificate, and do hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint

 

                                                                         Attorney to transfer the said Units on the books of the within named Company with full power of substitution in the premises.

 

Dated                      

 

     
    Notice:   The signature to this assignment must correspond with the name as written upon the face of the certificate in every particular, without alteration or enlargement or any change whatever.
Signature(s) Guaranteed:    
     
THE SIGNATURE(S) MUST BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15(OR ANY SUCCESSOR RULE)).    

 

In each case, as more fully described in the Company’s final prospectus dated             , 2017, the holder(s) of this certificate shall be entitled to receive a pro-rata portion of certain funds held in the trust account established in connection with its initial public offering only in the event that (i) the Company redeems the shares of common stock sold in its initial public offering and liquidates because it does not consummate an initial business combination by __________, 2019, (ii) the Corporation redeems the shares of common stock sold in its initial public offering in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to any provision of the Corporation’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (iii) if the holder(s) seek(s) to redeem for cash his, her or its respective shares of common stock in connection with a tender offer (or proxy solicitation, solely in the event the Company seeks stockholder approval of the proposed initial business combination) setting forth the details of a proposed initial business combination. In no other circumstances shall the holder(s) have any right or interest of any kind in or to the trust account.

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 4.2

 

NUMBER

 

  NUMBER
 

SHARES

  SEE REVERSE FOR
  CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
  CUSIP 42588L 105

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III 

INCORPORATED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

  COMMON STOCK

 

This Certifies that                                                                                                                                                               

 

is the owner of                                                                                                                                                                    

 

FULLY PAID AND NON-ASSESSABLE SHARES OF THE PAR VALUE OF $0.0001 EACH OF THE COMMON STOCK OF

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

(THE “CORPORATION”)

 

transferable on the books of the Corporation in person or by duly authorized attorney upon surrender of this certificate properly endorsed.

 

The Corporation will be forced to redeem all of its shares of common stock if it is unable to complete a business combination by ___________, 20___ or as more fully described in the Corporation’s final prospectus dated             , 2017.

 

This certificate is not valid unless countersigned by the Transfer Agent and registered by the Registrar.

 

Witness the seal of the Corporation and the facsimile signatures of its duly authorized officers.

 

  [Corporate Seal]  
Secretary Delaware President

 

 

 

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

The Corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof of the Corporation and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights. This certificate and the shares represented thereby are issued and shall be held subject to all the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and all amendments thereto and resolutions of the Board of Directors providing for the issue of securities (copies of which may be obtained from the secretary of the Corporation), to all of which the holder of this certificate by acceptance hereof assents. The following abbreviations, when used in the inscription on the face of this certificate, shall be construed as though they were written out in full according to applicable laws or regulations:

 

TEN COM as tenants in common UNIF GIFT MIN ACT                   Custodian                  
TEN ENT as tenants by the entireties         (Cust)                       (Minor)
JT TEN as joint tenants with right     Under Uniform Gifts to Minors
    of survivorship and not as tenants in common    
     Act    
          (State)

 

Additional abbreviations may also be used though not in the above list.

 

For value received,                                            hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto

  

(PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR OTHER IDENTIFYING NUMBER(S) OF ASSIGNEE(S))

  

(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES), INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE(S))

 

Shares of the capital stock represented by the within Certificate, and hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints

  

Attorney to transfer the said stock on the books of the within named Corporation with full power of substitution in the premises.

 

Dated:

 

NOTICE: THE SIGNATURE(S) TO THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST CORRESPOND WITH THE NAME AS WRITTEN UPON THE FACE OF THE CERTIFICATE IN EVERY PARTICULAR, WITHOUT ALTERATION OR ENLARGEMENT OR ANY CHANGE WHATEVER.

 

  2  

 

 

Signature(s) Guaranteed:

By

 

THE SIGNATURE(S) MUST BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15 (OR ANY SUCCESSOR RULE)).

 

In each case, as more fully described in the Corporation’s final prospectus dated             , 2017, the holder(s) of this certificate shall be entitled to receive a pro-rata portion of certain funds held in the trust account established in connection with its initial public offering only in the event that (i) the Corporation redeems the shares of common stock sold in its initial public offering and liquidates because it does not consummate an initial business combination by __________, 2019, (ii) the Corporation redeems the shares of common stock sold in its initial public offering in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to any provision of the Corporation’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (iii) if the holder(s) seek(s) to redeem for cash his, her or its respective shares of common stock in connection with a tender offer (or proxy solicitation, solely in the event the Corporation seeks stockholder approval of the proposed initial business combination) setting forth the details of a proposed initial business combination. In no other circumstances shall the holder(s) have any right or interest of any kind in or to the trust account.

 

 

3

 

 

Exhibit 4.3

 

[Form of Warrant Certificate]

 

[FACE]

 

Number

 

Warrants

 

THIS WARRANT SHALL BE VOID IF NOT EXERCISED PRIOR TO

THE EXPIRATION OF THE EXERCISE PERIOD PROVIDED FOR IN THE

WARRANT AGREEMENT DESCRIBED BELOW

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III  

Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Delaware

 

CUSIP 42588L 113

 

Warrant Certificate

 

This Warrant Certificate certifies that              , or registered assigns, is the registered holder of  ____ warrant(s) evidenced hereby (the  “Warrants ” and each, a “ Warrant ”) to purchase shares of Common Stock, $.0001 par value ( “Common Stock” ), of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the  “Company” ). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder, upon exercise during the period set forth in the Warrant Agreement referred to below, to receive from the Company that number of fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock as set forth below, at the exercise price (the  “Exercise Price” ) as determined pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, payable in lawful money (or through “cashless exercise” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) of the United States of America upon surrender of this Warrant Certificate and payment of the Exercise Price at the office or agency of the Warrant Agent referred to below, subject to the conditions set forth herein and in the Warrant Agreement. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Each whole Warrant is initially exercisable for one fully paid and non-assessable share of Common Stock. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of any Warrant. If, upon the exercise of Warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to the Warrant holder. The number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the Warrant Agreement.

 

The initial Exercise Price per share of Common Stock for any Warrant is equal to $11.50 per share. The Exercise Price is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Subject to the conditions set forth in the Warrant Agreement, the Warrants may be exercised only during the Exercise Period and to the extent not exercised by the end of such Exercise Period, such Warrants shall become void.

 

Reference is hereby made to the further provisions of this Warrant Certificate set forth on the reverse hereof and such further provisions shall for all purposes have the same effect as though fully set forth at this place.

 

This Warrant Certificate shall not be valid unless countersigned by the Warrant Agent, as such term is used in the Warrant Agreement.

 

This Warrant Certificate shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflicts of laws principles thereof.

 

  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP.  III
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:
     
  CONTINENTAL STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY as Warrant Agent
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:

 

   

 

[Form of Warrant Certificate]

 

[Reverse]

 

The Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate are part of a duly authorized issue of Warrants entitling the holder on exercise to receive shares of Common Stock and are issued or to be issued pursuant to a Warrant Agreement dated as of             , 2017 (the  “Warrant Agreement” ), duly executed and delivered by the Company to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation, as warrant agent (the  “Warrant Agent” ), which Warrant Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference in and made a part of this instrument and is hereby referred to for a description of the rights, limitation of rights, obligations, duties and immunities thereunder of the Warrant Agent, the Company and the holders (the words  “holders”  or  “holder”  meaning the Registered Holders or Registered Holder) of the Warrants. A copy of the Warrant Agreement may be obtained by the holder hereof upon written request to the Company. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Warrants may be exercised at any time during the Exercise Period set forth in the Warrant Agreement. The holder of Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate may exercise them by surrendering this Warrant Certificate, with the form of election to purchase set forth hereon properly completed and executed, together with payment of the Exercise Price as specified in the Warrant Agreement (or through “cashless exercise” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent. In the event that upon any exercise of Warrants evidenced hereby the number of Warrants exercised shall be less than the total number of Warrants evidenced hereby, there shall be issued to the holder hereof or his, her or its assignee, a new Warrant Certificate evidencing the number of Warrants not exercised.

 

Notwithstanding anything else in this Warrant Certificate or the Warrant Agreement, no Warrant may be exercised unless at the time of exercise (i) a registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock to be issued upon exercise is effective under the Securities Act and (ii) a prospectus thereunder relating to the shares of Common Stock is current, except through “cashless exercise” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement.

 

The Warrant Agreement provides that upon the occurrence of certain events the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants set forth on the face hereof may, subject to certain conditions, be adjusted. If, upon exercise of a Warrant, the holder thereof would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company shall, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to the holder of the Warrant.

 

Warrant Certificates, when surrendered at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent by the Registered Holder thereof in person or by legal representative or attorney duly authorized in writing, may be exchanged, in the manner and subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, but without payment of any service charge, for another Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants.

 

Upon due presentation for registration of transfer of this Warrant Certificate at the office of the Warrant Agent a new Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor and evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants shall be issued to the transferee(s) in exchange for this Warrant Certificate, subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, without charge except for any tax or other governmental charge imposed in connection therewith.

 

The Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the Registered Holder(s) hereof as the absolute owner(s) of this Warrant Certificate (notwithstanding any notation of ownership or other writing hereon made by anyone), for the purpose of any exercise hereof, of any distribution to the holder(s) hereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary. Neither the Warrants nor this Warrant Certificate entitles any holder hereof to any rights of a stockholder of the Company.

 

  2  

 

Election to Purchase

 

(To Be Executed Upon Exercise of Warrant)

 

The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, to receive                     shares of Common Stock and herewith tenders payment for such shares of Common Stock to the order of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the  “Company” ) in the amount of $            in accordance with the terms hereof. The undersigned requests that a certificate for such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of             , whose address is                                 and that such shares of Common Stock be delivered to                                 whose address is                     . If said number of shares of Common Stock is less than all of the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder, the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of             , whose address is                     and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to             , whose address is                                 .

 

In the event that the Warrant has been called for redemption by the Company pursuant to  Section 6  of the Warrant Agreement and the Company has required cashless exercise pursuant to  Section 6.3  of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with  subsection 3.3.1(b)  and  Section 6.3  of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant is a Private Placement Warrant that is to be exercised on a “cashless” basis pursuant to  subsection 3.3.1(c)  of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with  subsection 3.3.1(c)  of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant is to be exercised on a “cashless” basis pursuant to  Section 7.4  of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with Section 7.4  of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant may be exercised, to the extent allowed by the Warrant Agreement, through cashless exercise (i) the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for would be determined in accordance with the relevant section of the Warrant Agreement which allows for such cashless exercise and (ii) the holder hereof shall complete the following: The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, through the cashless exercise provisions of the Warrant Agreement, to receive shares of Common Stock. If said number of shares is less than all of the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder (after giving effect to the cashless exercise), the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of                                 , whose address is                     and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to                                 , whose address is                                 .

 

[Signature Page follows]

 

  3  

 

 

         
Date:               , 20             

 

    (Signature)
     
     
     
     
     
     
    (Address)
     
     
    (Tax Identification Number)

 

Signature Guaranteed:

 

 

 THE SIGNATURE(S) SHOULD BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15 (OR ANY SUCCESSOR RULE)).

 

 

 

4

 

 

Exhibit 4.4

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

and

 

CONTINENTAL STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY

 

WARRANT AGREEMENT

 

Dated as of [●], 2017

 

THIS WARRANT AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”), dated as of [●], 2017, is by and between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation, as warrant agent (the “ Warrant Agent ”, also referred to herein as the “ Transfer Agent ”).

 

WHEREAS, the Company has entered into that certain Second Amended and Restated Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement dated as of May 26, 2017 (the “ Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement ”), with Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), pursuant to which the Sponsor will purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 warrants simultaneously with the closing of the Offering (as defined below) and up to 742,500 additional warrants in connection with the exercise of the Over-allotment Option (as defined below), if any, bearing the legend set forth in  Exhibit B  hereto (the “ Private Placement Warrants ”) at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant; and

 

WHEREAS, in order to finance the Company’s transaction costs in connection with an intended initial Business Combination (as defined below), the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s executive officers and directors may loan to the Company funds as the Company may require, of which up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into up to an additional 1,500,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant;

 

WHEREAS, the Company is engaged in an initial public offering (the “ Offering ”) of units of the Company’s equity securities, each such unit comprised of one share of Common Stock (as defined below) and one-half of one Public Warrant (as defined below) (the “ Units ”) and, in connection therewith, has determined to issue and deliver up to 12,937,500 warrants (including up to 1,687,500 warrants subject to the Over-allotment Option) to public investors in the Offering (the “ Public Warrants ” and, together with the Private Placement Warrants, the “ Warrants ”). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (“ Common Stock ”), for 11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) a registration statement on Form S-1, File No. 333-[●] (the “ Registration Statement ”) and prospectus (the “ Prospectus ”), for the registration, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”), of the Units, the Public Warrants and the Common Stock included in the Units; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company desires the Warrant Agent to act on behalf of the Company, and the Warrant Agent is willing to so act, in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption and exercise of the Warrants; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company desires to provide for the form and provisions of the Warrants, the terms upon which they shall be issued and exercised, and the respective rights, limitation of rights, and immunities of the Company, the Warrant Agent, and the holders of the Warrants; and

 

WHEREAS, all acts and things have been done and performed which are necessary to make the Warrants, when executed on behalf of the Company and countersigned by or on behalf of the Warrant Agent, as provided herein, the valid, binding and legal obligations of the Company, and to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement.

 

 

 

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:

 

1.  Appointment of Warrant Agent . The Company hereby appoints the Warrant Agent to act as agent for the Company for the Warrants, and the Warrant Agent hereby accepts such appointment and agrees to perform the same in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.

  

2.  Warrants .

 

2.1  [Reserved].

 

2.2  Effect of Countersignature . If a physical certificate is issued, unless and until countersigned by the Warrant Agent pursuant to this Agreement, a Warrant shall be invalid and of no effect and may not be exercised by the holder thereof.

 

2.3  Registration .

 

2.3.1  Warrant Register . The Warrant Agent shall maintain books (the “ Warrant Register ”), for the registration of original issuance and the registration of transfer of the Warrants. Upon the initial issuance of the Warrants in book-entry form, the Warrant Agent shall issue and register the Warrants in the names of the respective holders thereof in such denominations and otherwise in accordance with instructions delivered to the Warrant Agent by the Company. Ownership of beneficial interests in the Public Warrants shall be shown on, and the transfer of such ownership shall be effected through, records maintained by institutions that have accounts with the Depository Trust Company (the “ Depository ”) (such institution, with respect to a Warrant in its account, a “ Participant ”).

 

If the Depository subsequently ceases to make its book-entry settlement system available for the Public Warrants, the Company may instruct the Warrant Agent regarding making other arrangements for book-entry settlement. In the event that the Public Warrants are not eligible for, or it is no longer necessary to have the Public Warrants available in, book-entry form, the Warrant Agent shall provide written instructions to the Depository to deliver to the Warrant Agent for cancellation each book-entry Public Warrant, and the Company shall instruct the Warrant Agent to deliver to the Depository definitive certificates in physical form evidencing such Warrants which shall be in the form annexed hereto as Exhibit A.

 

The certificates, if issued, shall be signed by, or bear the facsimile signature of, the Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary or other principal officer of the Company. In the event the person whose facsimile signature has been placed upon any Warrant shall have ceased to serve in the capacity in which such person signed the Warrant before such Warrant is issued, it may be issued with the same effect as if he or she had not ceased to be such at the date of issuance.

 

2.3.2  Registered Holder . Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer of any Warrant, the Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the person in whose name such Warrant is registered in the Warrant Register (the “ Registered Holder ”) as the absolute owner of such Warrant and of each Warrant represented thereby, for the purpose of any exercise thereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary.

 

2.4  Detachability of Warrants . The Common Stock and Public Warrants comprising the Units shall begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus or, if such 52nd day is not on a day, other than a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, on which banks in New York City are generally open for normal business (a “ Business Day ”), then on the immediately succeeding Business Day following such date, or earlier (the “ Detachment Date ”) with the consent of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, as representative of the several underwriters, but in no event shall the Common Stock and the Public Warrants comprising the Units be separately traded until (A) the Company has filed a current report on Form 8-K with the Commission containing an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the gross proceeds of the Offering, including the proceeds received by the Company from the exercise by the underwriters of their right to purchase additional Units in the Offering (the “ Over-allotment Option ”), if the Over-allotment Option is exercised prior to the filing of the Form 8-K, and (B) the Company issues a press release and files with the Commission a current report on Form 8-K announcing when such separate trading shall begin.

  

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2.5  No Fractional Warrants Other Than as Part of Units . The Company shall not issue fractional Warrants other than as part of Units, each of which is comprised of one share of Common Stock and one-half of one Public Warrant. If, upon the detachment of Public Warrants from Units or otherwise, a holder of Warrants would be entitled to receive a fractional Warrant, the Company shall round down to the nearest whole number the number of Warrants to be issued to such holder.

 

2.6 Private Placement Warrants . The Private Placement Warrants shall be identical to the Public Warrants, except that so long as they are held by the Sponsor or any of its Permitted Transferees (as defined below) the Private Placement Warrants: (i) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, pursuant to  subsection 3.3.1(c)  hereof, (ii) may not be transferred, assigned or sold until thirty (30) days after the completion by the Company of an initial Business Combination (as defined below), and (iii) shall not be redeemable by the Company;  provided however , that in the case of (ii), the Private Placement Warrants and any shares of Common Stock held by the members of the Sponsor or any of its Permitted Transferees and issued upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants may be transferred by the holders thereof:

 

(a) in the case of an individual, by gift to such person’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such person’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization,

 

(b) to the Company’s officers or directors, any affiliate or family member of any of the Company’s officers or directors or any member of the Sponsor, or any affiliate of the Sponsor or its members,

 

(c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of the 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) through private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the Warrants were originally purchased, or

 

(f) in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to the completion of the initial Business Combination,

 

(g) by virtue of the laws of the state of Delaware and the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement,

 

(h) in the event that, subsequent to the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination, the Company consummates a merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the holders of the Company’s equity securities issued in the Offering having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property;  provided however , that, in the case of clauses (a) through (e) and (g), these transferees (the “ Permitted Transferees ”) enter into a written agreement with the Company agreeing to be bound by the transfer restrictions in this Agreement.

 

3.  Terms and Exercise of Warrants .

 

3.1  Warrant Price . Each whole Warrant shall, when countersigned by the Warrant Agent, entitle the Registered Holder thereof, subject to the provisions of such Warrant and of this Agreement, to purchase from the Company the number of shares of Common Stock stated therein, at the price of $11.50 per share, subject to the adjustments provided in  Section 4  hereof and in the last sentence of this  Section 3.1 . The term “Warrant Price” as used in this Agreement shall mean the price per share at which shares of Common Stock may be purchased at the time a Warrant is exercised. The Company in its sole discretion may lower the Warrant Price at any time prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below) for a period of not less than twenty (20) Business Days, provided, that the Company shall provide at least twenty (20) days prior written notice of such reduction to Registered Holders of the Warrants and, provided further that any such reduction shall be identical among all of the Warrants.

 

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3.2  Duration of Warrants . A Warrant may be exercised only during the period (the “ Exercise Period ”) commencing on the later of: (i) the date that is thirty (30) days after the first date on which the Company completes a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Company and one or more businesses (a “ Business Combination ”), or (ii) the date that is twelve (12) months from the date of the closing of the Offering, and terminating at 5:00 p.m., New York City time on the earlier to occur of: (x) the date that is five (5) years after the date on which the Company completes its initial Business Combination, (y) the liquidation of the Company’s trust account in accordance with the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended from time to time, if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination, or (z) other than with respect to the Private Placement Warrants, the Redemption Date (as defined below) as provided in  Section 6.2  hereof (the “ Expiration Date ”);  provided however , that the exercise of any Warrant shall be subject to the satisfaction of any applicable conditions, as set forth in  subsection 3.3.2  below, with respect to an effective registration statement. Except with respect to the right to receive the Redemption Price (as defined below) (other than with respect to a Private Placement Warrant) in the event of a redemption (as set forth in  Section 6  hereof), each Warrant (other than a Private Placement Warrant in the event of a redemption) not exercised on or before the Expiration Date shall become void, and all rights thereunder and all rights in respect thereof under this Agreement shall cease at 5:00 p.m. New York City time on the Expiration Date. The Company in its sole discretion may extend the duration of the Warrants by delaying the Expiration Date;  provided , that the Company shall provide at least twenty (20) days prior written notice of any such extension to Registered Holders of the Warrants and, provided further that any such extension shall be identical in duration among all the Warrants.

 

3.3  Exercise of Warrants .

 

3.3.1  Payment . Subject to the provisions of the Warrant and this Agreement, a Warrant, when countersigned by the Warrant Agent, may be exercised by the Registered Holder thereof by surrendering it, at the office of the Warrant Agent, or at the office of its successor as Warrant Agent, in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, with the subscription form, as set forth in the Warrant, duly executed, and by paying in full the Warrant Price for each full share of Common Stock as to which the Warrant is exercised and any and all applicable taxes due in connection with the exercise of the Warrant, the exchange of the Warrant for the shares of Common Stock and the issuance of such Common Stock, as follows:

 

(a) in lawful money of the United States, in good certified check or good bank draft payable to the order of the Warrant Agent;

 

(b) in the event of a redemption pursuant to  Section 6  hereof in which the Company’s board of directors (the “ Board ”) has elected to require all holders of the Warrants to exercise such Warrants on a “cashless basis,” by surrendering the Warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the “Fair Market Value”, as defined in this  subsection 3.3.1(b)  by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this  subsection 3.3.1(b)  and  Section 6.3 , the “Fair Market Value” shall mean the average last sale price of the Common Stock for the ten (10) trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the Warrants, pursuant to  Section 6 hereof;

 

(c) with respect to any Private Placement Warrant, so long as such Private Placement Warrant is held by the Sponsor or a Permitted Transferee, by surrendering the Warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the “Fair Market Value”, as defined in this  subsection 3.3.1(c) , by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this  subsection 3.3.1(c) , the “Fair Market Value” shall mean the average last sale price of the Common Stock for the ten (10) trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which notice of exercise of the Warrant is sent to the Warrant Agent; or

 

(d) as provided in Section 7.4 hereof.

 

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3.3.2  Issuance of Shares of Common Stock on Exercise . As soon as practicable after the exercise of any Warrant and the clearance of the funds in payment of the Warrant Price (if payment is pursuant to  subsection 3.3.1(a)) , the Company shall issue to the Registered Holder of such Warrant a book-entry position or certificate, as applicable, for the number of full shares of Common Stock to which he, she or it is entitled, registered in such name or names as may be directed by him, her or it, and if such Warrant shall not have been exercised in full, a new book-entry position or countersigned Warrant, as applicable, for the number of shares of Common Stock as to which such Warrant shall not have been exercised. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not be obligated to deliver any shares of Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of a Warrant and shall have no obligation to settle such Warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the Public Warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company’s satisfying its obligations under  Section 7.4 . No Warrant shall be exercisable and the Company shall not be obligated to issue shares of Common Stock upon exercise of a Warrant unless the Common Stock issuable upon such Warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt from registration or qualification under the securities laws of the state of residence of the Registered Holder of the Warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a Warrant, the holder of such Warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such Warrant and such Warrant may have no value and expire worthless, in which case the purchaser of a Unit containing such Public Warrants shall have paid the full purchase price for the Unit solely for the shares of Common Stock underlying such Unit. In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Warrant exercise. The Company may require holders of Public Warrants to settle the Warrant on a “cashless basis” pursuant to  Section 7.4 . If, by reason of any exercise of warrants on a “cashless basis”, the holder of any Warrant would be entitled, upon the exercise of such Warrant, to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company shall round down to the nearest whole number, the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to such holder. 

 

3.3.3  Valid Issuance . All shares of Common Stock issued upon the proper exercise of a Warrant in conformity with this Agreement shall be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

3.3.4  Date of Issuance . Each person in whose name any book-entry position or certificate, as applicable, for shares of Common Stock is issued shall for all purposes be deemed to have become the holder of record of such shares of Common Stock on the date on which the Warrant, or book-entry position representing such Warrant, was surrendered and payment of the Warrant Price was made, irrespective of the date of delivery of such certificate in the case of a certificated Warrant, except that, if the date of such surrender and payment is a date when the share transfer books of the Company or book-entry system of the Warrant Agent are closed, such person shall be deemed to have become the holder of such shares of Common Stock at the close of business on the next succeeding date on which the share transfer books or book-entry system are open.

 

3.3.5  Maximum Percentage . A holder of a Warrant may notify the Company in writing in the event it elects to be subject to the provisions contained in this  subsection 3.3.5 however , no holder of a Warrant shall be subject to this  subsection 3.3.5  unless he, she or it makes such election. If the election is made by a holder, the Warrant Agent shall not effect the exercise of the holder’s Warrant, and such holder shall not have the right to exercise such Warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the Warrant Agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) (the “ Maximum Percentage ”) of the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. For purposes of the foregoing sentence, the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates shall include the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant with respect to which the determination of such sentence is being made, but shall exclude shares of Common Stock that would be issuable upon (x) exercise of the remaining, unexercised portion of the Warrant beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates and (y) exercise or conversion of the unexercised or unconverted portion of any other securities of the Company beneficially owned by such person and its affiliates (including, without limitation, any convertible notes or convertible preferred stock or warrants) subject to a limitation on conversion or exercise analogous to the limitation contained herein. Except as set forth in the preceding sentence, for purposes of this paragraph, beneficial ownership shall be calculated in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ”). For purposes of the Warrant, in determining the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock, the holder may rely on the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock as reflected in (1) the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, current report on Form 8-K or other public filing with the Commission as the case may be, (2) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (3) any other notice by the Company or Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the “Transfer Agent”) setting forth the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding. For any reason at any time, upon the written request of the holder of the Warrant, the Company shall, within two (2) Business Days, confirm orally and in writing to such holder the number of shares of Common Stock then outstanding. In any case, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock shall be determined after giving effect to the conversion or exercise of equity securities of the Company by the holder and its affiliates since the date as of which such number of outstanding shares of Common Stock was reported. By written notice to the Company, the holder of a Warrant may from time to time increase or decrease the Maximum Percentage applicable to such holder to any other percentage specified in such notice;  provided however , that any such increase shall not be effective until the sixty-first (61st) day after such notice is delivered to the Company.

  

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4.  Adjustments .

 

4.1  Stock Dividends .

 

4.1.1  Split-Ups . If after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of  Section 4.6  below, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Common Stock, or by a split-up of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Warrant shall be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Common Stock. A rights offering to holders of the Common Stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Common Stock at a price less than the “Fair Market Value” (as defined below) shall be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Common Stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for the Common Stock) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Common Stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the Fair Market Value. For purposes of this  subsection 4.1.1 , (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock, in determining the price payable for Common Stock, there shall be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) “Fair Market Value” means the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Common Stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

 

4.1.2  Extraordinary Dividends . If the Company, at any time while the Warrants are outstanding and unexpired, shall pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of the Common Stock on account of such shares of Common Stock (or other shares of the Company’s capital stock into which the Warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described in  subsection 4.1.1  above, (b) Ordinary Cash Dividends (as defined below), (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of the Common Stock in connection with a proposed initial Business Combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Common Stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the public shares of Common Stock if the Company does not complete the Business Combination within the period set forth in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or (e) in connection with the redemption of public shares of Common Stock upon the failure of the Company to complete its initial Business Combination and any subsequent distribution of its assets upon its liquidation (any such non-excluded event being referred to herein as an “ Extraordinary Dividend ”), then the Warrant Price shall be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such Extraordinary Dividend, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value (as determined by the Board, in good faith) of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Common Stock in respect of such Extraordinary Dividend.

 

For purposes of this  subsection 4.1.2 , “ Ordinary Cash Dividends ” means any cash dividend or cash distribution which, when combined on a per share basis, with the per share amounts of all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Common Stock during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any of the events referred to in other subsections of this  Section 4  and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the Warrant Price or to the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Warrant) does not exceed $0.50 (being 5% of the offering price of the Units in the Offering).

 

4.2  Aggregation of Shares . If after the date hereof, and subject to the provisions of  Section 4.6  hereof, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Common Stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable on exercise of each Warrant shall be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Common Stock.

 

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4.3  Adjustments in Exercise Price . Whenever the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants is adjusted, as provided in  subsection 4.1.1  or  Section 4.2  above, the Warrant Price shall be adjusted (to the nearest cent) by multiplying such Warrant Price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which shall be the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon the exercise of the Warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which shall be the number of shares of Common Stock so purchasable immediately thereafter. 

  

4.4  Replacement of Securities upon Reorganization, etc . In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (other than a change under  subsections 4.1.1  or  4.1.2  or  Section 4. 2 hereof or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another entity or conversion of the Company into another entity (other than a consolidation or merger in which the Company is the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Common Stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another entity of the assets or other property of the Company as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which the Company is dissolved, the holders of the Warrants shall thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the Warrants and in lieu of the shares of Common Stock of the Company immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the Warrants would have received if such holder had exercised his, her or its Warrant(s) immediately prior to such event (the “ Alternative Issuance ” ) and the Company shall not enter into any such consolidation, merger, sale or conveyance unless the successor or purchasing entity, as the case may be, shall execute an amendment hereto with the Warrant Agent providing for delivery of such Alternative Issuance;  provided however , that (i) if the holders of the Common Stock were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets constituting the Alternative Issuance for which each Warrant shall become exercisable shall be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by the holders of the Common Stock in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and (ii) if a tender, exchange or redemption offer shall have been made to and accepted by the holders of the Common Stock (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the Company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the Company as provided for in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the repurchase of shares of Common Stock by the Company if a proposed initial Business Combination is presented to the stockholders of the Company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act (or any successor rule)) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act (or any successor rule)) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act (or any successor rule)) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, the holder of a Warrant shall be entitled to receive as the Alternative Issuance, the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such Warrant holder had exercised the Warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Common Stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in this  Section 4 provided further , that if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of the Common Stock in the applicable event is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the Registered Holder properly exercises the Warrant within thirty (30) days following the public disclosure of the consummation of such applicable event by the Company pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission, the Warrant Price shall be reduced by an amount (in dollars) equal to the difference of (i) the Warrant Price in effect prior to such reduction minus (ii) (A) the Per Share Consideration (as defined below) (but in no event less than zero) minus (B) the Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined below). The “Black-Scholes Warrant Value” means the value of a Warrant immediately prior to the consummation of the applicable event based on the Black-Scholes Warrant Model for a Capped American Call on Bloomberg Financial Markets (“Bloomberg”). For purposes of calculating such amount, (1)  Section 6  of this Agreement shall be taken into account, (2) the price of each share of Common Stock shall be the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the effective date of the applicable event, (3) the assumed volatility shall be the 90 day volatility obtained from the HVT function on Bloomberg determined as of the trading day immediately prior to the day of the announcement of the applicable event, and (4) the assumed risk-free interest rate shall correspond to the U.S. Treasury rate for a period equal to the remaining term of the Warrant. “Per Share Consideration” means (i) if the consideration paid to holders of the Common Stock consists exclusively of cash, the amount of such cash per share of Common Stock, and (ii) in all other cases, the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the effective date of the applicable event. If any reclassification or reorganization also results in a change in shares of Common Stock covered by  subsection 4.1.1 , then such adjustment shall be made pursuant to  subsection 4.1.1  or  Sections 4.2 4.3  and this  Section 4.4 . The provisions of this  Section 4.4  shall similarly apply to successive reclassifications, reorganizations, mergers or consolidations, sales or other transfers. In no event will the Warrant Price be reduced to less than the par value per share issuable upon exercise of the Warrant.

  

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4.5  Notices of Changes in Warrant . Upon every adjustment of the Warrant Price or the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of a Warrant, the Company shall give written notice thereof to the Warrant Agent, which notice shall state the Warrant Price resulting from such adjustment and the increase or decrease, if any, in the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable at such price upon the exercise of a Warrant, setting forth in reasonable detail the method of calculation and the facts upon which such calculation is based. Upon the occurrence of any event specified in  Sections 4.1 4.2 4.3  or  4.4 , the Company shall give written notice of the occurrence of such event to each holder of a Warrant, at the last address set forth for such holder in the Warrant Register, of the record date or the effective date of the event. Failure to give such notice, or any defect therein, shall not affect the legality or validity of such event. 

 

4.6  No Fractional Shares . Notwithstanding any provision contained in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company shall not issue fractional shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of Warrants. If, by reason of any adjustment made pursuant to this  Section 4 , the holder of any Warrant would be entitled, upon the exercise of such Warrant, to receive a fractional interest in a share, the Company shall, upon such exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to such holder.

 

4.7  Form of Warrant . The form of Warrant need not be changed because of any adjustment pursuant to this  Section 4 , and Warrants issued after such adjustment may state the same Warrant Price and the same number of shares of Common Stock as is stated in the Warrants initially issued pursuant to this Agreement;  provided however , that the Company may at any time in its sole discretion make any change in the form of Warrant that the Company may deem appropriate and that does not affect the substance thereof, and any Warrant thereafter issued or countersigned, whether in exchange or substitution for an outstanding Warrant or otherwise, may be in the form as so changed.

 

4.8  Other Events . In case any event shall occur affecting the Company as to which none of the provisions of preceding subsections of this  Section 4  are strictly applicable, but which would require an adjustment to the terms of the Warrants in order to (i) avoid an adverse impact on the Warrants and (ii) effectuate the intent and purpose of this  Section 4 , then, in each such case, the Company shall appoint a firm of independent public accountants, investment banking or other appraisal firm of recognized national standing, which shall give its opinion as to whether or not any adjustment to the rights represented by the Warrants is necessary to effectuate the intent and purpose of this  Section 4  and, if they determine that an adjustment is necessary, the terms of such adjustment. The Company shall adjust the terms of the Warrants in a manner that is consistent with any adjustment recommended in such opinion.

 

5.  Transfer and Exchange of Warrants  .

 

5.1  Registration of Transfer . The Warrant Agent shall register the transfer, from time to time, of any outstanding Warrant upon the Warrant Register, upon surrender of such Warrant for transfer, in the case of certificate warrants, properly endorsed with signatures properly guaranteed and accompanied by appropriate instructions for transfer. Upon any such transfer, a new Warrant representing an equal aggregate number of Warrants shall be issued and the old Warrant shall be cancelled by the Warrant Agent. In the case of certificate warrants, the Warrants so cancelled shall be delivered by the Warrant Agent to the Company from time to time upon request.

 

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5.2  Procedure for Surrender of Warrants . Warrants may be surrendered to the Warrant Agent, together with a written request for exchange or transfer, and thereupon the Warrant Agent shall issue in exchange therefor one or more new Warrants as requested by the Registered Holder of the Warrants so surrendered, representing an equal aggregate number of Warrants;  provided however , that in the event that a Warrant surrendered for transfer bears a restrictive legend (as in the case of the Private Placement Warrants), the Warrant Agent shall not cancel such Warrant and issue new Warrants in exchange thereof until the Warrant Agent has received an opinion of counsel for the Company stating that such transfer may be made and indicating whether the new Warrants must also bear a restrictive legend.

  

5.3  Fractional Warrants . The Warrant Agent shall not be required to effect any registration of transfer or exchange which shall result in the issuance of a warrant certificate or book-entry position for a fraction of a warrant, except as part of the Units.

 

5.4  Service Charges . No service charge shall be made for any exchange or registration of transfer of Warrants.

 

5.5  Warrant Execution and Countersignature . The Warrant Agent is hereby authorized to countersign and to deliver, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Warrants required to be issued pursuant to the provisions of this  Section 5 , and the Company, whenever required by the Warrant Agent, shall supply the Warrant Agent with Warrants duly executed on behalf of the Company for such purpose.

 

5.6  Transfer of Warrants . Prior to the Detachment Date, the Public Warrants may be transferred or exchanged only together with the Unit in which such Warrant is included, and only for the purpose of effecting, or in conjunction with, a transfer or exchange of such Unit. Furthermore, each transfer of a Unit on the register relating to such Units shall operate also to transfer the Warrants included in such Unit. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this  Section 5.6  shall have no effect on any transfer of Warrants on and after the Detachment Date.

 

6.  Redemption .

 

6.1  Redemption . Subject to  Section 6.4  hereof, not less than all of the outstanding Warrants may be redeemed, at the option of the Company, at any time while they are exercisable and prior to their expiration, at the office of the Warrant Agent, upon notice to the Registered Holders of the Warrants, as described in  Section 6.2  below, at the price of $0.01 per Warrant (the “ Redemption Price ”), provided that the last sales price of the Common Stock reported has been at least $18.00 per share (subject to adjustment in compliance with  Section 4  hereof),   on each of twenty (20) trading days within the thirty (30) trading-day period ending on the third Business Day prior to the date on which notice of the redemption is given and provided that there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, and a current prospectus relating thereto, available throughout the 30-day Redemption Period ( as defined in  Section 6.2  below ) or the Company has elected to require the exercise of the Warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to  subsection 3.3.1 ; provided, however, that if and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise such redemption right if the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or the Company is unable to effect such registration or qualification.

 

6.2  Date Fixed for, and Notice of, Redemption . In the event that the Company elects to redeem all of the Warrants, the Company shall fix a date for the redemption (the “ Redemption Date ”). Notice of redemption shall be mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by the Company not less than thirty (30) days prior to the Redemption Date (such 30-day period, the “ Redemption Period ”) to the Registered Holders of the Warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they shall appear on the registration books. Any notice mailed in the manner herein provided shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly given whether or not the Registered Holder received such notice.

 

6.3  Exercise After Notice of Redemption . The Warrants may be exercised, for cash (or on a “cashless basis” in accordance with  subsection 3.3.1(b)  of this Agreement) at any time after notice of redemption shall have been given by the Company pursuant to  Section 6.2  hereof and prior to the Redemption Date. In the event that the Company determines to require all holders of Warrants to exercise their Warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to  subsection 3.3.1 , the notice of redemption shall contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Common Stock to be received upon exercise of the Warrants, including the “Fair Market Value” (as such term is defined in  subsection 3.3.1(b)  hereof) in such case. On and after the Redemption Date, the record holder of the Warrants shall have no further rights except to receive, upon surrender of the Warrants, the Redemption Price.

 

  9  

 

 

6.4  Exclusion of Private Placement Warrants . The Company agrees that the redemption rights provided in this  Section 6  shall not apply to the Private Placement Warrants if at the time of the redemption such Private Placement Warrants continue to be held by the Sponsor or its Permitted Transferees.  However , once such Private Placement Warrants are transferred (other than to Permitted Transferees under  Section 2.6 ), the Company may redeem the Private Placement Warrants, provided that the criteria for redemption are met, including the opportunity of the holder of such Private Placement Warrants to exercise the Private Placement Warrants prior to redemption pursuant to  Section 6.3 . Private Placement Warrants that are transferred to persons other than Permitted Transferees shall upon such transfer cease to be Private Placement Warrants and shall become Public Warrants under this Agreement.

  

7.  Other Provisions Relating to Rights of Holders of Warrants .

 

7.1  No Rights as Stockholder . A Warrant does not entitle the Registered Holder thereof to any of the rights of a stockholder of the Company, including, without limitation, the right to receive dividends, or other distributions, exercise any preemptive rights to vote or to consent or to receive notice as stockholders in respect of the meetings of stockholders or the election of directors of the Company or any other matter.

 

7.2  Lost, Stolen, Mutilated, or Destroyed Warrants . If any Warrant is lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed, the Company and the Warrant Agent may on such terms as to indemnity or otherwise as they may in their discretion impose (which shall, in the case of a mutilated Warrant, include the surrender thereof), issue a new Warrant of like denomination, tenor, and date as the Warrant so lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed. Any such new Warrant shall constitute a substitute contractual obligation of the Company, whether or not the allegedly lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed Warrant shall be at any time enforceable by anyone.

 

7.3  Reservation of Common Stock . The Company shall at all times reserve and keep available a number of its authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock that shall be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Warrants issued pursuant to this Agreement.

 

7.4  Registration of Common Stock; Cashless Exercise at Company’s Option .

 

7.4.1  Registration of the Common Stock . The Company agrees that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) Business Days after the closing of its initial Business Combination, it shall use its best efforts to file with the Commission a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. The Company shall use its best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the Warrants in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. If any such registration statement has not been declared effective by the 60th Business Day following the closing of the Business Combination, holders of the Warrants shall have the right, during the period beginning on the 61st Business Day after the closing of the Business Combination and ending upon such registration statement being declared effective by the Commission, and during any other period when the Company shall fail to have maintained an effective registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, to exercise such Warrants on a “cashless basis,” by exchanging the Warrants (in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act (or any successor rule) or another exemption) for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the Warrant Price and the “Fair Market Value” (as defined below) by (y) the Fair Market Value. Solely for purposes of this  subsection 7.4.1 , “Fair Market Value” shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date that notice of exercise is received by the Warrant Agent from the holder of such Warrants or its securities broker or intermediary. The date that notice of cashless exercise is received by the Warrant Agent shall be conclusively determined by the Warrant Agent. In connection with the “cashless exercise” of a Public Warrant, the Company shall, upon request, provide the Warrant Agent with an opinion of counsel for the Company (which shall be an outside law firm with securities law experience) stating that (i) the exercise of the Warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with this  subsection 7.4.1  is not required to be registered under the Securities Act and (ii) the shares of Common Stock issued upon such exercise shall be freely tradable under United States federal securities laws by anyone who is not an affiliate (as such term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act (or any successor rule)) of the Company and, accordingly, shall not be required to bear a restrictive legend. Except as provided in  subsection 7.4.2 , for the avoidance of any doubt, unless and until all of the Warrants have been exercised, the Company shall continue to be obligated to comply with its registration obligations under the first three sentences of this  subsection 7.4.1 .

  

  10  

 

 

7.4.2  Cashless Exercise at Company’s Option . If the Common Stock is at the time of any exercise of a Warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act (or any successor rule), the Company may, at its option, (i) require holders of Public Warrants who exercise Public Warrants to exercise such Public Warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act (or any successor rule) as described in  subsection 7.4.1  and (ii) in the event the Company so elects, the Company shall not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary. If the Company does not elect at the time of exercise to require a holder of Public Warrants who exercises Public Warrants to exercise such Public Warrants on a “cashless basis,” it agrees to use its best efforts to register or qualify for sale the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrant under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the Warrants were initially offered by the Company of the exercising Public Warrant holder to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

8.  Concerning the Warrant Agent and Other Matters .

 

8.1  Payment of Taxes . The Company shall from time to time promptly pay all taxes and charges that may be imposed upon the Company or the Warrant Agent in respect of the issuance or delivery of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of the Warrants, but the Company shall not be obligated to pay any transfer taxes in respect of the Warrants or such shares of Common Stock.

 

8.2  Resignation, Consolidation, or Merger of Warrant Agent .

 

8.2.1  Appointment of Successor Warrant Agent . The Warrant Agent, or any successor to it hereafter appointed, may resign its duties and be discharged from all further duties and liabilities hereunder after giving sixty (60) days’ notice in writing to the Company. If the office of the Warrant Agent becomes vacant by resignation or incapacity to act or otherwise, the Company shall appoint in writing a successor Warrant Agent in place of the Warrant Agent. If the Company shall fail to make such appointment within a period of thirty (30) days after it has been notified in writing of such resignation or incapacity by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of a Warrant (who shall, with such notice, submit his Warrant for inspection by the Company), then the holder of any Warrant may apply to the Supreme Court of the State of New York for the County of New York for the appointment of a successor Warrant Agent at the Company’s cost. Any successor Warrant Agent, whether appointed by the Company or by such court, shall be a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, in good standing and having its principal office in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, and authorized under such laws to exercise corporate trust powers and subject to supervision or examination by federal or state authority. After appointment, any successor Warrant Agent shall be vested with all the authority, powers, rights, immunities, duties, and obligations of its predecessor Warrant Agent with like effect as if originally named as Warrant Agent hereunder, without any further act or deed; but if for any reason it becomes necessary or appropriate, the predecessor Warrant Agent shall execute and deliver, at the expense of the Company, an instrument transferring to such successor Warrant Agent all the authority, powers, and rights of such predecessor Warrant Agent hereunder; and upon request of any successor Warrant Agent the Company shall make, execute, acknowledge, and deliver any and all instruments in writing for more fully and effectually vesting in and confirming to such successor Warrant Agent all such authority, powers, rights, immunities, duties, and obligations.

 

8.2.2  Notice of Successor Warrant Agent . In the event a successor Warrant Agent shall be appointed, the Company shall give notice thereof to the predecessor Warrant Agent and the Transfer Agent for the Common Stock not later than the effective date of any such appointment.

 

8.2.3  Merger or Consolidation of Warrant Agent . Any corporation into which the Warrant Agent may be merged or with which it may be consolidated or any corporation resulting from any merger or consolidation to which the Warrant Agent shall be a party shall be the successor Warrant Agent under this Agreement without any further act.

 

  11  

 

 

8.3  Fees and Expenses of Warrant Agent .

 

8.3.1  Remuneration . The Company agrees to pay the Warrant Agent reasonable remuneration for its services as such Warrant Agent hereunder and shall, pursuant to its obligations under this Agreement, reimburse the Warrant Agent upon demand for all expenditures that the Warrant Agent may reasonably incur in the execution of its duties hereunder.

  

8.3.2  Further Assurances . The Company agrees to perform, execute, acknowledge, and deliver or cause to be performed, executed, acknowledged, and delivered all such further and other acts, instruments, and assurances as may reasonably be required by the Warrant Agent for the carrying out or performing of the provisions of this Agreement.

 

8.4  Liability of Warrant Agent .

 

8.4.1  Reliance on Company Statement . Whenever in the performance of its duties under this Agreement, the Warrant Agent shall deem it necessary or desirable that any fact or matter be proved or established by the Company prior to taking or suffering any action hereunder, such fact or matter (unless other evidence in respect thereof be herein specifically prescribed) may be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by a statement signed by the President, Chief Executive Officer or Chairman of the Board of the Company and delivered to the Warrant Agent. The Warrant Agent may rely upon such statement for any action taken or suffered in good faith by it pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.

 

8.4.2  Indemnity . The Warrant Agent shall be liable hereunder only for its own gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith. The Company agrees to indemnify the Warrant Agent and save it harmless against any and all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees, for anything done or omitted by the Warrant Agent in the execution of this Agreement, except as a result of the Warrant Agent’s gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith.

 

8.4.3  Exclusions . The Warrant Agent shall have no responsibility with respect to the validity of this Agreement or with respect to the validity or execution of any Warrant (except its countersignature thereof). The Warrant Agent shall not be responsible for any breach by the Company of any covenant or condition contained in this Agreement or in any Warrant. The Warrant Agent shall not be responsible to make any adjustments required under the provisions of  Section 4  hereof or responsible for the manner, method, or amount of any such adjustment or the ascertaining of the existence of facts that would require any such adjustment; nor shall it by any act hereunder be deemed to make any representation or warranty as to the authorization or reservation of any shares of Common Stock to be issued pursuant to this Agreement or any Warrant or as to whether any shares of Common Stock shall, when issued, be valid and fully paid and non-assessable.

 

8.5  Acceptance of Agency . The Warrant Agent hereby accepts the agency established by this Agreement and agrees to perform the same upon the terms and conditions herein set forth and among other things, shall account promptly to the Company with respect to Warrants exercised and concurrently account for, and pay to the Company, all monies received by the Warrant Agent for the purchase of shares of Common Stock through the exercise of the Warrants.

 

8.6  Waiver . The Warrant Agent has no right of set-off or any other right, title, interest or claim of any kind (“ Claim ”) in, or to any distribution of, the Trust Account (as defined in that certain Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of the date hereof, by and between the Company and the Warrant Agent as trustee thereunder) and hereby agrees not to seek recourse, reimbursement, payment or satisfaction for any Claim against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever. The Warrant Agent hereby waives any and all Claims against the Trust Account and any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account.

 

9.  Miscellaneous Provisions .

 

9.1  Successors . All the covenants and provisions of this Agreement by or for the benefit of the Company or the Warrant Agent shall bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns.

 

  12  

 

 

9.2  Notices . Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the Warrant Agent or by the holder of any Warrant to or on the Company shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Company with the Warrant Agent), as follows:

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014

Attention: Daniel J. Hennessy

  

Any notice, statement or demand authorized by this Agreement to be given or made by the holder of any Warrant or by the Company to or on the Warrant Agent shall be sufficiently given when so delivered if by hand or overnight delivery or if sent by certified mail or private courier service within five (5) days after deposit of such notice, postage prepaid, addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Warrant Agent with the Company), as follows:

 

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Attention: Compliance Department

 

9.3  Applicable Law . The validity, interpretation, and performance of this Agreement and of the Warrants shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of or relating in any way to this Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

 

9.4  Persons Having Rights under this Agreement . Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to confer upon, or give to, any person or corporation other than the parties hereto and the Registered Holders of the Warrants any right, remedy, or claim under or by reason of this Agreement or of any covenant, condition, stipulation, promise, or agreement hereof. All covenants, conditions, stipulations, promises, and agreements contained in this Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the parties hereto and their successors and assigns and of the Registered Holders of the Warrants.

 

9.5  Examination of the Warrant Agreement . A copy of this Agreement shall be available at all reasonable times at the office of the Warrant Agent in the Borough of Manhattan, City and State of New York, for inspection by the Registered Holder of any Warrant. The Warrant Agent may require any such holder to submit his Warrant for inspection by it.

 

9.6  Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in any number of original or facsimile counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument.

 

9.7  Effect of Headings . The section headings herein are for convenience only and are not part of this Agreement and shall not affect the interpretation thereof.

 

9.8  Amendments . This Agreement may be amended by the parties hereto without the consent of any Registered Holder (i) for the purpose of curing any ambiguity, or curing, correcting or supplementing any defective provision contained herein or adding or changing any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under this Agreement as the parties may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem shall not adversely affect the interest of the Registered Holders, and (ii) to provide for the delivery of Alternative Issuance pursuant to Section 4.4. All other modifications or amendments, including any amendment to increase the Warrant Price or shorten the Exercise Period and any amendment to the terms of only the Private Placement Warrants, shall require the vote or written consent of the Registered Holders of 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company may lower the Warrant Price or extend the duration of the Exercise Period pursuant to  Sections 3.1  and  3.2 , respectively, without the consent of the Registered Holders.

  

9.9  Severability . This Agreement shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity or unenforceability of any term or provision hereof shall not affect the validity or enforceability of this Agreement or of any other term or provision hereof. Furthermore, in lieu of any such invalid or unenforceable term or provision, the parties hereto intend that there shall be added as a part of this Agreement a provision as similar in terms to such invalid or unenforceable provision as may be possible and be valid and enforceable.

 

Exhibit A — Form of Warrant Certificate

Exhibit B Legend — Sponsor’s Warrants

 

  13  

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first above written.

 

  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
     
  By  
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

  CONTINENTAL STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST
COMPANY, as Warrant Agent
     
  By
   

Name: Henry Farrel

Title:   Vice President

 

[Signature Page to Warrant Agreement]

 

  14  

 

 

EXHIBIT A

 

[Form of Warrant Certificate]

 

[FACE]

 

Number

 

Warrants

 

THIS WARRANT SHALL BE VOID IF NOT EXERCISED PRIOR TO

THE EXPIRATION OF THE EXERCISE PERIOD PROVIDED FOR

IN THE WARRANT AGREEMENT DESCRIBED BELOW

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Delaware

 

CUSIP 42588L 113

 

Warrant Certificate

 

This Warrant Certificate certifies that                   , or registered assigns, is the registered holder of warrant(s) evidenced hereby (the “ Warrants ” and each, a “ Warrant ”) to purchase shares of Common Stock, $.0001 par value (“ Common Stock ”), of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder, upon exercise during the period set forth in the Warrant Agreement referred to below, to receive from the Company that number of fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock as set forth below, at the exercise price (the “ Exercise Price ”) as determined pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, payable in lawful money (or through “ cashless exercise ” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) of the United States of America upon surrender of this Warrant Certificate and payment of the Exercise Price at the office or agency of the Warrant Agent referred to below, subject to the conditions set forth herein and in the Warrant Agreement. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Each whole Warrant is initially exercisable for one fully paid and non-assessable share of Common Stock. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of any Warrant. If, upon the exercise of Warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to the Warrant holder. The number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the Warrant Agreement.

 

The initial Exercise Price per share of Common Stock for any Warrant is equal to $11.50 per share. The Exercise Price is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events set forth in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Subject to the conditions set forth in the Warrant Agreement, the Warrants may be exercised only during the Exercise Period and to the extent not exercised by the end of such Exercise Period, such Warrants shall become void.

 

Reference is hereby made to the further provisions of this Warrant Certificate set forth on the reverse hereof and such further provisions shall for all purposes have the same effect as though fully set forth at this place.

  

This Warrant Certificate shall not be valid unless countersigned by the Warrant Agent, as such term is used in the Warrant Agreement.

 

This Warrant Certificate shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflicts of laws principles thereof.

 

  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. II
     
  By:  
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

  A- 1  

 

 

[Form of Warrant Certificate]

 

[Reverse]

 

The Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate are part of a duly authorized issue of Warrants entitling the holder on exercise to receive shares of Common Stock and are issued or to be issued pursuant to a Warrant Agreement dated as of ______, 2017 (the “ Warrant Agreement ”), duly executed and delivered by the Company to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation, as warrant agent (the “ Warrant Agent ”), which Warrant Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference in and made a part of this instrument and is hereby referred to for a description of the rights, limitation of rights, obligations, duties and immunities thereunder of the Warrant Agent, the Company and the holders (the words “ holders ” or “ holder ” meaning the Registered Holders or Registered Holder) of the Warrants. A copy of the Warrant Agreement may be obtained by the holder hereof upon written request to the Company. Defined terms used in this Warrant Certificate but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Warrant Agreement.

 

Warrants may be exercised at any time during the Exercise Period set forth in the Warrant Agreement. The holder of Warrants evidenced by this Warrant Certificate may exercise them by surrendering this Warrant Certificate, with the form of election to purchase set forth hereon properly completed and executed, together with payment of the Exercise Price as specified in the Warrant Agreement (or through “ cashless exercise ” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement) at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent. In the event that upon any exercise of Warrants evidenced hereby the number of Warrants exercised shall be less than the total number of Warrants evidenced hereby, there shall be issued to the holder hereof or his, her or its assignee, a new Warrant Certificate evidencing the number of Warrants not exercised.

 

Notwithstanding anything else in this Warrant Certificate or the Warrant Agreement, no Warrant may be exercised unless at the time of exercise (i) a registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock to be issued upon exercise is effective under the Securities Act and (ii) a prospectus thereunder relating to the shares of Common Stock is current, except through “ cashless exercise ” as provided for in the Warrant Agreement.

 

The Warrant Agreement provides that upon the occurrence of certain events the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants set forth on the face hereof may, subject to certain conditions, be adjusted. If, upon exercise of a Warrant, the holder thereof would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share of Common Stock, the Company shall, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Common Stock to be issued to the holder of the Warrant.

 

Warrant Certificates, when surrendered at the principal corporate trust office of the Warrant Agent by the Registered Holder thereof in person or by legal representative or attorney duly authorized in writing, may be exchanged, in the manner and subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, but without payment of any service charge, for another Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants.

 

Upon due presentation for registration of transfer of this Warrant Certificate at the office of the Warrant Agent a new Warrant Certificate or Warrant Certificates of like tenor and evidencing in the aggregate a like number of Warrants shall be issued to the transferee(s) in exchange for this Warrant Certificate, subject to the limitations provided in the Warrant Agreement, without charge except for any tax or other governmental charge imposed in connection therewith.

  

The Company and the Warrant Agent may deem and treat the Registered Holder(s) hereof as the absolute owner(s) of this Warrant Certificate (notwithstanding any notation of ownership or other writing hereon made by anyone), for the purpose of any exercise hereof, of any distribution to the holder(s) hereof, and for all other purposes, and neither the Company nor the Warrant Agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary. Neither the Warrants nor this Warrant Certificate entitles any holder hereof to any rights of a stockholder of the Company.

 

  A- 2  

 

 

Election to Purchase

 

(To Be Executed Upon Exercise of Warrant)

 

The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, to receive             shares of Common Stock and herewith tenders payment for such shares of Common Stock to the order of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “ Company ”) in the amount of $              in accordance with the terms hereof. The undersigned requests that a certificate for such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of                         , whose address is and that such shares of Common Stock be delivered to whose address is                . If said number of shares of Common Stock is less than all of the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder, the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of                         , whose address is                         and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to                         , whose address is                         .

 

In the event that the Warrant has been called for redemption by the Company pursuant to  Section 6  of the Warrant Agreement and the Company has required cashless exercise pursuant to  Section 6.3  of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with  subsection 3.3.1(b)  and  Section 6.3  of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant is a Private Placement Warrant that is to be exercised on a “cashless” basis pursuant to  subsection 3.3.1(c)  of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with  subsection 3.3.1(c)  of the Warrant Agreement.

 

In the event that the Warrant is to be exercised on a “cashless” basis pursuant to  Section 7.4  of the Warrant Agreement, the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for shall be determined in accordance with  Section 7.4  of the Warrant Agreement.

  

In the event that the Warrant may be exercised, to the extent allowed by the Warrant Agreement, through cashless exercise (i) the number of shares of Common Stock that this Warrant is exercisable for would be determined in accordance with the relevant section of the Warrant Agreement which allows for such cashless exercise and (ii) the holder hereof shall complete the following: The undersigned hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right, represented by this Warrant Certificate, through the cashless exercise provisions of the Warrant Agreement, to receive shares of Common Stock. If said number of shares is less than all of the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder (after giving effect to the cashless exercise), the undersigned requests that a new Warrant Certificate representing the remaining balance of such shares of Common Stock be registered in the name of                      , whose address is                         , and that such Warrant Certificate be delivered to                   , whose address is                   .

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

Date:                , 20

(Signature)

 

  (Signature)    
     
      (Address)
  (Address)    
       
  (Tax Identification Number)   (Tax Identification Number)

 

Signature Guaranteed:
 
 

 

THE SIGNATURE(S) SHOULD BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM, PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15 (OR ANY SUCCESSOR RULE)).

 

  A- 3  

 

 

EXHIBIT B

 

LEGEND

 

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF UNLESS REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION IS AVAILABLE. IN ADDITION, SUBJECT TO ANY ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER DESCRIBED IN THE LETTER AGREEMENTS BY AND AMONG HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. II (THE “COMPANY”), HENNESSY CAPITAL PARTNERS III LLC AND THE OTHER PARTIES THERETO, THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE MAY NOT BE SOLD OR TRANSFERRED PRIOR TO THE DATE THAT IS THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE DATE UPON WHICH THE COMPANY COMPLETES ITS INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION (AS DEFINED IN SECTION 3 OF THE WARRANT AGREEMENT REFERRED TO HEREIN) EXCEPT TO A PERMITTED TRANSFEREE (AS DEFINED IN SECTION 2 OF THE WARRANT AGREEMENT) WHO AGREES IN WRITING WITH THE COMPANY TO BE SUBJECT TO SUCH TRANSFER PROVISIONS.

 

SECURITIES EVIDENCED BY THIS CERTIFICATE AND SHARES OF COMMON STOCK OF THE COMPANY ISSUED UPON EXERCISE OF SUCH SECURITIES SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REGISTRATION RIGHTS UNDER A REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT TO BE EXECUTED BY THE COMPANY.

 

 

 B-2

 

Exhibit 5.1

 

May 30, 2017

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014 

 

Re:    Registration Statement of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as counsel to Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”) in connection with the registration by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission of up to 25,875,000 units of the Company, including the underwriters’ over-allotment option (collectively the “ Units ”), with each Unit consisting of one share of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”) of the Company and one-half of one warrant of the Company, each whole warrant to purchase one share of Common Stock (the “ Warrant ”), pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-1 initially filed by the Company with the Commission on May 30, 2017 (as amended, the “ Registration Statement ”).

 

We have examined such documents and considered such legal matters as we have deemed necessary and relevant as the basis for the opinion set forth below. With respect to such examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as reproduced or certified copies, and the authenticity of the originals of those latter documents. As to questions of fact material to this opinion, we have, to the extent deemed appropriate, relied upon certain representations of certain officers and employees of the Company.

 

Based upon the foregoing, we are of the opinion that:

 

1.             Units . When the Registration Statement becomes effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Act ”) and when the offering is completed as contemplated by the Registration Statement, such Units will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

2.             Common Stock . When the Registration Statement becomes effective under the Act and when the offering is completed as contemplated by the Registration Statement, the shares of Common Stock will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

  

3.             Warrants . When the Registration Statement becomes effective under the Act, when the warrant agreement under which the Warrants are to be issued (the “ Warrant Agreement ”) is duly executed and delivered, and when the Warrants underlying the Units are issued, delivered and paid for as part of the Units, as contemplated by the Registration Statement, such Warrants will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and will be legally binding obligations of the Company enforceable in accordance with their terms except: (a) as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally and by general equitable principles (regardless of whether enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law); (b) as enforceability of any indemnification or contribution provision may be limited under the federal and state securities laws, and (c) that the remedy of specific performance and injunctive and other forms of equitable relief may be subject to the equitable defenses and to the discretion of the court before which any proceeding therefor may be brought.

 

We are opining solely on all applicable statutory provisions of Delaware corporate law, including the rules and regulations underlying those provisions, all applicable provisions of the Delaware Constitution, all applicable judicial and regulatory determinations in connection therewith and, as to the Units and the Warrants constituting legally binding obligations of the Company, solely with respect to the laws of the State of New York. Our opinion is based on these laws as in effect on the date hereof and as of the effective date of the Registration Statement, and we assume no obligation to revise or supplement this opinion after the effective date of the Registration Statement should the law be changed by legislative action, judicial decision, or otherwise. We express no opinion as to whether the laws of any other jurisdiction are applicable to the subject matter hereof. We are not rendering any opinion as to compliance with any other federal or state law, rule or regulation relating to securities, or to the sale or issuance thereof.

 

We hereby consent to the use of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement, to the use of our name as your counsel and to all references made to us in the Registration Statement and in the prospectus forming a part thereof.  In giving this consent, we do not hereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  /s/ Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

 

Exhibit 10.1

 

THIS PROMISSORY NOTE (“NOTE”) HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”). THIS NOTE HAS BEEN ACQUIRED FOR INVESTMENT ONLY AND MAY NOT BE SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR ASSIGNED IN THE ABSENCE OF REGISTRATION OF THE RESALE THEREOF UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR AN OPINION OF COUNSEL REASONABLY SATISFACTORY IN FORM, SCOPE AND SUBSTANCE TO THE COMPANY THAT SUCH REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED.  

 

PROMISSORY NOTE

 

Principal Amount:  Up to $300,000

Dated as of March 31, 2017

New York, New York

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation and blank check company (the “ Maker ”), promises to pay to the order of Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC or its registered assigns or successors in interest   (the “ Payee ”), or order, the principal sum of up to Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000) in lawful money of the United States of America, on the terms and conditions described below.  All payments on this Note shall be made by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds or as otherwise determined by the Maker to such account as the Payee may from time to time designate by written notice in accordance with the provisions of this Note.

 

1.            Principal.  The principal balance of this Note shall be payable by the Maker on the earlier of: (i) December 31, 2017 or (ii) the date on which Maker consummates an initial public offering of its securities. The principal balance may be prepaid at any time. Under no circumstances shall any individual, including but not limited to any officer, director, employee or shareholder of the Maker, be obligated personally for any obligations or liabilities of the Maker hereunder.

 

2.            Interest.  No interest shall accrue on the unpaid principal balance of this Note.

 

3.            Drawdown Requests.  Maker and Payee agree that Maker may request up to Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000) for costs reasonably related to Maker’s initial public offering of its securities. The principal of this Note may be drawn down from time to time prior to the earlier of: (i) December 31, 2017 or (ii) the date on which Maker consummates an initial public offering of its securities, upon written request from Maker to Payee (each, a “ Drawdown Request ”). Each Drawdown Request must state the amount to be drawn down, and must not be an amount less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) unless agreed upon by Maker and Payee. Payee shall fund each Drawdown Request no later than five (5) business days after receipt of a Drawdown Request; provided, however, that the maximum amount of drawdowns collectively under this Note is Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000). Once an amount is drawn down under this Note, it shall not be available for future Drawdown Requests even if prepaid. No fees, payments or other amounts shall be due to Payee in connection with, or as a result of, any Drawdown Request by Maker. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all payments shall be applied first to payment in full of any costs incurred in the collection of any sum due under this Note, including (without limitation) reasonable attorneys’ fees, and then to the reduction of the unpaid principal balance of this Note.

 

4.            Application of Payments.  All payments shall be applied first to payment in full of any costs incurred in the collection of any sum due under this Note, including (without limitation) reasonable attorney’s fees, then to the payment in full of any late charges and finally to the reduction of the unpaid principal balance of this Note.

 

5.            Events of Default.  The following shall constitute an event of default (“ Event of Default ”):

 

(a)            Failure to Make Required Payments . Failure by Maker to pay the principal amount due pursuant to this Note within five (5) business days of the date specified above.

 

(b)           Voluntary Bankruptcy, Etc . The commencement by Maker of a voluntary case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, rehabilitation or other similar law, or the consent by it to the appointment of or taking possession by a receiver, liquidator, assignee, trustee, custodian, sequestrator (or other similar official) of Maker or for any substantial part of its property, or the making by it of any assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the failure of Maker generally to pay its debts as such debts become due, or the taking of corporate action by Maker in furtherance of any of the foregoing.

 

   

 

 

(c)            Involuntary Bankruptcy, Etc . The entry of a decree or order for relief by a court having jurisdiction in the premises in respect of Maker in an involuntary case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law, or appointing a receiver, liquidator, assignee, custodian, trustee, sequestrator (or similar official) of Maker or for any substantial part of its property, or ordering the winding-up or liquidation of its affairs, and the continuance of any such decree or order unstayed and in effect for a period of 60 consecutive days.

  

6.            Remedies.

 

(a)           Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default specified in Section 5(a) hereof, Payee may, by written notice to Maker, declare this Note to be due immediately and payable, whereupon the unpaid principal amount of this Note, and all other amounts payable hereunder, shall become immediately due and payable without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby expressly waived, anything contained herein or in the documents evidencing the same to the contrary notwithstanding. 

 

(b)           Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default specified in Sections 5(b) and 5(c), the unpaid principal balance of this Note, and all other sums payable with regard to this Note, shall automatically and immediately become due and payable, in all cases without any action on the part of Payee.

 

7.            Waivers.  Maker and all endorsers and guarantors of, and sureties for, this Note waive presentment for payment, demand, notice of dishonor, protest, and notice of protest with regard to the Note, all errors, defects and imperfections in any proceedings instituted by Payee under the terms of this Note, and all benefits that might accrue to Maker by virtue of any present or future laws exempting any property, real or personal, or any part of the proceeds arising from any sale of any such property, from attachment, levy or sale under execution, or providing for any stay of execution, exemption from civil process, or extension of time for payment; and Maker agrees that any real estate that may be levied upon pursuant to a judgment obtained by virtue hereof or any writ of execution issued hereon, may be sold upon any such writ in whole or in part in any order desired by Payee.

 

8.            Unconditional Liability.  Maker hereby waives all notices in connection with the delivery, acceptance, performance, default, or enforcement of the payment of this Note, and agrees that its liability shall be unconditional, without regard to the liability of any other party, and shall not be affected in any manner by any indulgence, extension of time, renewal, waiver or modification granted or consented to by Payee, and consents to any and all extensions of time, renewals, waivers, or modifications that may be granted by Payee with respect to the payment or other provisions of this Note, and agrees that additional makers, endorsers, guarantors, or sureties may become parties hereto without notice to Maker or affecting Maker’s liability hereunder.

 

9.            Notices.  All notices, statements or other documents which are required or contemplated by this Note shall be made in writing and delivered: (i) personally or sent by first class registered or certified mail, overnight courier service or facsimile or electronic transmission to the address designated in writing, (ii) by facsimile to the number most recently provided to such party or such other address or fax number as may be designated in writing by such party or (iii) by electronic mail, to the electronic mail address most recently provided to such party or such other electronic mail address as may be designated in writing by such party. Any notice or other communication so transmitted shall be deemed to have been given on the day of delivery, if delivered personally, on the business day following receipt of written confirmation, if sent by facsimile or electronic transmission, one (1) business day after delivery to an overnight courier service or five (5) days after mailing if sent by mail.

 

10.          Construction.  THIS NOTE SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND ENFORCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS THEREOF.

 

11.          Severability.  Any provision contained in this Note which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.

 

12.          Trust Waiver .  Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Payee hereby waives any and all right, title, interest or claim of any kind (“ Claim ”) in or to any distribution of or from the trust account to be established in which the proceeds of the initial public offering (the “ IPO ”) to be conducted by the Maker (including the deferred underwriters discounts and commissions) and the proceeds of the sale of the warrants to be issued in a private placement to occur prior to the closing of the IPO are to be deposited, as described in greater detail in the registration statement and prospectus to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the IPO, and hereby agrees not to seek recourse, reimbursement, payment or satisfaction for any Claim against the trust account for any reason whatsoever.

 

13 .           Amendment; Waiver .  Any amendment hereto or waiver of any provision hereof may be made with, and only with, the written consent of the Maker and the Payee.

 

14 .           Assignment . No assignment or transfer of this Note or any rights or obligations hereunder may be made by any party hereto (by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the other party hereto and any attempted assignment without the required consent shall be void.

 

[Signature page follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , Maker, intending to be legally bound hereby, has caused this Note to be duly executed by the undersigned as of the day and year first above written.

 

  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
     
  By: /s/ Daniel J. Hennessy
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

 

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Exhibit 10.2

 

[●], 2017

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III 

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014

  

Re: Initial Public Offering

 

Gentlemen:

 

This letter (this “ Letter Agreement ”) is being delivered to you in accordance with the Underwriting Agreement (the “ Underwriting Agreement ”) proposed to be entered into by and between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC as representative (the “ Representative ”) of the several underwriters named therein (the “ Underwriters ”), relating to an underwritten initial public offering (the “ Public Offering ”), of 22,500,000 of the Company’s units (the “ Units ”), each comprised of one share of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”), and one half of one warrant (each, a “ Warrant ”). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of the Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units shall be sold in the Public Offering pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 and prospectus (the “ Prospectus ”) filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) and the Company shall apply to have the Units listed on the NYSE MKT. Certain capitalized terms used herein are defined in paragraph 11 hereof.

 

In order to induce the Company and the Underwriters to enter into the Underwriting Agreement and to proceed with the Public Offering and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC (the “ Sponsor ”) and the undersigned individuals, each of whom is a director or officer to the Company (each, an “ Insider ” and collectively, the “ Insiders ”), hereby agrees with the Company as follows:

 

1.          The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a proposed Business Combination, then in connection with such proposed Business Combination, it, he or she shall (i) vote any shares of Common Stock owned by it, him or her in favor of such proposed Business Combination and (ii) not redeem any shares of Common Stock owned by it, him or her in connection with such stockholder approval.

 

2.          The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that in the event that the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination (as defined in the Underwriting Agreement) within 24 months from the date of the closing of the Public Offering, or such later period approved by the Company’s stockholders in accordance with the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the Sponsor and Insiders shall take all reasonable steps to cause the Company to (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the Common Stock sold as part of the Units in the Public Offering (the “ Offering Shares ”), at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes and up to $500,000 of interest released annually for working capital purposes), divided by the number of then outstanding Offering Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish all Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. The Sponsor and each Insider agree not to propose any amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the Offering Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Public Offering, unless the Company provides its public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Common Stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and working capital released to the Company), divided by the number of then outstanding Offering Shares.

 

 

 

  

The Sponsor and each Insider acknowledges that it, he or she has no right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or any other asset of the Company as a result of any liquidation of the Company with respect to the Founder Shares held by it. The Sponsor and each Insider hereby further waives, with respect to any shares of Common Stock held by it, him or her, if any, any redemption rights it, he or she may have in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination, including, without limitation, any such rights available in the context of a stockholder vote to approve such Business Combination or a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the Offering Shares if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination within the time period set forth in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or in the context of a tender offer made by the Company to purchase shares of Common Stock (although the Sponsor, the Insiders and their respective affiliates shall be entitled to redemption and liquidation rights with respect to any Offering Shares it or they hold if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination within 24 months from the date of the closing of the Public Offering).

 

3.          Subject to the provisions set forth in paragraphs 7(a) and (b) below, during the period commencing on the effective date of the Underwriting Agreement and ending 180 days after such date, the Sponsor and each Insider shall not (i) sell, offer to sell, contract or agree to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agree to dispose of, directly or indirectly, file (or participate in the filing of) a registration statement with the Commission or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder, with respect to any Units, shares of Common Stock, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock owned by it, if any, (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any Units, shares of Common Stock, Warrants or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of Common Stock owned by it, if any, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise, or (iii) publicly announce any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (i) or (ii). The foregoing sentence shall not apply to the registration of the offer and sale of Units contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement and the sale of the Units to the Underwriters. The Sponsor and each of the Insiders acknowledges and agrees that, prior to the effective date of any release or waiver, of the restrictions set forth in this paragraph 3 or paragraph 7 below, the Company shall announce the impending release or waiver by press release through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver. Any release or waiver granted shall only be effective two business days after the publication date of such press release. The provisions of this paragraph will not apply if (i) the release or waiver is effected solely to permit a transfer of securities that is not for consideration and (ii) the transferee has agreed in writing to be bound by the same terms described in this Letter Agreement to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of the transfer.

 

4.          In the event of the liquidation of the Trust Account, Daniel J. Hennessy (the “ Indemnitor ”) agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever (including, but not limited to, any and all legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, whether pending or threatened, or any claim whatsoever) to which the Company may become subject as a result of any claim by (i) any third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company or (ii) a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into an acquisition agreement (a “ Target ”);  provided however , that such indemnification of the Company by the Indemnitor shall apply only to the extent necessary to ensure that such claims by a third party for services rendered (other than the Company’s independent public accountants) or products sold to the Company or a Target do not reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.00 per share of the Offering Shares or (ii) such lesser amount per share of the Offering Shares held in the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, in each case, net of the amount of interest earned on the property in the Trust Account which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and for working capital purposes, 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 Company’s indemnity of the Underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In the event that any such executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against such third party, the Indemnitor shall not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claim. The Indemnitor shall have the right to defend against any such claim with counsel of its choice reasonably satisfactory to the Company if, within 15 days following written receipt of notice of the claim to the Indemnitor, the Indemnitor notify the Company in writing that it shall undertake such defense.

 

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5.          To the extent that the Underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option to purchase an additional 3,375,000 Units within 45 days from the date of the Prospectus (and as further described in the Prospectus), the Sponsor agrees that it shall forfeit, at no cost, a number of Founder Shares in the aggregate equal to 843,750 multiplied by a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is 843,750 minus the number of Units purchased by the Underwriters upon the exercise of their over-allotment option, and (ii) the denominator of which is 843,750. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the Underwriters so that the stockholders prior to the Public Offering will own an aggregate of 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock after the Public Offering. The Sponsor further agrees that to the extent that the size of the Public Offering is increased or decreased, the Company will purchase or sell shares of Common Stock or effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the Public offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of the stockholders prior to the Public Offering at 20.0% of its issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock upon the consummation of the Public Offering. In connection with such increase or decrease in the size of the Public Offering, then (A) the references to 3,375,000 in the numerator and denominator of the formula in the first sentence of this paragraph shall be changed to a number equal to 15% of the number of shares included in the Units issued in the Public Offering and (B) the reference to 843,750 in the formula set forth in the first sentence of this paragraph shall be adjusted to such number of shares of the Common Stock that the Sponsor would have to return to the Company in order to hold (together with all of the pre-Public Offering stockholders) an aggregate of 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Public Offering.

 

6.          (a) The Sponsor and each Insider agrees not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition companies with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, until the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with respect to a Business Combination or the Company has failed to complete a Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Public Offering.

 

(b) The Sponsor and each Insider agrees and acknowledges that: (i) each of the Underwriters and the Company would be irreparably injured in the event of a breach by such Sponsor or Insider of his, her or its obligations (as applicable) under paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6(a), 7(a), 7(b), and 9 of this Letter Agreement (ii) monetary damages may not be an adequate remedy for such breach and (iii) the non-breaching party shall be entitled to injunctive relief, in addition to any other remedy that such party may have in law or in equity, in the event of such breach. 

 

7.          (a) The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that it, he or she shall not Transfer (as defined below) any Founder Shares until the earlier of (i) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier if, subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) the last sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination or (y) the date following the completion of a Business Combination on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property (the “ Founder Shares Lock-up Period ”).

 

(b) The Sponsor and each Insider agrees that it, he or she shall not effectuate any Transfer of Private Placement Warrants or Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination (the “ Private Placement Warrants Lock-up Period ”, together with the Founder Shares Lock-up Period, the “ Lock-up Periods ”).

  

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions set forth in paragraphs 7(a) and (b), Transfers of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants are permitted to (a) to the Company’s officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of the Company’s officers or directors, any members of the Sponsor or any affiliates of the Sponsor or any of its members; (b) in the case of an individual, by a gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to the completion of a Business Combination; or (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of the Sponsor;  provided however , that in the case of clauses (a) through (e), these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

 

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8.          The Sponsor and each Insider represents and warrants that it, he or she has never been suspended or expelled from membership in any securities or commodities exchange or association or had a securities or commodities license or registration denied, suspended or revoked. Each Insider’s biographical information furnished to the Company is true and accurate in all respects and does not omit any material information with respect to the undersigned’s background. Each Insider’s questionnaire furnished to the Company is true and accurate in all respects. Each Insider represents and warrants that: the undersigned is not subject to or a respondent in any legal action for, any injunction, cease-and-desist order or order or stipulation to desist or refrain from any act or practice relating to the offering of securities in any jurisdiction; the undersigned has never been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, any crime (i) involving fraud, (ii) relating to any financial transaction or handling of funds of another person, or (iii) pertaining to any dealings in any securities and the undersigned is not currently a defendant in any such criminal proceeding. 

 

9.          Except as disclosed in the Prospectus, neither the Sponsor or any Insider nor any affiliate of the Sponsor or any Insider, nor any director or officer of the Company, shall receive from the Company any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any repayment of a loan or other compensation prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate the consummation of a Business Combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is), other than the following, none of which will be made from the proceeds of the Public Offering held in the Trust Account prior to the completion of a Business Combination: (a) repayment of a loan and advances of up to an aggregate of $300,000 made to the Company by the Sponsor; (b) monthly payments of $25,000 following the consummation of the Public Offering, of which 50% is payable upon successful completion of a Business Combination to the Company’s chief financial officer, for services provided to the Company; (c) monthly deferred fees of $100,000 and $50,000 to the Company’s chief executive officer and chief operating officer, respectively, for services provided to the Company, of which 100% is payable upon successful completion of a Business Combination; (d) payment to an affiliate of the Sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial support for a total of $15,000 per month; (e) reimbursement for any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and consummating a Business Combination, and (f) repayment of loans, if any, and on such terms as to be determined by the Company from time to time, made by the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended Business Combination, provided, that, if the Company does not consummate a Business Combination, a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account may be used by the Company to repay such loaned amounts so long as no proceeds from the Trust Account are used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per whole warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.

 

10.        The Sponsor and each Insider has full right and power, without violating any agreement to which it is bound (including, without limitation, any non-competition or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or former employer), to enter into this Letter Agreement and, as applicable, to serve as a director on the board of directors of the Company and hereby consents to being named in the prospectus as a director or director nominee of the Company.

  

11.        As used herein, (i) “ Business Combination ” shall mean a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar initial business combination, involving the Company and one or more businesses; (ii) “ Founder Shares ” shall mean the 6,468,750 shares of the Common Stock of the Company initially acquired by the Sponsor and Insiders for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, prior to the consummation of the Public Offering; (iii) “ Private Placement Warrants  “ shall mean the Warrants to purchase up to 7,700,000 shares of the Common Stock of the Company (or 8,442,500 shares of Common Stock if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) that are acquired by the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $7.7 million in the aggregate (or $8.4425 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per Warrant, in a private placement that shall occur simultaneously with the consummation of the Public Offering; (iv) “ Public Stockholders ” shall mean the holders of securities issued in the Public Offering; (v) “ Trust Account ” shall mean the trust fund into which a portion of the net proceeds of the Public Offering shall be deposited; and (vi) “ Transfer ” shall mean the (a) sale of, offer to sell, contract or agreement to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant of any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agreement to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establishment or increase of a put equivalent position or liquidation with respect to or decrease of a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder with respect to, any security, (b) entry into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any security, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise, or (c) public announcement of any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (a) or (b).

 

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12.       This Letter Agreement constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto in respect of the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the parties hereto, written or oral, to the extent they relate in any way to the subject matter hereof or the transactions contemplated hereby. This Letter Agreement may not be changed, amended, modified or waived (other than to correct a typographical error) as to any particular provision, except by a written instrument executed by all parties hereto.

 

13.        No party hereto may assign either this Letter Agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the other party. Any purported assignment in violation of this paragraph shall be void and ineffectual and shall not operate to transfer or assign any interest or title to the purported assignee. This Letter Agreement shall be binding on the Sponsor and Insiders and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Any transfer made in contravention of this Letter Agreement shall be null and void.

 

14.        This Letter Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. The parties hereto (i) all agree that any action, proceeding, claim or dispute arising out of, or relating in any way to, this Letter Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the courts of New York City, in the State of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction and venue, which jurisdiction and venue shall be exclusive and (ii) waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and venue or that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

 

15.       Any notice, consent or request to be given in connection with any of the terms or provisions of this Letter Agreement shall be in writing and shall be sent by express mail or similar private courier service, by certified mail (return receipt requested), by hand delivery or facsimile transmission.

 

16.       This Letter Agreement shall terminate on the earlier of (i) the expiration of the Lock-up Periods or (ii) the liquidation of the Company;  provided however , that this Letter Agreement shall earlier terminate in the event that the Public Offering is not consummated by September 30, 2017,  provided further  that paragraph 4 of this Letter Agreement shall survive such liquidation.

 

[Signature page follows]

 

  5  

 

 

 

Sincerely,  

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL PARTNERS III LLC

     
  By: Hennessy Capital LLC, its managing member
     
  By:  
   

Name: Daniel J. Hennessy 

Title:   Managing Member

 

  By:  
    Kevin Charlton

  

  By:  
    Bradley Bell

 

  By:  
    Peter Shea

 

  By:  
    Richard Burns

 

  By:  
    James O’Neil III
     
  By:  
    Daniel R. DiMicco
     
  By:  
    Nicholas Petruska
     
  By:  
    Daniel J. Hennessy

 

 

Acknowledged and Agreed:

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 
     
By:    
 

Name: Daniel J. Hennessy 

Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

6

 

 

Exhibit 10.3

 

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT TRUST AGREEMENT

 

This Investment Management Trust Agreement (this “ Agreement ”) is made effective as of [●], 2017 by and between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation (the “ Trustee ”).

 

WHEREAS, the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1, No. 333-[●] (the “ Registration Statement ”) and prospectus (the “ Prospectus ”) for the initial public offering of the Company’s units (the “ Units ”), each of which consists of one share of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”), and one half of one warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Common Stock (such initial public offering hereinafter referred to as the “ Offering ”), has been declared effective as of the date hereof by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and

 

WHEREAS, the Company has entered into an Underwriting Agreement with Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, as representative (the “ Representative ”) of the several underwriters (the “ Underwriters ”) named therein (the “ Underwriting Agreement ”); and

 

WHEREAS, as described in the Registration Statement, $225,000,000 of the gross proceeds of the Offering and sale of the Private Placement Warrants (as defined in the Underwriting Agreement) (or $258,750,000 if the Underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be delivered to the Trustee to be deposited and held in a segregated trust account located in the United States (the “ Trust Account ”) for the benefit of the Company and the holders of the Company’s Common Stock included in the Units issued in the Offering as hereinafter provided (the amount to be delivered to the Trustee (and any interest subsequently earned thereon) is referred to herein as the “ Property , ” the stockholders for whose benefit the Trustee shall hold the Property will be referred to as the “ Public Stockholders ,” and the Public Stockholders and the Company will be referred to together as the “ Beneficiaries ”); and

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, a portion of the Property equal to $7,425,000, or $8,538,750 if the Underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full is attributable to deferred underwriting discounts and commissions that may be payable by the Company to the Underwriters upon the consummation of the Business Combination (as defined below) (the “ Deferred Discount ” ); and

 

WHEREAS, the Company and the Trustee desire to enter into this Agreement to set forth the terms and conditions pursuant to which the Trustee shall hold the Property.

 

NOW THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED:

 

1.  Agreements and Covenants of Trustee . The Trustee hereby agrees and covenants to:

 

(a) Hold the Property in trust for the Beneficiaries in accordance with the terms of this Agreement in the Trust Account established by the Trustee in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and at a brokerage institution selected by the Trustee that is reasonably satisfactory to the Company;

 

(b) Manage, supervise and administer the Trust Account subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein;

 

(c) In a timely manner, upon the written instruction of the Company, invest and reinvest the Property in United States government securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, having a maturity of 180 days or less, or in money market funds meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(1), (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (or any successor rule), which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company; the Trustee may not invest in any other securities or assets, it being understood that the Trust Account will earn no interest while account funds are uninvested awaiting the Company’s instructions hereunder;

 

(d) Collect and receive, when due, all interest or other income arising from the Property, which shall become part of the “Property,” as such term is used herein;

  

 

 

 

(e) Promptly notify the Company and the Representative of all communications received by the Trustee with respect to any Property requiring action by the Company;

 

(f) Supply any necessary information or documents as may be requested by the Company (or its authorized agents) in connection with the Company’s preparation of the tax returns relating to assets held in the Trust Account;

 

(g) Participate in any plan or proceeding for protecting or enforcing any right or interest arising from the Property if, as and when instructed by the Company to do so;

 

(h) Render to the Company monthly written statements of the activities of, and amounts in, the Trust Account reflecting all receipts and disbursements of the Trust Account;

 

(i) Commence liquidation of the Trust Account only after and promptly after (x) receipt of, and only in accordance with, the terms of a letter from the Company (“ Termination Letter ”) in a form substantially similar to that attached hereto as either Exhibit A or Exhibit B signed on behalf of the Company by its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Chairman of the board of directors of the Company (the “ Board ”) or other authorized officer of the Company, and complete the liquidation of the Trust Account and distribute the Property in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of any taxes payable and up to $500,000 of interest released to the Company annually for working capital purposes, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), only as directed in the Termination Letter and the other documents referred to therein, or (y) upon the date which is the later of (i) 24 months after the closing of the Offering and (ii) such later date as may be approved by the Company’s stockholders in accordance with the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation if a Termination Letter has not been received by the Trustee prior to such date, in which case the Trust Account shall be liquidated in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Termination Letter attached as Exhibit B and the Property in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of any taxes payable and up to $500,000 of interest released to the Company annually for working capital purposes and less up to $100,000 of interest that may be released to the Company to pay dissolution expenses), shall be distributed to the Public Stockholders of record as of such date; and provided , however , that in the event the Trustee receives a Termination Letter in a form substantially similar to Exhibit B hereto, or if the Trustee begins to liquidate the Property because it has received no such Termination Letter by the date specified in clause (v) of this Section 1(i) , the Trustee shall keep the Trust Account open until twelve (12) months following the date the Property has been distributed to the Public Stockholders;

 

(j) Upon written request from the Company, which may be given from time to time in a form substantially similar to that attached hereto as Exhibit C (a “ Tax Payment Withdrawal Instruction ”), withdraw from the Trust Account and distribute to the Company the amount of interest earned on the Property requested by the Company to cover any tax obligation owed by the Company as a result of assets of the Company or interest or other income earned on the Property or for working capital purposes, which amount shall be delivered directly to the Company by electronic funds transfer or other method of prompt payment, and the Company shall forward such payment to the relevant taxing authority;  provided however , that to the extent there is not sufficient cash in the Trust Account to pay such tax obligation, the Trustee shall liquidate such assets held in the Trust Account as shall be designated by the Company in writing to make such distribution; so long as there is no reduction in the principal amount initially deposited in the Trust Account;  provided further , that if the tax to be paid is a franchise tax, the written request by the Company to make such distribution shall be accompanied by a copy of the franchise tax bill from the State of Delaware for the Company and a written statement from the principal financial officer of the Company setting forth the actual amount payable (it being acknowledged and agreed that any such amount in excess of interest income earned on the Property shall not be payable from the Trust Account). The written request of the Company referenced above shall constitute presumptive evidence that the Company is entitled to said funds, and the Trustee shall have no responsibility to look beyond said request;

 

(k) Upon written request from the Company, which may be given from time to time in a form substantially similar to that attached hereto as Exhibit D (a “ Shareholder Redemption Withdrawal Instruction ”), the Trustee shall distribute (from a segregated account) to the Public Stockholders of record as of such date the amount requested by the Company to be used to redeem shares of Common Stock from Public Stockholders properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to any provision of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity. The written request of the Company referenced above shall constitute presumptive evidence that the Company is entitled to said funds, and the Trustee shall have no responsibility to look beyond said request; and

 

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(l) Not make any withdrawals or distributions from the Trust Account other than pursuant to Section 1(i), (j) or (k) above; and

 

(m) Within four (4) business days after the Underwriters exercise the over-allotment option (or any unexercised portion thereof) or such over-allotment expires, provide the Trustee with a notice in writing of the total amount of the Deferred Discount, which shall be up to $10,499,500.

  

2.  Agreements and Covenants of the Company . The Company hereby agrees and covenants to:

 

(a) Give all instructions to the Trustee hereunder in writing, signed by the Company’s Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer. In addition, except with respect to its duties under  Sections 1(i), 1(j)  and  1(k)  hereof, the Trustee shall be entitled to rely on, and shall be protected in relying on, any verbal or telephonic advice or instruction which it, in good faith and with reasonable care, believes to be given by any one of the persons authorized above to give written instructions, provided that the Company shall promptly confirm such instructions in writing;

 

(b) Subject to Section 4 hereof, hold the Trustee harmless and indemnify the Trustee from and against any and all expenses, including reasonable counsel fees and disbursements, or losses suffered by the Trustee in connection with any action taken by it hereunder and in connection with any action, suit or other proceeding brought against the Trustee involving any claim, or in connection with any claim or demand, which in any way arises out of or relates to this Agreement, the services of the Trustee hereunder, or the Property or any interest earned on the Property, except for expenses and losses resulting from the Trustee’s gross negligence, fraud or willful misconduct. Promptly after the receipt by the Trustee of notice of demand or claim or the commencement of any action, suit or proceeding, pursuant to which the Trustee intends to seek indemnification under this  Section 2(b) , it shall notify the Company in writing of such claim (hereinafter referred to as the “ Indemnified Claim ”). The Trustee shall have the right to conduct and manage the defense against such Indemnified Claim;  provided  that the Trustee shall obtain the consent of the Company with respect to the selection of counsel, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. The Trustee may not agree to settle any Indemnified Claim without the prior written consent of the Company, which such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. The Company may participate in such action with its own counsel;

 

(c) Pay the Trustee the fees set forth on Schedule A hereto, including an initial acceptance fee, annual administration fee, and transaction processing fee which fees shall be subject to modification by the parties from time to time. It is expressly understood that the Property shall not be used to pay such fees unless and until it is distributed pursuant to  Sections 1(i)  through  1(k)  hereof. The Company shall pay the Trustee the initial acceptance fee and the first annual administration fee at the consummation of the Offering. The Trustee shall refund to the Company the monthly fee (on a pro rata basis) with respect to any period after the liquidation of the Trust Account. The Company shall not be responsible for any other fees or charges of the Trustee except as set forth in this  Section 2(c) , Schedule A  and as may be provided in  Section 2(b)  hereof;

 

(d) In connection with any vote of the Company’s stockholders regarding a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination involving the Company and one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”), provide to the Trustee an affidavit or certificate of a designated Inspector of Elections from a firm regularly engaged in the business of soliciting proxies and/or tabulating stockholder votes for stockholder meetings verifying the vote of the Company’s stockholders regarding such Business Combination;

 

(e) Provide the Representative with a copy of any Termination Letter(s) and/or any other correspondence that is sent to the Trustee with respect to any proposed withdrawal from the Trust Account promptly after it issues the same; and

 

  3  

 

 

(f) Instruct the Trustee to make only those distributions that are permitted under this Agreement, and refrain from instructing the Trustee to make any distributions that are not permitted under this Agreement.

 

3.  Limitations of Liability . The Trustee shall have no responsibility or liability to:

 

(a) Imply obligations, perform duties, inquire or otherwise be subject to the provisions of any agreement or document other than this agreement and that which is expressly set forth herein;

 

(b) Take any action with respect to the Property, other than as directed in Section 1 hereof, and the Trustee shall have no liability to any party except for liability arising out of the Trustee’s gross negligence, fraud or willful misconduct;

  

(c) Institute any proceeding for the collection of any principal and income arising from, or institute, appear in or defend any proceeding of any kind with respect to, any of the Property unless and until it shall have received instructions from the Company given as provided herein to do so and the Company shall have advanced or guaranteed to it funds sufficient to pay any expenses incident thereto;

 

(d) Refund any depreciation in principal of any Property;

 

(e) Assume that the authority of any person designated by the Company to give instructions hereunder shall not be continuing unless provided otherwise in such designation, or unless the Company shall have delivered a written revocation of such authority to the Trustee;

 

(f) The other parties hereto or to anyone else for any action taken or omitted by it, or any action suffered by it to be taken or omitted, in good faith and in the Trustee’s best judgment, except for the Trustee’s gross negligence, fraud or willful misconduct. The Trustee may rely conclusively and shall be protected in acting upon any order, notice, demand, certificate, opinion or advice of counsel (including counsel chosen by the Trustee, which counsel may be the Company’s counsel), statement, instrument, report or other paper or document (not only as to its due execution and the validity and effectiveness of its provisions, but also as to the truth and acceptability of any information therein contained) which the Trustee believes, in good faith and with reasonable care, to be genuine and to be signed or presented by the proper person or persons. The Trustee shall not be bound by any notice or demand, or any waiver, modification, termination or rescission of this Agreement or any of the terms hereof, unless evidenced by a written instrument delivered to the Trustee, signed by the proper party or parties and, if the duties or rights of the Trustee are affected, unless it shall give its prior written consent thereto;

 

(g) Verify the accuracy of the information contained in the Registration Statement;

 

(h) Provide any assurance that any Business Combination entered into by the Company or any other action taken by the Company is as contemplated by the Registration Statement;

 

(i) File information returns with respect to the Trust Account with any local, state or federal taxing authority or provide periodic written statements to the Company documenting the taxes payable by the Company, if any, relating to any interest income earned on the Property;

 

(j) Prepare, execute and file tax reports, income or other tax returns and pay any taxes with respect to any income generated by, and activities relating to, the Trust Account, regardless of whether such tax is payable by the Trust Account or the Company, including, but not limited to, income tax obligations, except pursuant to Section 1(j) hereof; or

 

(k) Verify calculations, qualify or otherwise approve the Company’s written requests for distributions pursuant to Sections 1(i), 1(j) and 1(k) hereof.

 

4.  Trust Account Waiver . The Trustee has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind (“ Claim ”) to, or to any monies in, the Trust Account, and hereby irrevocably waives any Claim to, or to any monies in, the Trust Account that it may have now or in the future. In the event the Trustee has any Claim against the Company under this Agreement, including, without limitation, under  Section 2(b)  or  Section 2(c)  hereof, the Trustee shall pursue such Claim solely against the Company and its assets outside the Trust Account and not against the Property or any monies in the Trust Account.

 

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5.  Termination . This Agreement shall terminate as follows:

 

(a) If the Trustee gives written notice to the Company that it desires to resign under this Agreement, the Company shall use its reasonable efforts to locate a successor trustee, pending which the Trustee shall continue to act in accordance with this Agreement. At such time that the Company notifies the Trustee that a successor trustee has been appointed and has agreed to become subject to the terms of this Agreement, the Trustee shall transfer the management of the Trust Account to the successor trustee, including but not limited to the transfer of copies of the reports and statements relating to the Trust Account, whereupon this Agreement shall terminate;  provided , however , that in the event that the Company does not locate a successor trustee within sixty (60) days of receipt of the resignation notice from the Trustee, the Trustee may submit an application to have the Property deposited with any court in the State of New York or with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and upon such deposit, the Trustee shall be immune from any liability whatsoever; or

  

(b) At such time that the Trustee has completed the liquidation of the Trust Account and its obligations in accordance with the provisions of Section 1(i) hereof (which section may not be amended under any circumstances) and distributed the Property in accordance with the provisions of the Termination Letter, this Agreement shall terminate except with respect to Section 2(b) .

 

6.  Miscellaneous .

 

(a) The Company and the Trustee each acknowledge that the Trustee will follow the security procedures set forth below with respect to funds transferred from the Trust Account. The Company and the Trustee will each restrict access to confidential information relating to such security procedures to authorized persons. Each party must notify the other party immediately if it has reason to believe unauthorized persons may have obtained access to such confidential information, or of any change in its authorized personnel. In executing funds transfers, the Trustee shall rely upon all information supplied to it by the Company, including, account names, account numbers, and all other identifying information relating to a Beneficiary, Beneficiary’s bank or intermediary bank. Except for any liability arising out of the Trustee’s gross negligence, fraud or willful misconduct, the Trustee shall not be liable for any loss, liability or expense resulting from any error in the information or transmission of the funds.

 

(b) This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflicts of law principles that would result in the application of the substantive laws of another jurisdiction. This Agreement may be executed in several original or facsimile counterparts, each one of which shall constitute an original, and together shall constitute but one instrument.

 

(c) This Agreement contains the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof. Except for  Section 1(i)  hereof (which may not be modified, amended or deleted without the affirmative vote of sixty five percent (65%) of the then outstanding shares of Common Stock; provided that no such amendment will affect any Public Stockholder who has otherwise indicated his election to redeem his shares of Common Stock in connection with a stockholder vote sought to amend this Agreement, this Agreement or any provision hereof may only be changed, amended or modified (other than to correct a typographical error) by a writing signed by each of the parties hereto.

 

(d) The parties hereto consent to the jurisdiction and venue of any state or federal court located in the City of New York, State of New York, for purposes of resolving any disputes hereunder. AS TO ANY CLAIM, CROSS-CLAIM OR COUNTERCLAIM IN ANY WAY RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, EACH PARTY WAIVES THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY.

 

  5  

 

 

(e) Any notice, consent or request to be given in connection with any of the terms or provisions of this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be sent by express mail or similar private courier service, by certified mail (return receipt requested), by hand delivery or by facsimile transmission:

 

if to the Trustee, to:

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor

New York, New York 10004

Attn: [●]

Fax No.: [●]

 

if to the Company, to:

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 1100

Wilson, Wyoming 83014

Attn: Daniel J. Hennessy

Fax No.: [●]

  

in each case, with copies to:

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

1345 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10105

Attn: Stuart Neuhauser, Esq.

Fax No.: (212) 370-7889

 

and

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

Eleven Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10010

Attn: LCD-IBD

Fax No.: [●]

 

and

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

300 South Grand Avenue, Suite 3400

Los Angeles, CA 90071

Attn: Gregg A. Noel

Jonathan Ko

Fax No.: (213) 621-5234

 

(f) This Agreement may not be assigned by the Trustee without the prior consent of the Company.

 

(g) Each of the Company and the Trustee hereby represents that it has the full right and power and has been duly authorized to enter into this Agreement and to perform its respective obligations as contemplated hereunder. The Trustee acknowledges and agrees that it shall not make any claims or proceed against the Trust Account, including by way of set-off, and shall not be entitled to any funds in the Trust Account under any circumstance.

 

(h) This Agreement is the joint product of the Trustee and the Company and each provision hereof has been subject to the mutual consultation, negotiation and agreement of such parties and shall not be construed for or against any party hereto.

 

(i) This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument. Delivery of a signed counterpart of this Agreement by facsimile or electronic transmission shall constitute valid and sufficient delivery thereof.

 

(j) Each of the Company and the Trustee hereby acknowledges and agrees that the Representative on behalf of the Underwriters, is a third party beneficiary of this Agreement.

 

(k) Except as specified herein, no party to this Agreement may assign its rights or delegate its obligations hereunder to any other person or entity.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have duly executed this Investment Management Trust Agreement as of the date first written above.

 

  Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as Trustee
     
  By:  
   

Name:

Title:  

 

  Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
     
  By:  
   

Name: Daniel J. Hennessy

Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

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SCHEDULE A

 

Fee Item   Time and method of payment   Amount  
Initial set-up fee.   Initial closing of Offering by wire transfer.   $ 1,500  
Trustee administration fee   Payable annually. First year fee payable, at initial closing of Offering by wire transfer, thereafter by wire transfer or check.   $ 8,000  
Transaction processing fee for disbursements to Company under Sections 1(i) and 1(j)   Deduction by Trustee from accumulated income following disbursement made to Company under Section 1   $ 250  
Paying Agent services as required pursuant to Section 1(i)   Billed to Company upon delivery of service pursuant to Section 1(i)     Prevailing rates  

 

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EXHIBIT A

 

[Letterhead of Company]

 

[Insert date]

 

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor

New York, New York 10004

Attn: Steven Nelson and Francis Wolf

 

  Re: Trust Account No. __Termination Letter

 

Gentlemen:

 

Pursuant to  Section 1(i)  of the Investment Management Trust Agreement between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (“ Company ”) and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“ Trustee ”), dated as of ___________, 2017 (“ Trust Agreement ”), this is to advise you that the Company has entered into an agreement with ____________ (“ Target Business ”) to consummate a business combination with Target Business (“ Business Combination ”) on or about [insert date] . The Company shall notify you at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the actual date of the consummation of the Business Combination (“ Consummation Date ”). Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Trust Agreement.

 

In accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement, we hereby authorize you to commence to liquidate all of the assets of the Trust Account on  [insert date] , and to transfer the proceeds to a segregated account held by you on behalf of the Beneficiaries to the effect that, on the Consummation Date, all of funds held in the Trust Account will be immediately available for transfer to the account or accounts that the Company shall direct on the Consummation Date. It is acknowledged and agreed that while the funds are on deposit in the trust checking account at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. awaiting distribution, the Company will not earn any interest or dividends.

 

On the Consummation Date (i) counsel for the Company shall deliver to you written notification that the Business Combination has been consummated, or will be consummated concurrently with your transfer of funds to the accounts as directed by the Company (the “ Notification ”) and (ii) the Company shall deliver to you (a) a certificate of the Chief Executive Officer, which verifies that the Business Combination has been approved by a vote of the Company’s stockholders, if a vote is held and (b) joint written instruction signed by the Company and the Representative in its initial public offering with respect to the transfer of the funds held in the Trust Account, including payment of amounts owed to public stockholders who have properly exercised their redemption rights and payment of the Deferred Discount to the Representative from the Trust Account (the “ Instruction Letter ”). You are hereby directed and authorized to transfer the funds held in the Trust Account immediately upon your receipt of the Notification and the Instruction Letter, in accordance with the terms of the Instruction Letter. In the event that certain deposits held in the Trust Account may not be liquidated by the Consummation Date without penalty, you will notify the Company in writing of the same and the Company shall direct you as to whether such funds should remain in the Trust Account and be distributed after the Consummation Date to the Company. Upon the distribution of all the funds, your obligations under the Trust Agreement shall be terminated.

 

In the event that the Business Combination is not consummated on the Consummation Date described in the notice thereof and we have not notified you on or before the original Consummation Date of a new Consummation Date, then upon receipt by the Trustee of written instructions from the Company, the funds held in the Trust Account shall be reinvested as provided in Section 1(c) of the Trust Agreement on the business day immediately following the Consummation Date as set forth in the notice as soon thereafter as possible.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:

 

cc: Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

 

  A- 1  

 

 

EXHIBIT B

 

[Letterhead of Company]

 

[Insert date]

 

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor

New York, New York 10004

Attn: Steven Nelson and Francis Wolf

 

  Re: Trust Account No. ___ Termination Letter

 

Gentlemen:

 

Pursuant to  Section 1(i)  of the Investment Management Trust Agreement between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (“ Company ”) and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“ Trustee ”), dated as of [●], 2017 (“ Trust Agreement ”), this is to advise you that the Company has been unable to effect a business combination with a Target Business (“ Business Combination ”) within the time frame specified in the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as described in the Company’s Prospectus relating to the Offering. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Trust Agreement.

 

In accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement, we hereby authorize you to liquidate all of the assets in the Trust Account on [●], 20[__] and to transfer the total proceeds into a segregated account held by you on behalf of the Beneficiaries to await distribution to the Public Stockholders. The Company has selected [●], 20[__], as the record date for the purpose of determining the Public Stockholders entitled to receive their share of the liquidation proceeds. You agree to be the Paying Agent of record and, in your separate capacity as Paying Agent, agree to distribute said funds directly to the Company’s Public Stockholders in accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement and the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company. Upon the distribution of all the funds, your obligations under the Trust Agreement shall be terminated.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:

 

cc: Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

 

  B- 1  

 

 

EXHIBIT C

 

[Letterhead of Company]

 

[Insert date]

 

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor

New York, New York 10004

Attn: Steven Nelson and Francis Wolf

 

  Re: Trust Account No. __ Withdrawal Instruction

 

Gentlemen:

 

Pursuant to  Section 1(j)  of the Investment Management Trust Agreement between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (“ Company ”) and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“ Trustee ”), dated as of [●], 2017 (“ Trust Agreement ”), the Company hereby requests that you deliver to the Company $[●] of the interest income earned on the Property as of the date hereof. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Trust Agreement.

 

The Company needs such funds [to pay for the tax obligations as set forth on the attached tax return or tax statement] [for working capital purposes]. In accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement, you are hereby directed and authorized to transfer (via wire transfer) such funds promptly upon your receipt of this letter to the Company’s operating account at:

 

[WIRE INSTRUCTION INFORMATION]

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:

 

cc: Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC 

 

  C- 1  

 

 

EXHIBIT D

 

[Letterhead of Company]

 

[Insert date]

 

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

1 State Street Plaza, 30 th Floor

New York, New York 10004

Attn: Steven Nelson and Francis Wolf

 

  Re: Trust Account No. Shareholder Redemption Withdrawal Instruction

 

Gentlemen:

 

Pursuant to Section 1(k) of the Investment Management Trust Agreement between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (“ Company ”) and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“ Trustee ”), dated as of [●], 2017 (“ Trust Agreement ”), the Company hereby requests that you deliver $[          ] of the principal and interest income earned on the Property as of the date hereof to a segregated account held by you on behalf of the Beneficiaries. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Trust Agreement.

 

The Company needs such funds to pay its Public Stockholders who have properly elected to have their shares of Common Stock redeemed by the Company in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of public shares of Common Stock if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within such time as is described in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation. As such, you are hereby directed and authorized to transfer (via wire transfer) such funds promptly upon your receipt of this letter to a segregated account held by you on behalf of the Beneficiaries.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
     
  By:  
    Name:
    Title:

 

cc: Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

 

 

D-1

 

Exhibit 10.4

 

REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT

 

THIS REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”), dated as of [●], 2017, is made and entered into by and among Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), Hennessy Capital Partners III, LLC., a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Sponsor ”), and the undersigned parties listed under Holders on the signature page hereto (each such party, together with the Sponsor and any person or entity who hereafter becomes a party to this Agreement pursuant to  Section 5.2  of this Agreement, a “ Holder ” and collectively the “ Holders ”).

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS , the Company and the Sponsor have entered into that certain Securities Purchase Agreement (the “ Founder Shares Purchase Agreement ”), dated as of March 31, 2017, pursuant to which the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,906,250 shares (the “ Founder Shares ”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”); and

 

WHEREAS,  the Sponsor, and certain of the officers and directors of the Company entered into that certain Securities Assignment Agreement, dated as of May 23, 2017, pursuant to which the Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 1,125,000 Founder Shares to such persons for an aggregate purchase price of $ 3,375; and

 

WHEREAS,  on May 26, 2017, the Company and the Sponsor agreed to cancel 1,437,500 of the Founder Shares; and

 

WHEREAS , on May 26, 2017, the Company and the Sponsor entered into that certain Second Amended and Restated Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement (the “ Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement ”), pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase 7,700,000 warrants (or up to 8,442,500 warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Company’s initial public offering is exercised in full) (the “ Private Placement Warrants ”), in a private placement transaction occurring simultaneously with the closing of the Company’s initial public offering; and

 

WHEREAS , the Company and the Holders desire to enter into this Agreement, pursuant to which the Company shall grant the Holders certain registration rights with respect to certain securities of the Company, as set forth in this Agreement.

 

NOW ,  THEREFORE , in consideration of the representations, covenants and agreements contained herein, and certain other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

 

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

 

1.1  Definitions . The terms defined in this  Article I  shall, for all purposes of this Agreement, have the respective meanings set forth below:

 

Adverse Disclosure ” shall mean any public disclosure of material non-public information, which disclosure, in the good faith judgment of the Chief Executive Officer or principal financial officer of the Company, after consultation with counsel to the Company, (i) would be required to be made in any Registration Statement or Prospectus in order for the applicable Registration Statement or Prospectus not to contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements contained therein (in the case of any prospectus and any preliminary prospectus, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made) not misleading, (ii) would not be required to be made at such time if the Registration Statement were not being filed, and (iii) the Company has a bona fide business purpose for not making such information public.

 

Agreement ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

 

Board ” shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company.

   

 

 

 

Business Combination ” shall mean any merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses, involving the Company.

 

Commission ” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Common Stock ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Company ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

 

Demand Registration ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.1.1 .

 

Demanding Holder ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.1.1 .

 

Exchange Act ” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as it may be amended from time to time.

 

Form S-1 ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.1.1 .

 

Form S-3 ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.3 .

 

Founder Lock-up Period ” shall mean, with respect to the Founder Shares, the period ending on the earlier of one year after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or earlier if, subsequent to the Business Combination, the last sale price of the Common Stock (x) equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Company’s initial Business Combination or (y) the date following the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property, except in each case (a) to the Company’s officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of the Company’s officers or directors, any members of the Sponsor, or any affiliates of such person or the Sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased; (f) in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to its completion of its initial Business Combination; or (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of the Sponsor; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

 

Founder Shares ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Founder Shares Purchase Agreement ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Holders ” shall have the meaning given in the Preamble.

 

Insider Letter ” shall mean that certain letter agreement, dated [●], 2017, by and among the Company, the Sponsor and each of the Company’s officers, directors and director nominees.

 

Maximum Number of Securities ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.1.4 .

 

Misstatement ” shall mean an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission to state a material fact required to be stated in a Registration Statement or Prospectus or necessary to make the statements in a Registration Statement or Prospectus in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading.

 

  2  

 

 

Permitted Transferees ” shall mean a person or entity to whom a Holder of Registrable Securities is permitted to transfer such Registrable Securities prior to the expiration of the Founder Lock-up Period or Private Placement Lock-up Period, as the case may be, under this Agreement, the Insider Letter and any other applicable agreement between such Holder and the Company, and to any transferee thereafter.

  

Piggyback Registration ” shall have the meaning given in subsection 2.2.1.

 

Private Placement Lock-up Period ” shall mean, with respect to Private Placement Warrants that are held by the initial purchasers of such Private Placement Warrants or their Permitted Transferees, and any of the Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise or conversion of the Private Placement Warrants and that are held by the initial purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants or their Permitted Transferees, the period ending 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination except in each case (a) to the Company’s officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of the Company’s officers or directors, any members of the Sponsor, or any affiliates of such person or the Sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of the Company’s liquidation prior to its completion of its initial Business Combination; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or the Sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of the Sponsor; or (h) in the event of the Company’s completion of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of its stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the Company’s completion of its initial Business Combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

 

Private Placement Warrants ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Prospectus ” shall mean the prospectus included in any Registration Statement, as supplemented by any and all prospectus supplements and as amended by any and all post-effective amendments and including all material incorporated by reference in such prospectus.

 

Prospectus Date ” shall mean the date of the final prospectus filed with the Commission and relating to the Company’s initial public offering.

 

 “ Registrable Security ” shall mean (a) the Founder Shares, (b) the Private Placement Warrants (including any shares of the Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any such Private Placement Warrants), (c) any outstanding share of the Common Stock or any other equity security (including the shares of the Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any other equity security) of the Company held by a Holder as of the date of this Agreement, (d) any equity securities (including the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon the exercise of any such equity security) of the Company issuable upon conversion of any working capital loans made to the Company by a Holder, and (e) any other equity security of the Company issued or issuable with respect to any such share of the Common Stock by way of a stock dividend or stock split or in connection with a combination of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation or reorganization;  provided however , that, as to any particular Registrable Security, such securities shall cease to be Registrable Securities when: (A) a Registration Statement with respect to the sale of such securities shall have become effective under the Securities Act and such securities shall have been sold, transferred, disposed of or exchanged in accordance with such Registration Statement; (B) such securities shall have been otherwise transferred, new certificates for such securities not bearing a legend restricting further transfer shall have been delivered by the Company and subsequent public distribution of such securities shall not require registration under the Securities Act; (C) such securities shall have ceased to be outstanding; (D) such securities may be sold without registration pursuant Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission) (but with no volume or other restrictions or limitations); or (E) such securities have been sold to, or through, a broker, dealer or underwriter in a public distribution or other public securities transaction.

 

  3  

 

 

Registration ” shall mean a registration effected by preparing and filing a registration statement or similar document in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Act, and the applicable rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and such registration statement becoming effective.

  

Registration Expenses ” shall mean the out-of-pocket expenses of a Registration, including, without limitation, the following:

 

(A) all registration and filing fees (including fees with respect to filings required to be made with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and any securities exchange on which the Common Stock is then listed;

 

(B) fees and expenses of compliance with securities or blue sky laws (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with blue sky qualifications of Registrable Securities);

 

(C) printing, messenger, telephone and delivery expenses;

 

(D) reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company;

 

(E) reasonable fees and disbursements of all independent registered public accountants of the Company incurred specifically in connection with such Registration; and

 

(F) reasonable fees and expenses of one (1) legal counsel selected by the majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating a Demand Registration to be registered for offer and sale in the applicable Registration.

 

Registration Statement ” shall mean any registration statement that covers the Registrable Securities pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, including the Prospectus included in such registration statement, amendments (including post-effective amendments) and supplements to such registration statement, and all exhibits to and all material incorporated by reference in such registration statement.

 

Requesting Holder ” shall have the meaning given in  subsection 2.1.1 .

 

Securities Act ” shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time.

 

Sponsor ” shall have the meaning given in the Recitals hereto.

 

Underwriter ” shall mean a securities dealer who purchases any Registrable Securities as principal in an Underwritten Offering and not as part of such dealer’s market-making activities.

 

Underwritten Registration ” or “ Underwritten Offering ” shall mean a Registration in which securities of the Company are sold to an Underwriter in a firm commitment underwriting for distribution to the public.

 

ARTICLE II

REGISTRATIONS

 

2.1  Demand Registration .

 

2.1.1  Request for Registration . Subject to the provisions of  subsection 2.1.4  and  Section 2.4  hereof, at any time and from time to time on or after the date the Company consummates the Business Combination, the Holders of at least a majority in interest of the then outstanding number of Registrable Securities (the “ Demanding Holders ”) may make a written demand for Registration under the Securities Act of all or part of their Registrable Securities, which written demand shall describe the amount and type of securities to be included in such Registration and the intended method(s) of distribution thereof (such written demand a “ Demand Registration ”). The Company shall, within ten (10) days of the Company’s receipt of the Demand Registration, notify, in writing, all other Holders of Registrable Securities of such demand, and each Holder of Registrable Securities who thereafter wishes to include all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration (each such Holder that includes all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in such Registration, a “ Requesting Holder ”) shall so notify the Company, in writing, within five (5) days after the receipt by the Holder of the notice from the Company. Upon receipt by the Company of any such written notification from a Requesting Holder(s) to the Company, such Requesting Holder(s) shall be entitled to have their Registrable Securities included in a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration and the Company shall effect, as soon thereafter as practicable, but not more than forty five (45) days immediately after the Company’s receipt of the Demand Registration, the Registration of all Registrable Securities requested by the Demanding Holders and Requesting Holders pursuant to such Demand Registration. Under no circumstances shall the Company be obligated to effect more than an aggregate of three (3) Registrations pursuant to a Demand Registration under this  subsection 2.1.1  with respect to any or all Registrable Securities;  provided however , that a Registration shall not be counted for such purposes unless a Form S-1 or any similar long-form registration statement that may be available at such time (“ Form S-1 ”) has become effective and all of the Registrable Securities requested by the Requesting Holders to be registered on behalf of the Requesting Holders in such Form S-1 Registration have been sold, in accordance with  Section 3.1  of this Agreement.

 

  4  

 

  

2.1.2  Effective Registration . Notwithstanding the provisions of  subsection 2.1.1  above or any other part of this Agreement, a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration shall not count as a Registration unless and until (i) the Registration Statement filed with the Commission with respect to a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration has been declared effective by the Commission and (ii) the Company has complied with all of its obligations under this Agreement with respect thereto;  provided further , that if, after such Registration Statement has been declared effective, an offering of Registrable Securities in a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration is subsequently interfered with by any stop order or injunction of the Commission, federal or state court or any other governmental agency the Registration Statement with respect to such Registration shall be deemed not to have been declared effective, unless and until, (i) such stop order or injunction is removed, rescinded or otherwise terminated, and (ii) a majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating such Demand Registration thereafter affirmatively elect to continue with such Registration and accordingly notify the Company in writing, but in no event later than five (5) days, of such election;  provided further , that the Company shall not be obligated or required to file another Registration Statement until the Registration Statement that has been previously filed with respect to a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration becomes effective or is subsequently terminated.

 

2.1.3  Underwritten Offering . Subject to the provisions of  subsection 2.1.4  and  Section 2.4  hereof, if a majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders so advise the Company as part of their Demand Registration that the offering of the Registrable Securities pursuant to such Demand Registration shall be in the form of an Underwritten Offering, then the right of such Demanding Holder or Requesting Holder (if any) to include its Registrable Securities in such Registration shall be conditioned upon such Holder’s participation in such Underwritten Offering and the inclusion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in such Underwritten Offering to the extent provided herein. All such Holders proposing to distribute their Registrable Securities through an Underwritten Offering under this  subsection 2.1.3  shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the Underwriter(s) selected for such Underwritten Offering by the majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating the Demand Registration.

 

2.1.4  Reduction of Underwritten Offering . If the managing Underwriter or Underwriters in an Underwritten Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration, in good faith, advises the Company, the Demanding Holders and the Requesting Holders (if any) in writing that the dollar amount or number of Registrable Securities that the Demanding Holders and the Requesting Holders (if any) desire to sell, taken together with all other Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell and the Common Stock, if any, as to which a Registration has been requested pursuant to separate written contractual piggy-back registration rights held by any other stockholders who desire to sell, exceeds the maximum dollar amount or maximum number of equity securities that can be sold in the Underwritten Offering without adversely affecting the proposed offering price, the timing, the distribution method, or the probability of success of such offering (such maximum dollar amount or maximum number of such securities, as applicable, the “ Maximum Number of Securities ”), then the Company shall include in such Underwritten Offering, as follows: (i) first, the Registrable Securities of the Demanding Holders and the Requesting Holders (if any) (pro rata based on the respective number of Registrable Securities that each Demanding Holder and Requesting Holder (if any) has requested be included in such Underwritten Registration and the aggregate number of Registrable Securities that the Demanding Holders and Requesting Holders have requested be included in such Underwritten Registration (such proportion is referred to herein as “ Pro Rata ”)) that can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (ii) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (i), the Registrable Securities of Holders (Pro Rata, based on the respective number of Registrable Securities that each Holder has so requested exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to  subsection 2.2.1  hereof, without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (iii) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii), the Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (iv) fourth, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (i), (ii) and (iii), the Common Stock or other equity securities of other persons or entities that the Company is obligated to register in a Registration pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with such persons and that can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities.

 

  5  

 

  

2.1.5  Demand Registration Withdrawal . A majority-in-interest of the Demanding Holders initiating a Demand Registration or a majority-in-interest of the Requesting Holders (if any), pursuant to a Registration under  subsection 2.1.1  shall have the right to withdraw from a Registration pursuant to such Demand Registration for any or no reason whatsoever upon written notification to the Company and the Underwriter or Underwriters (if any) of their intention to withdraw from such Registration prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement filed with the Commission with respect to the Registration of their Registrable Securities pursuant to such Demand Registration. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration prior to its withdrawal under this  subsection 2.1.5 .

 

2.2  Piggyback Registration .

 

2.2.1  Piggyback Rights . If, at any time on or after the date the Company consummates a Business Combination, the Company proposes to file a Registration Statement under the Securities Act with respect to an offering of equity securities, or securities or other obligations exercisable or exchangeable for, or convertible into equity securities, for its own account or for the account of stockholders of the Company (or by the Company and by the stockholders of the Company including, without limitation, pursuant to  Section 2.1  hereof), other than a Registration Statement (i) filed in connection with any employee stock option or other benefit plan, (ii) for an exchange offer or offering of securities solely to the Company’s existing stockholders, (iii) for an offering of debt that is convertible into equity securities of the Company or (iv) for a dividend reinvestment plan, then the Company shall give written notice of such proposed filing to all of the Holders of Registrable Securities as soon as practicable but not less than ten (10) days before the anticipated filing date of such Registration Statement, which notice shall (A) describe the amount and type of securities to be included in such offering, the intended method(s) of distribution, and the name of the proposed managing Underwriter or Underwriters, if any, in such offering, and (B) offer to all of the Holders of Registrable Securities the opportunity to register the sale of such number of Registrable Securities as such Holders may request in writing within five (5) days after receipt of such written notice (such Registration a “  Piggyback Registration ”). The Company shall, in good faith, cause such Registrable Securities to be included in such Piggyback Registration and shall use its best efforts to cause the managing Underwriter or Underwriters of a proposed Underwritten Offering to permit the Registrable Securities requested by the Holders pursuant to this subsection 2.2.1 to be included in a Piggyback Registration on the same terms and conditions as any similar securities of the Company included in such Registration and to permit the sale or other disposition of such Registrable Securities in accordance with the intended method(s) of distribution thereof. All such Holders proposing to distribute their Registrable Securities through an Underwritten Offering under this  subsection 2.2.1  shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the Underwriter(s) selected for such Underwritten Offering by the Company.

  

2.2.2  Reduction of Piggyback Registration . If the managing Underwriter or Underwriters in an Underwritten Registration that is to be a Piggyback Registration, in good faith, advises the Company and the Holders of Registrable Securities participating in the Piggyback Registration in writing that the dollar amount or number of the Common Stock that the Company desires to sell, taken together with (i) the Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been demanded pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with persons or entities other than the Holders of Registrable Securities hereunder (ii) the Registrable Securities as to which registration has been requested pursuant  Section 2.2  hereof, and (iii) the Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been requested pursuant to separate written contractual piggy-back registration rights of other stockholders of the Company, exceeds the Maximum Number of Securities, then:

 

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(a) If the Registration is undertaken for the Company’s account, the Company shall include in any such Registration (A) first, the Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (B) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (A), the Registrable Securities of Holders exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to  subsection 2.2.1  hereof, Pro Rata, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (C) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A) and (B), the Common Stock, if any, as to which Registration has been requested pursuant to written contractual piggy-back registration rights of other stockholders of the Company, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities;

 

(b) If the Registration is pursuant to a request by persons or entities other than the Holders of Registrable Securities, then the Company shall include in any such Registration (A) first, the Common Stock or other equity securities, if any, of such requesting persons or entities, other than the Holders of Registrable Securities, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (B) second, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clause (A), the Registrable Securities of Holders exercising their rights to register their Registrable Securities pursuant to  subsection 2.2.1 , pro rata based on the number of Registrable Securities that each Holder has requested be included in such Underwritten Registration and the aggregate number of Registrable Securities that the Holders have requested to be included in such Underwritten Registration, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; (C) third, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A) and (B), the Common Stock or other equity securities that the Company desires to sell, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities; and (D) fourth, to the extent that the Maximum Number of Securities has not been reached under the foregoing clauses (A), (B) and (C), the Common Stock or other equity securities for the account of other persons or entities that the Company is obligated to register pursuant to separate written contractual arrangements with such persons or entities, which can be sold without exceeding the Maximum Number of Securities.

 

2.2.3  Piggyback Registration Withdrawal . Any Holder of Registrable Securities shall have the right to withdraw from a Piggyback Registration for any or no reason whatsoever upon written notification to the Company and the Underwriter or Underwriters (if any) of his, her or its intention to withdraw from such Piggyback Registration prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement filed with the Commission with respect to such Piggyback Registration. The Company (whether on its own good faith determination or as the result of a request for withdrawal by persons pursuant to separate written contractual obligations) may withdraw a Registration Statement filed with the Commission in connection with a Piggyback Registration at any time prior to the effectiveness of such Registration Statement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company shall be responsible for the Registration Expenses incurred in connection with the Piggyback Registration prior to its withdrawal under this  subsection 2.2.3 .

 

2.2.4  Unlimited Piggyback Registration Rights . For purposes of clarity, any Registration effected pursuant to  Section 2.2  hereof shall not be counted as a Registration pursuant to a Demand Registration effected under  Section 2.1  hereof.

 

2.3  Registrations on Form S-3 . The Holders of Registrable Securities may at any time, and from time to time, request in writing that the Company, pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission), register the resale of any or all of their Registrable Securities on Form S-3 or any similar short-form registration statement that may be available at such time (“ Form S-3 ”);  provided however , that the Company shall not be obligated to effect such request through an Underwritten Offering. Within five (5) days of the Company’s receipt of a written request from a Holder or Holders of Registrable Securities for a Registration on Form S-3, the Company shall promptly give written notice of the proposed Registration on Form S-3 to all other Holders of Registrable Securities, and each Holder of Registrable Securities who thereafter wishes to include all or a portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in such Registration on Form S-3 shall so notify the Company, in writing, within ten (10) days after the receipt by the Holder of the notice from the Company. As soon as practicable thereafter, but not more than twelve (12) days after the Company’s initial receipt of such written request for a Registration on Form S-3, the Company shall register all or such portion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities as are specified in such written request, together with all or such portion of Registrable Securities of any other Holder or Holders joining in such request as are specified in the written notification given by such Holder or Holders;  provided however , that the Company shall not be obligated to effect any such Registration pursuant to  Section 2.3  hereof if (i) a Form S-3 is not available for such offering; or (ii) the Holders of Registrable Securities, together with the Holders of any other equity securities of the Company entitled to inclusion in such Registration, propose to sell the Registrable Securities and such other equity securities (if any) at any aggregate price to the public of less than $5,000,000.

  

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2.4  Restrictions on Registration Rights . If (A) during the period starting with the date sixty (60) days prior to the Company’s good faith estimate of the date of the filing of, and ending on a date one hundred and twenty (120) days after the effective date of, a Company initiated Registration and provided that the Company has delivered written notice to the Holders prior to receipt of a Demand Registration pursuant to  subsection 2.1.1  and it continues to actively employ, in good faith, all reasonable efforts to cause the applicable Registration Statement to become effective; (B) the Holders have requested an Underwritten Registration and the Company and the Holders are unable to obtain the commitment of underwriters to firmly underwrite the offer; or (C) in the good faith judgment of the Board such Registration would be seriously detrimental to the Company and the Board concludes as a result that it is essential to defer the filing of such Registration Statement at such time, then in each case the Company shall furnish to such Holders a certificate signed by the Chairman of the Board stating that in the good faith judgment of the Board it would be seriously detrimental to the Company for such Registration Statement to be filed in the near future and that it is therefore essential to defer the filing of such Registration Statement. In such event, the Company shall have the right to defer such filing for a period of not more than thirty (30) days;  provided however , that the Company shall not defer its obligation in this manner more than once in any 12-month period.

 

ARTICLE III

COMPANY PROCEDURES

 

3.1  General Procedures . If at any time on or after the date the Company consummates a Business Combination the Company is required to effect the Registration of Registrable Securities, the Company shall use its best efforts to effect such Registration to permit the sale of such Registrable Securities in accordance with the intended plan of distribution thereof, and pursuant thereto the Company shall, as expeditiously as possible:

 

3.1.1 prepare and file with the Commission as soon as practicable a Registration Statement with respect to such Registrable Securities and use its reasonable best efforts to cause such Registration Statement to become effective and remain effective until all Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement have been sold;

 

3.1.2 prepare and file with the Commission such amendments and post-effective amendments to the Registration Statement, and such supplements to the Prospectus, as may be requested by the Holders or any Underwriter of Registrable Securities or as may be required by the rules, regulations or instructions applicable to the registration form used by the Company or by the Securities Act or rules and regulations thereunder to keep the Registration Statement effective until all Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement are sold in accordance with the intended plan of distribution set forth in such Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus;

 

3.1.3 prior to filing a Registration Statement or prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, furnish without charge to the Underwriters, if any, and the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration, and such Holders’ legal counsel, copies of such Registration Statement as proposed to be filed, each amendment and supplement to such Registration Statement (in each case including all exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein), the Prospectus included in such Registration Statement (including each preliminary Prospectus), and such other documents as the Underwriters and the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration or the legal counsel for any such Holders may request in order to facilitate the disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by such Holders;

 

3.1.4 prior to any public offering of Registrable Securities, use its best efforts to (i) register or qualify the Registrable Securities covered by the Registration Statement under such securities or “blue sky” laws of such jurisdictions in the United States as the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement (in light of their intended plan of distribution) may request and (ii) take such action necessary to cause such Registrable Securities covered by the Registration Statement to be registered with or approved by such other governmental authorities as may be necessary by virtue of the business and operations of the Company and do any and all other acts and things that may be necessary or advisable to enable the Holders of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement to consummate the disposition of such Registrable Securities in such jurisdictions;  provided however , that the Company shall not be required to qualify generally to do business in any jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to qualify or take any action to which it would be subject to general service of process or taxation in any such jurisdiction where it is not then otherwise so subject;

  

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3.1.5 cause all such Registrable Securities to be listed on each securities exchange or automated quotation system on which similar securities issued by the Company are then listed;

 

3.1.6 provide a transfer agent or warrant agent, as applicable, and registrar for all such Registrable Securities no later than the effective date of such Registration Statement;

 

3.1.7 advise each seller of such Registrable Securities, promptly after it shall receive notice or obtain knowledge thereof, of the issuance of any stop order by the Commission suspending the effectiveness of such Registration Statement or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose and promptly use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order or to obtain its withdrawal if such stop order should be issued;

 

3.1.8 at least five (5) days prior to the filing of any Registration Statement or Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to such Registration Statement or Prospectus or any document that is to be incorporated by reference into such Registration Statement or Prospectus, furnish a copy thereof to each seller of such Registrable Securities or its counsel;

 

3.1.9 notify the Holders at any time when a Prospectus relating to such Registration Statement is required to be delivered under the Securities Act, of the happening of any event as a result of which the Prospectus included in such Registration Statement, as then in effect, includes a Misstatement, and then to correct such Misstatement as set forth in  Section 3.4  hereof;

 

3.1.10 permit a representative of the Holders (such representative to be selected by a majority of the participating holders), the Underwriters, if any, and any attorney or accountant retained by such Holders or Underwriter to participate, at each such person’s own expense, in the preparation of the Registration Statement, and cause the Company’s officers, directors and employees to supply all information reasonably requested by any such representative, Underwriter, attorney or accountant in connection with the Registration;  provided however , that such representatives or Underwriters enter into a confidentiality agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Company, prior to the release or disclosure of any such information;

 

3.1.11 obtain a “cold comfort” letter from the Company’s independent registered public accountants in the event of an Underwritten Registration, in customary form and covering such matters of the type customarily covered by “cold comfort” letters as the managing Underwriter may reasonably request, and reasonably satisfactory to a majority-in-interest of the participating Holders;

 

3.1.12 on the date the Registrable Securities are delivered for sale pursuant to such Registration, obtain an opinion, dated such date, of counsel representing the Company for the purposes of such Registration, addressed to the Holders, the placement agent or sales agent, if any, and the Underwriters, if any, covering such legal matters with respect to the Registration in respect of which such opinion is being given as the Holders, placement agent, sales agent, or Underwriter may reasonably request and as are customarily included in such opinions and negative assurance letters, and reasonably satisfactory to a majority in interest of the participating Holders;

 

3.1.13 in the event of any Underwritten Offering, enter into and perform its obligations under an underwriting agreement, in usual and customary form, with the managing Underwriter of such offering;

 

3.1.14 make available to its security holders, as soon as reasonably practicable, an earnings statement covering the period of at least twelve (12) months beginning with the first day of the Company’s first full calendar quarter after the effective date of the Registration Statement which satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 thereunder (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission);

 

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3.1.15 if the Registration involves the Registration of Registrable Securities involving gross proceeds in excess of $25,000,000, use its reasonable efforts to make available senior executives of the Company to participate in customary “road show” presentations that may be reasonably requested by the Underwriter in any Underwritten Offering; and

 

3.1.16 otherwise, in good faith, cooperate reasonably with, and take such customary actions as may reasonably be requested by the Holders, in connection with such Registration.

 

3.2  Registration Expenses . The Registration Expenses of all Registrations shall be borne by the Company. It is acknowledged by the Holders that the Holders shall bear all incremental selling expenses relating to the sale of Registrable Securities, such as Underwriters’ commissions and discounts, brokerage fees, Underwriter marketing costs and, other than as set forth in the definition of “Registration Expenses,” all reasonable fees and expenses of any legal counsel representing the Holders.

 

3.3  Requirements for Participation in Underwritten Offerings . No person may participate in any Underwritten Offering for equity securities of the Company pursuant to a Registration initiated by the Company hereunder unless such person (i) agrees to sell such person’s securities on the basis provided in any underwriting arrangements approved by the Company and (ii) completes and executes all customary questionnaires, powers of attorney, indemnities, lock-up agreements, underwriting agreements and other customary documents as may be reasonably required under the terms of such underwriting arrangements.

 

3.4  Suspension of Sales; Adverse Disclosure . Upon receipt of written notice from the Company that a Registration Statement or Prospectus contains a Misstatement, each of the Holders shall forthwith discontinue disposition of Registrable Securities until it has received copies of a supplemented or amended Prospectus correcting the Misstatement (it being understood that the Company hereby covenants to prepare and file such supplement or amendment as soon as practicable after the time of such notice), or until it is advised in writing by the Company that the use of the Prospectus may be resumed. If the filing, initial effectiveness or continued use of a Registration Statement in respect of any Registration at any time would require the Company to make an Adverse Disclosure or would require the inclusion in such Registration Statement of financial statements that are unavailable to the Company for reasons beyond the Company’s control, the Company may, upon giving prompt written notice of such action to the Holders, delay the filing or initial effectiveness of, or suspend use of, such Registration Statement for the shortest period of time, but in no event more than thirty (30) days, determined in good faith by the Company to be necessary for such purpose. In the event the Company exercises its rights under the preceding sentence, the Holders agree to suspend, immediately upon their receipt of the notice referred to above, their use of the Prospectus relating to any Registration in connection with any sale or offer to sell Registrable Securities. The Company shall immediately notify the Holders of the expiration of any period during which it exercised its rights under this  Section 3.4 .

 

3.5  Reporting Obligations . As long as any Holder shall own Registrable Securities, the Company, at all times while it shall be reporting under the Exchange Act, covenants to file timely (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act and to promptly furnish the Holders with true and complete copies of all such filings. The Company further covenants that it shall take such further action as any Holder may reasonably request, all to the extent required from time to time to enable such Holder to sell shares of the Common Stock held by such Holder without registration under the Securities Act within the limitation of the exemptions provided by Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission), including providing any legal opinions. Upon the request of any Holder, the Company shall deliver to such Holder a written certification of a duly authorized officer as to whether it has complied with such requirements.

  

ARTICLE IV

INDEMNIFICATION AND CONTRIBUTION

 

4.1  Indemnification .

 

4.1.1 The Company agrees to indemnify, to the extent permitted by law, each Holder of Registrable Securities, its officers and directors and each person who controls such Holder (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) caused by any untrue or alleged untrue statement of material fact contained in any Registration Statement, Prospectus or preliminary Prospectus or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or any omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as the same are caused by or contained in any information furnished in writing to the Company by such Holder expressly for use therein. The Company shall indemnify the Underwriters, their officers and directors and each person who controls such Underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided in the foregoing with respect to the indemnification of the Holder.

 

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4.1.2 In connection with any Registration Statement in which a Holder of Registrable Securities is participating, such Holder shall furnish to the Company in writing such information and affidavits as the Company reasonably requests for use in connection with any such Registration Statement or Prospectus and, to the extent permitted by law, shall indemnify the Company, its directors and officers and agents and each person who controls the Company (within the meaning of the Securities Act) against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any untrue statement of material fact contained in the Registration Statement, Prospectus or preliminary Prospectus or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto or any omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, but only to the extent that such untrue statement or omission is contained in any information or affidavit so furnished in writing by such Holder expressly for use therein;  provided however , that the obligation to indemnify shall be several, not joint and several, among such Holders of Registrable Securities, and the liability of each such Holder of Registrable Securities shall be in proportion to and limited to the net proceeds received by such Holder from the sale of Registrable Securities pursuant to such Registration Statement. The Holders of Registrable Securities shall indemnify the Underwriters, their officers, directors and each person who controls such Underwriters (within the meaning of the Securities Act) to the same extent as provided in the foregoing with respect to indemnification of the Company.

 

4.1.3 Any person entitled to indemnification herein shall (i) give prompt written notice to the indemnifying party of any claim with respect to which it seeks indemnification (provided that the failure to give prompt notice shall not impair any person’s right to indemnification hereunder to the extent such failure has not materially prejudiced the indemnifying party) and (ii) unless in such indemnified party’s reasonable judgment a conflict of interest between such indemnified and indemnifying parties may exist with respect to such claim, permit such indemnifying party to assume the defense of such claim with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party. If such defense is assumed, the indemnifying party shall not be subject to any liability for any settlement made by the indemnified party without its consent (but such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld). An indemnifying party who is not entitled to, or elects not to, assume the defense of a claim shall not be obligated to pay the fees and expenses of more than one counsel for all parties indemnified by such indemnifying party with respect to such claim, unless in the reasonable judgment of any indemnified party a conflict of interest may exist between such indemnified party and any other of such indemnified parties with respect to such claim. No indemnifying party shall, without the consent of the indemnified party, consent to the entry of any judgment or enter into any settlement which cannot be settled in all respects by the payment of money (and such money is so paid by the indemnifying party pursuant to the terms of such settlement) or which settlement does not include as an unconditional term thereof the giving by the claimant or plaintiff to such indemnified party of a release from all liability in respect to such claim or litigation.

 

4.1.4 The indemnification provided for under this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the indemnified party or any officer, director or controlling person of such indemnified party and shall survive the transfer of securities. The Company and each Holder of Registrable Securities participating in an offering also agrees to make such provisions as are reasonably requested by any indemnified party for contribution to such party in the event the Company’s or such Holder’s indemnification is unavailable for any reason.

  

4.1.5 If the indemnification provided under  Section 4.1  hereof from the indemnifying party is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses referred to herein, then the indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying the indemnified party, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by the indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages, liabilities and expenses in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative fault of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative fault of the indemnifying party and indemnified party shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any action in question, including any untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact, was made by, or relates to information supplied by, such indemnifying party or indemnified party, and the indemnifying party’s and indemnified party’s relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such action;  provided however , that the liability of any Holder under this  subsection 4.1.5  shall be limited to the amount of the net proceeds received by such Holder in such offering giving rise to such liability. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the losses or other liabilities referred to above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth in  subsections 4.1.1 4.1.2  and  4.1.3  above, any legal or other fees, charges or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with any investigation or proceeding. The parties hereto agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this  subsection 4.1.5  were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation, which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this  subsection 4.1.5 . No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution pursuant to this  subsection 4.1.5  from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

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ARTICLE V

MISCELLANEOUS

 

5.1  Notices . Any notice or communication under this Agreement must be in writing and given by (i) deposit in the United States mail, addressed to the party to be notified, postage prepaid and registered or certified with return receipt requested, (ii) delivery in person or by courier service providing evidence of delivery, or (iii) transmission by hand delivery, electronic mail or facsimile. Each notice or communication that is mailed, delivered, or transmitted in the manner described above shall be deemed sufficiently given, served, sent, and received, in the case of mailed notices, on the third business day following the date on which it is mailed and, in the case of notices delivered by courier service, hand delivery, electronic mail or facsimile, at such time as it is delivered to the addressee (with the delivery receipt or the affidavit of messenger) or at such time as delivery is refused by the addressee upon presentation. Any notice or communication under this Agreement must be addressed to the Company at 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014 and to the Holder, at such Holder’s address as found in the Company’s books and records. Any party may change its address for notice at any time and from time to time by written notice to the other parties hereto, and such change of address shall become effective thirty (30) days after delivery of such notice as provided in this  Section 5.1 .

 

5.2  Assignment; No Third Party Beneficiaries .

 

5.2.1 This Agreement and the rights, duties and obligations of the Company hereunder may not be assigned or delegated by the Company in whole or in part.

 

5.2.2 Prior to the expiration of the Founder Lock-up Period or the Private Placement Lock-up Period, as the case may be, no Holder may assign or delegate such Holder’s rights, duties or obligations under this Agreement, in whole or in part, except in connection with a transfer of Registrable Securities by such Holder to a Permitted Transferee, but only if such Permitted Transferee agrees to become bound by the transfer restrictions set forth in this Agreement and other applicable letter agreements.

 

5.2.3 This Agreement and the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of each of the parties and its successors and the permitted assigns of the Holders; which shall include Permitted Transferees.

 

5.2.4 This Agreement shall not confer any rights or benefits on any persons that are not parties hereto, other than as expressly set forth in this Agreement and  Section 5.2  hereof.

 

5.2.5 No assignment by any party hereto of such party’s rights, duties and obligations hereunder shall be binding upon or obligate the Company unless and until the Company shall have received (i) written notice of such assignment as provided in  Section 5.1  hereof and (ii) the written agreement of the assignee, in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Company, to be bound by the terms and provisions of this Agreement (which may be accomplished by an addendum or certificate of joinder to this Agreement). Any transfer or assignment made other than as provided in this  Section 5.2  shall be null and void.

  

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5.3  Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in multiple counterparts (including facsimile or PDF counterparts), each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute the same instrument, but only one of which need be produced.

 

5.4  Governing Law; Venue . NOTWITHSTANDING THE PLACE WHERE THIS AGREEMENT MAY BE EXECUTED BY ANY OF THE PARTIES HERETO, THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT (I) THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AS APPLIED TO AGREEMENTS AMONG NEW YORK RESIDENTS ENTERED INTO AND TO BE PERFORMED ENTIRELY WITHIN NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO THE CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION AND (II) THE VENUE FOR ANY ACTION TAKEN WITH RESPECT TO THE AGREEMENT SHALL BE ANY STATE OR FEDERAL COURT IN NEW YORK COUNTY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

 

5.5  Amendments and Modifications . Upon the written consent of the Company and the Holders of at least a majority in interest of the Registrable Securities at the time in question, compliance with any of the provisions, covenants and conditions set forth in this Agreement may be waived, or any of such provisions, covenants or conditions may be amended or modified;  provided however , that notwithstanding the foregoing, any amendment hereto or waiver hereof that adversely affects one Holder, solely in its capacity as a holder of the shares of capital stock of the Company, in a manner that is materially different from the other Holders (in such capacity) shall require the consent of the Holder so affected. No course of dealing between any Holder or the Company and any other party hereto or any failure or delay on the part of a Holder or the Company in exercising any rights or remedies under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of any rights or remedies of any Holder or the Company. No single or partial exercise of any rights or remedies under this Agreement by a party shall operate as a waiver or preclude the exercise of any other rights or remedies hereunder or thereunder by such party.

 

5.6  Other Registration Rights . The Company represents and warrants that no person, other than a Holder of Registrable Securities, has any right to require the Company to register any securities of the Company for sale or to include such securities of the Company in any Registration filed by the Company for the sale of securities for its own account or for the account of any other person. Further, the Company represents and warrants that this Agreement supersedes any other registration rights agreement or agreement with similar terms and conditions and in the event of a conflict between any such agreement or agreements and this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail.

 

5.7  Term . This Agreement shall terminate upon the earlier of (i) the tenth anniversary of the date of this Agreement or (ii) the date as of which (A) all of the Registrable Securities have been sold pursuant to a Registration Statement (but in no event prior to the applicable period referred to in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Rule 174 thereunder (or any successor rule promulgated thereafter by the Commission)) or (B) the Holders of all Registrable Securities are permitted to sell the Registrable Securities under Rule 144 (or any similar provision) under the Securities Act without limitation on the amount of securities sold or the manner of sale. The provisions of  Section 3.5  and  Article IV  shall survive any termination.

 

 [SIGNATURE PAGES FOLLOW]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the undersigned have caused this Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

 

 

COMPANY:
   
 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISTION CORP. III,

a Delaware corporation

     
  By:  
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

  HOLDERS:
   
 

HENNESSY CAPITAL PARTNERS III, LLC

a Delaware limited liability company

By: Hennessy Capital II LLC, its managing member

     
  By:  
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title:   Managing Member

 

  THE BRADLEY J. BELL REVOCABLE TRUST
     
  By:  
    Name: Bradley Bell
    Title: Trustee
     
     
    Richard Burns
     
     
    Daniel R. DiMicco
     
     
    James O'Neil III
     
     
    Nicholas Petruska
     
     
    Kevin Charlton
     
    BALLYBUNION, LLC
     
  By:  
    Name: Peter Shea
    Title:

 

[Signature Page to Registration Rights Agreement]

 

 

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Exhibit 10.5

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, WY 83014 

 

March 31, 2017

 

Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, WY 83014

 

  RE: Securities Subscription Agreement

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We are pleased to accept the offer Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC (the “ Subscriber ” or “ you ”) has made to purchase 7,906,250 shares of common stock (the “ Shares ”), $.0001 par value per share (the “ Common Stock ”), up to 1,031,250 of which are subject to complete or partial forfeiture by you if the underwriters of the initial public offering (“ IPO ”) of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), do not fully exercise their over-allotment option (the “ Over-allotment Option ”). The terms (this “ Agreement ”) on which the Company is willing to sell the Shares to the Subscriber, and the Company and the Subscriber’s agreements regarding such Shares, are as follows:

 

1. Purchase of Common Stock . For the sum of $25,000 (the “ Purchase Price ”), which the Company acknowledges receiving in cash, the Company hereby sells and issues the Shares to the Subscriber, and the Subscriber hereby purchases the Shares from the Company, subject to forfeiture, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement. Concurrently with the Subscriber’s execution of this Agreement, the Company is delivering to the Subscriber a certificate registered in the Subscriber’s name representing the Shares (the “ Original Certificate ”), receipt of which the Subscriber hereby acknowledges.

 

2. Representations, Warranties and Agreements .

 

2.1 Subscriber’s Representations, Warranties and Agreements . To induce the Company to issue the Shares to the Subscriber, the Subscriber hereby represents and warrants to the Company and agrees with the Company as follows:

 

2.1.1. No Government Recommendation or Approval . The Subscriber understands that no federal or state agency has passed upon or made any recommendation or endorsement of the offering of the Shares.

 

2.1.2. No Conflicts . The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation by the Subscriber of the transactions contemplated hereby do not violate, conflict with or constitute a default under (i) the formation and governing documents of the Subscriber, (ii) any agreement, indenture or instrument to which the Subscriber is a party, (iii) any law, statute, rule or regulation to which the Subscriber is subject, or (iv) any agreement, order, judgment or decree to which the Subscriber is subject.

 

2.1.3. Organization and Authority . The Subscriber is a Delaware limited liability company, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of Delaware and possesses all requisite power and authority necessary to carry out the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. Upon execution and delivery by you, this Agreement is a legal, valid and binding agreement of Subscriber, enforceable against Subscriber in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance or similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and subject to general principles of equity (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding at law or in equity).

 

2.1.4. Experience, Financial Capability and Suitability . Subscriber is: (i) sophisticated in financial matters and is able to evaluate the risks and benefits of the investment in the Shares and (ii) able to bear the economic risk of its investment in the Shares for an indefinite period of time because the Shares have not been registered under the Securities Act (as defined below) and therefore cannot be resold unless subsequently registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from such registration is available. Subscriber is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of its investment in the Company and has the capacity to protect its own interests. Subscriber must bear the economic risk of this investment until the Shares are sold pursuant to: (x) an effective registration statement under the Securities Act or (y) an exemption from registration available with respect to such sale. Subscriber is able to bear the economic risks of an investment in the Shares and to afford a complete loss of Subscriber’s investment in the Shares.

 

 
 

 

2.1.5. Access to Information; Independent Investigation . Prior to the execution of this Agreement, the Subscriber has had the opportunity to ask questions of and receive answers from representatives of the Company concerning an investment in the Company, as well as the finances, operations, business and prospects of the Company, and the opportunity to obtain additional information to verify the accuracy of all information so obtained. In determining whether to make this investment, Subscriber has relied solely on Subscriber’s own knowledge and understanding of the Company and its business based upon Subscriber’s own due diligence investigation and the information furnished pursuant to this paragraph. Subscriber understands that no person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations which were not furnished pursuant to this Section 2 and Subscriber has not relied on any other representations or information in making its investment decision, whether written or oral, relating to the Company, its operations or its prospects.

 

2.1.6. Regulation D Offering . Subscriber represents that it is an “accredited investor” as such term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”) and acknowledges the sale contemplated hereby is being made in reliance on a private placement exemption to “accredited investors” or similar exemptions under federal and state law.

 

2.1.7. Investment Purposes . The Subscriber is purchasing the Shares solely for investment purposes, for the Subscriber’s own account and not for the account or benefit of any other person, and not with a view towards the distribution or dissemination thereof. The Subscriber did not enter into this Agreement as a result of any general solicitation or general advertising within the meaning of Rule 502 of Regulation D under the Securities Act.

 

2.1.8. Restrictions on Transfer; Shell Company . Subscriber understands the Shares are being offered in a transaction not involving a public offering within the meaning of the Securities Act. Subscriber understands the Shares will be “restricted securities” as defined in Rule 144(a)(3) under the Securities Act and Subscriber understands that the certificate representing the Shares will contain a legend in respect of such restrictions. If in the future the Subscriber decides to offer, resell, pledge or otherwise transfer the Shares, such Shares may be offered, resold, pledged or otherwise transferred only pursuant to: (i) an effective registration statement under the Securities Act, or (ii) an available exemption from registration. Subscriber agrees that if any transfer of its Shares or any interest therein is proposed to be made, as a condition precedent to any such transfer, Subscriber may be required to deliver to the Company an opinion of counsel satisfactory to the Company. Absent registration or an exemption, the Subscriber agrees not to resell the Shares. Subscriber further acknowledges that because the Company is a shell company, Rule 144 may not be available to the Subscriber for the resale of the Shares until one year following consummation of the initial business combination of the Company, despite technical compliance with the certain requirements of Rule 144 and the release or waiver of any contractual transfer restrictions.

 

2.1.9. No Governmental Consents . No governmental, administrative or other third party consents or approvals are required, necessary or appropriate on the part of Subscriber in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

2.2 Company’s Representations, Warranties and Agreements . To induce the Subscriber to purchase the Shares, the Company hereby represents and warrants to the Subscriber and agrees with the Subscriber as follows:

 

2.2.1 Organization and Corporate Power . The Company is a Delaware corporation and is qualified to do business in every jurisdiction in which the failure to so qualify would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, operating results or assets of the Company. The Company possesses all requisite corporate power and authority necessary to carry out the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

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2.2.2. No Conflicts . The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby do not violate, conflict with or constitute a default under (i) the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the Company, (ii) any agreement, indenture or instrument to which the Company is a party, (iii) any law, statute, rule or regulation to which the Company is subject, or (iv) any agreement, order, judgment or decree to which the Company is subject.

 

2.2.3. Title to Securities . Upon issuance in accordance with, and payment pursuant to, the terms hereof, the Shares will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. Upon issuance in accordance with, and payment pursuant to, the terms hereof the Subscriber will have or receive good title to the Shares, free and clear of all liens, claims and encumbrances of any kind, other than (a) transfer restrictions hereunder and other agreements to which the Shares may be subject, (b) transfer restrictions under federal and state securities laws, and (c) liens, claims or encumbrances imposed due to the actions of the Subscriber.

 

2.2.4. No Adverse Actions . There are no actions, suits, investigations or proceedings pending, threatened against or affecting the Company which: (i) seek to restrain, enjoin, prevent the consummation of or otherwise affect the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or (ii) question the validity or legality of any transactions or seeks to recover damages or to obtain other relief in connection with any transactions.

 

3. Forfeiture of Shares .

 

3.1.  Partial or No Exercise of the Over-allotment Option . In the event the Over-allotment Option granted to the representative of the underwriters of the IPO is not exercised in full, the Subscriber acknowledges and agrees that it shall forfeit any and all rights to such number of Shares (up to an aggregate of 1,031,250 Shares and pro rata based upon the percentage of the Over-allotment Option exercised) such that immediately following such forfeiture, the Subscriber (and all other initial stockholders prior to the IPO, if any) will own an aggregate number of Shares (not including Shares issuable upon exercise of any warrants or any Common Stock purchased by Subscriber in the IPO or in the aftermarket) equal to 20% of the issued and outstanding Common Stock immediately following the IPO.

 

3.2. Termination of Rights as Stockholder . If any of the Shares are forfeited in accordance with this Section 3, then after such time the Subscriber (or successor in interest), shall no longer have any rights as a holder of such Shares, and the Company shall take such action as is appropriate to cancel such Shares.

 

3.3. Share Certificates . In the event an adjustment to the Original Certificate is required pursuant to this Section 3, then the Subscriber shall return such Original Certificate to the Company or its designated agent as soon as practicable upon its receipt of notice from the Company advising Subscriber of such adjustment, following which a new certificate (the “ New Certificate ”) shall be issued in such amount representing the adjusted number of Shares held by the Subscriber. The New Certificate shall be returned to the Subscriber as soon as practicable.

 

4. Waiver of Liquidation Distributions; Redemption Rights . In connection with the Shares purchased pursuant to this Agreement, the Subscriber hereby waives any and all right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any distributions by the Company from the trust account which will be established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders and into which substantially all of the proceeds of the IPO will be deposited (the “ Trust Account ”), in the event of a liquidation of the Company upon the Company’s failure to timely complete an initial business combination. For purposes of clarity, in the event the Subscriber purchases Common Stock in the IPO or in the aftermarket, any additional Common Stock so purchased shall be eligible to receive any liquidating distributions by the Company. However, in no event will the Subscriber have the right to redeem any Shares into funds held in the Trust Account upon the successful completion of an initial business combination.

 

5. Restrictions on Transfer .

 

5.1. Securities Law Restrictions . In addition to any restrictions to be contained in that certain letter agreement (commonly known as an “ Insider Letter ”) to be dated as of the closing of the IPO by and between Subscriber and the Company, Subscriber agrees not to sell, transfer, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise dispose of all or any part of the Shares unless, prior thereto (a) a registration statement on the appropriate form under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws with respect to the Shares proposed to be transferred shall then be effective or (b) the Company has received an opinion from counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Company, that such registration is not required because such transaction is exempt from registration under the Securities Act and the rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder and with all applicable state securities laws.

 

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5.2 Lock-up. Subscriber acknowledges that the Shares will be subject to lock-up provisions (the “ Lock-up ”) contained in the Insider Letter. Pursuant to the Insider Letter, Subscriber will agree not to sell, transfer, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise dispose of all or any part of the Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the Company’s initial business combination or (B) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after its initial business combination that results in all of its stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Company’s initial business combination, or (2) if the Company consummate a transaction after its initial business combination which results in its stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash or property, the Shares will be released from the Lock-up.

 

5.3 Restrictive Legends . All certificates representing the Shares shall have endorsed thereon legends substantially as follows:

 

    “THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS AND NEITHER THE SECURITIES NOR ANY INTEREST THEREIN MAY BE OFFERED, SOLD, TRANSFERRED, PLEDGED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED OF EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER SUCH ACT OR SUCH LAWS OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER SUCH ACT AND SUCH LAWS WHICH, IN THE OPINION OF COUNSEL, IS AVAILABLE.”

 

    “THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO LOCKUP PROVISIONS AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD, TRANSFERRED, PLEDGED OR OTHERWISE DISPOSED DURING THE TERM OF THE LOCKUP PERIOD.”

 

5.3. Additional Shares or Substituted Securities . In the event of the declaration of a stock dividend, the declaration of a special dividend payable in a form other than Common Stock, a spin-off, a stock split, an adjustment in conversion ratio, a recapitalization or a similar transaction affecting the Company’s outstanding Common Stock without receipt of consideration, any new, substituted or additional securities or other property which are by reason of such transaction distributed with respect to any Shares subject to this Section 5 or into which such Shares thereby become convertible shall immediately be subject to this Section 5 and Section 3. Appropriate adjustments to reflect the distribution of such securities or property shall be made to the number or class of Shares subject to this Section 5 and Section 3.

 

5.4 Registration Rights . Subscriber acknowledges that the Shares are being purchased pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and will become freely tradable only after certain conditions are met or they are registered pursuant to a Registration Rights Agreement to be entered into with the Company prior to the closing of the IPO.

 

6. Other Agreements .

 

6.1. Further Assurances . Subscriber agrees to execute such further instruments and to take such further action as may reasonably be necessary to carry out the intent of this Agreement.

 

6.2. Notices . All notices, statements or other documents which are required or contemplated by this Agreement shall be in writing and delivered: (i) personally or sent by first class registered or certified mail, overnight courier service or facsimile or electronic transmission to the address designated in writing, (ii) by facsimile to the number most recently provided to such party or such other address or fax number as may be designated in writing by such party and (iii) by electronic mail, to the electronic mail address most recently provided to such party or such other electronic mail address as may be designated in writing by such party. Any notice or other communication so transmitted shall be deemed to have been given on the day of delivery, if delivered personally, on the business day following receipt of written confirmation, if sent by facsimile or electronic transmission, one (1) business day after delivery to an overnight courier service or five (5) days after mailing if sent by mail.

 

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6.3. Entire Agreement . This Agreement, together with that certain Insider Letter to be entered into between Subscriber and the Company, substantially in the form to be filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement, embodies the entire agreement and understanding between the Subscriber and the Company with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior oral or written agreements and understandings relating to the subject matter hereof. No statement, representation, warranty, covenant or agreement of any kind not expressly set forth in this Agreement shall affect, or be used to interpret, change or restrict, the express terms and provisions of this Agreement.

 

6.4. Modifications and Amendments . The terms and provisions of this Agreement may be modified or amended only by written agreement executed by all parties hereto.

 

6.5. Waivers and Consents . The terms and provisions of this Agreement may be waived, or consent for the departure therefrom granted, only by written document executed by the party entitled to the benefits of such terms or provisions. No such waiver or consent shall be deemed to be or shall constitute a waiver or consent with respect to any other terms or provisions of this Agreement, whether or not similar. Each such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the purpose for which it was given, and shall not constitute a continuing waiver or consent.

 

6.6. Assignment . The rights and obligations under this Agreement may not be assigned by either party hereto without the prior written consent of the other party.

 

6.7. Benefit . All statements, representations, warranties, covenants and agreements in this Agreement shall be binding on the parties hereto and shall inure to the benefit of the respective successors and permitted assigns of each party hereto. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to create any rights or obligations except among the parties hereto, and no person or entity shall be regarded as a third-party beneficiary of this Agreement.

 

6.8. Governing Law . This Agreement and the rights and obligations of the parties hereunder shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of New York applicable to contracts wholly performed within the borders of such state, without giving effect to the conflict of law principles thereof.

 

6.9. Severability . In the event that any court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that any provision, or any portion thereof, contained in this Agreement shall be unreasonable or unenforceable in any respect, then such provision shall be deemed limited to the extent that such court deems it reasonable and enforceable, and as so limited shall remain in full force and effect. In the event that such court shall deem any such provision, or portion thereof, wholly unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall nevertheless remain in full force and effect.

 

6.10. No Waiver of Rights, Powers and Remedies . No failure or delay by a party hereto in exercising any right, power or remedy under this Agreement, and no course of dealing between the parties hereto, shall operate as a waiver of any such right, power or remedy of such party. No single or partial exercise of any right, power or remedy under this Agreement by a party hereto, nor any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce any such right, power or remedy, shall preclude such party from any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or remedy hereunder. The election of any remedy by a party hereto shall not constitute a waiver of the right of such party to pursue other available remedies. No notice to or demand on a party not expressly required under this Agreement shall entitle the party receiving such notice or demand to any other or further notice or demand in similar or other circumstances or constitute a waiver of the rights of the party giving such notice or demand to any other or further action in any circumstances without such notice or demand.

 

6.11. Survival of Representations and Warranties . All representations and warranties made by the parties hereto in this Agreement or in any other agreement, certificate or instrument provided for or contemplated hereby, shall survive the execution and delivery hereof and any investigations made by or on behalf of the parties.

 

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6.12. No Broker or Finder . Each of the parties hereto represents and warrants to the other that no broker, finder or other financial consultant has acted on its behalf in connection with this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby in such a way as to create any liability on the other. Each of the parties hereto agrees to indemnify and hold the other harmless from any claim or demand for commission or other compensation by any broker, finder, financial consultant or similar agent claiming to have been employed by or on behalf of such party and to bear the cost of legal expenses incurred in defending against any such claim.

 

6.13. Headings and Captions . The headings and captions of the various sections of this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and shall in no way modify or affect the meaning or construction of any of the terms or provisions hereof.

 

6.14. Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to the other party, it being understood that both parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission or any other form of electronic delivery, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such signature page were an original thereof.

 

6.15. Construction . The words “ include ,” “ includes ,” and “ including ” will be deemed to be followed by “ without limitation .” Pronouns in masculine, feminine, and neuter genders will be construed to include any other gender, and words in the singular form will be construed to include the plural and vice versa, unless the context otherwise requires. The words “ this Agreement ,” “ herein ,” “ hereof ,” “ hereby ,” “ hereunder ,” and words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular section unless expressly so limited. The parties hereto intend that each representation, warranty, and covenant contained herein will have independent significance. If any party hereto has breached any representation, warranty, or covenant contained herein in any respect, the fact that there exists another representation, warranty or covenant relating to the same subject matter (regardless of the relative levels of specificity) which such party hereto has not breached will not detract from or mitigate the fact that such party hereto is in breach of the first representation, warranty, or covenant.

 

6.16.  Mutual Drafting . This Agreement is the joint product of the Subscriber and the Company and each provision hereof has been subject to the mutual consultation, negotiation and agreement of such parties and shall not be construed for or against any party hereto.

 

7. Voting and Redemption of Shares . Subscriber agrees to vote the Shares in favor of an initial business combination that the Company negotiates and submits for approval to the Company’s stockholders and shall not seek redemption with respect to such Shares. Additionally, the Subscriber agrees not to redeem any Shares in connection with a redemption or tender offer presented to the Company’s stockholders in connection with an initial business combination negotiated by the Company.

 

8. Indemnification . Each party shall indemnify the other against any loss, cost or damages (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses) incurred as a result of such party’s breach of any representation, warranty, covenant or agreement in this Agreement.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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If the foregoing accurately sets forth our understanding and agreement, please sign the enclosed copy of this Agreement and return it to us.

 

  Very truly yours,
     
  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP III
 
  By: /s/ Daniel J. Hennessy
  Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

Accepted and agreed this 31 st day of March, 2017

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL PARTNERS III LLC,  a Delaware limited liability company  

 

By:  Hennessy Capital LLC, its Managing Member

 
     
By: /s/ Daniel J. Hennessy  
Name: Daniel J. Hennessy  
Title: Manager  

 

 

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Exhibit 10.6

 

SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED SPONSOR WARRANTS PURCHASE AGREEMENT

 

THIS SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED SPONSOR WARRANTS PURCHASE AGREEMENT, dated as of May 26, 2017 (as it may from time to time be amended and including all exhibits referenced herein, this “ Agreement ”), is entered into by and between Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ Purchaser ”).

 

The Company intends to consummate a public offering of the Company’s units (the “ Public Offering ”), each unit consisting of one share of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (a “ Share ”), and one-half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole Share. On April 6, 2017, the Purchaser entered into the Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, wherein the Purchaser agreed to purchase an aggregate of 8,250,000 warrants (or up to 9,075,000 warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Public Offering is exercised in full) (the “ Sponsor Warrants ”), each Sponsor Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole Share. On May 8, 2017, the Purchaser entered into the Amended and Restated Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement (the “ Amended Agreement ”), wherein the Purchaser agreed to purchase an aggregate of 8,750,000 Sponsor Warrants (or up to 9,575,000 Sponsor Warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Public Offering is exercised in full). The Purchaser now wishes to purchase an aggregate of 7,700,000 Sponsor Warrants (or up to 8,442,500 Sponsor Warrants if the over-allotment option in connection with the Public Offering is exercised in full). The Company and the Purchaser also desire to amend and restate the Amended Agreement and to enter into this Agreement.

 

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained in this Agreement and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties to this Agreement hereby, intending legally to be bound, agree as follows:

 

AGREEMENT

 

Section 1. Authorization, Purchase and Sale; Terms of the Sponsor Warrants.

 

A.  Authorization of the Sponsor Warrants . The Company has duly authorized the issuance and sale of the Sponsor Warrants to the Purchaser.

 

B.  Purchase and Sale of the Sponsor Warrants .

 

(i) As payment in full for the 7,700,000 Sponsor Warrants being purchased under this Agreement, Purchaser shall pay $7,700,000 (the “ Purchase Price ”), by wire transfer of immediately available funds or by such other method as may be reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the trust account (the  “Trust Account” ) at a financial institution to be chosen by the Company, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee, or into an escrow account maintained by Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP  (“EG&S”),  counsel for the Company, at least one (1) business day prior to the date of effectiveness of the registration statement to be filed in connection with the Public Offering (the “ Registration Statement ”).

 

(ii) In the event that the over-allotment option is exercised in full or in part, Purchaser shall purchase up to an additional 742,500 Sponsor Warrants (the “ Additional Sponsor Warrants ”), in the same proportion as the amount of the over-allotment option that is exercised, and simultaneously with such purchase of Additional Sponsor Warrants, as payment in full for the Additional Sponsor Warrants being purchased hereunder, and at least one (1) business day prior to the closing of all or any portion of the over-allotment option, Purchaser shall pay $1.00 per Additional Sponsor Warrant, up to an aggregate amount of $742,500, by wire transfer of immediately available funds or by such other method as may be reasonably acceptable to the Company, to the Trust Account.

 

(iii) The closing of the purchase and sale of the Sponsor Warrants shall take place simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering (the “ Initial Closing Date ”). The closing of the purchase and sale of the Additional Sponsor Warrants, if applicable, shall take place simultaneously with the closing of all or any portion of the over-allotment option (such closing date, together with the Initial Closing Date, the “ Closing Dates ” and each, a “ Closing Date ”). The closing of the purchase and sale of each of the Sponsor Warrants and the Additional Sponsor Warrants shall take place at the offices of EG&S, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York, 10105, or such other place as may be agreed upon by the parties hereto.

 

 

 

 

C.  Terms of the Sponsor Warrants .

 

(i) The Sponsor Warrants shall have their terms set forth in a Warrant Agreement to be entered into by the Company and a warrant agent, in connection with the Public Offering (a “ Warrant Agreement ”).

 

(ii) At or prior to the time of the Initial Closing Date, the Company and the Purchaser shall enter into a registration rights agreement (the “ Registration Rights Agreement ”) pursuant to which the Company will grant certain registration rights to the Purchaser relating to the Sponsor Warrants and the Shares underlying the Sponsor Warrants.

 

Section 2. Representations and Warranties of the Company.   As a material inducement to the Purchaser to enter into this Agreement and purchase the Sponsor Warrants, the Company hereby represents and warrants to the Purchaser (which representations and warranties shall survive the Closing Dates) that:

 

A.  Organization and Corporate Power . The Company is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware and is qualified to do business in every jurisdiction in which the failure to so qualify would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, operating results or assets of the Company. The Company possesses all requisite corporate power and authority necessary to carry out the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Warrant Agreement.

 

B.  Authorization; No Breach .

 

(i) The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the Sponsor Warrants have been duly authorized by the Company as of the Closing Dates. This Agreement constitutes the valid and binding obligation of the Company, enforceable in accordance with its terms. Upon issuance in accordance with, and payment pursuant to, the terms of the Warrant Agreement and this Agreement, the Sponsor Warrants will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable in accordance with their terms as of the Closing Dates.

 

(ii) The execution and delivery by the Company of this Agreement and the Sponsor Warrants, the issuance and sale of the Sponsor Warrants, the issuance of the Shares upon exercise of the Sponsor Warrants and the fulfillment of, and compliance with, the respective terms hereof and thereof by the Company, do not and will not as of the Closing Dates (a) conflict with or result in a breach of the terms, conditions or provisions of, (b) constitute a default under, (c) result in the creation of any lien, security interest, charge or encumbrance upon the Company’s capital stock or assets under, (d) result in a violation of, or (e) require any authorization, consent, approval, exemption or other action by or notice or declaration to, or filing with, any court or administrative or governmental body or agency pursuant to the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws of the Company (in effect on the date hereof or as may be amended prior to completion of the contemplated Public Offering), or any material law, statute, rule or regulation to which the Company is subject, or any agreement, order, judgment or decree to which the Company is subject, except for any filings required after the date hereof under federal or state securities laws.

 

C.  Title to Securities . Upon issuance in accordance with, and payment pursuant to, the terms hereof and the Warrant Agreement, the Shares issuable upon exercise of the Sponsor Warrants will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. Upon issuance in accordance with, and payment pursuant to, the terms hereof and the Warrant Agreement, the Purchaser will have good title to the Sponsor Warrants and the Shares issuable upon exercise of such Sponsor Warrants, free and clear of all liens, claims and encumbrances of any kind, other than (i) transfer restrictions hereunder and under the other agreements contemplated hereby, (ii) transfer restrictions under federal and state securities laws, and (iii) liens, claims or encumbrances imposed due to the actions of the Purchaser.

 

D.  Governmental Consents . No permit, consent, approval or authorization of, or declaration to or filing with, any governmental authority is required in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement or the consummation by the Company of any other transactions contemplated hereby.

 

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Section 3. Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser.  As a material inducement to the Company to enter into this Agreement and issue and sell the Sponsor Warrants to the Purchaser, the Purchaser hereby represents and warrants to the Company (which representations and warranties shall survive the Closing Dates) that:

 

A.  Organization and Requisite Authority . The Purchaser possesses all requisite power and authority necessary to carry out the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

B.  Authorization; No Breach .

 

(i) This Agreement constitutes a valid and binding obligation of the Purchaser, enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equitable principles (whether considered in a proceeding in equity or law).

 

(ii) The execution and delivery by the Purchaser of this Agreement and the fulfillment of and compliance with the terms hereof by the Purchaser does not and shall not as of the Closing Dates conflict with or result in a breach by the Purchaser of the terms, conditions or provisions of any agreement, instrument, order, judgment or decree to which the Purchaser is subject.

 

C.  Investment Representations .

 

(i) The Purchaser is acquiring the Sponsor Warrants and, upon exercise of the Sponsor Warrants, the Shares issuable upon such exercise (collectively, the “Securities”), for the Purchaser’s own account, for investment purposes only and not with a view towards, or for resale in connection with, any public sale or distribution thereof.

 

(ii) The Purchaser is an “accredited investor” as such term is defined in Rule 501(a)(3) of Regulation D.

 

(iii) The Purchaser understands that the Securities are being offered and will be sold to it in reliance on specific exemptions from the registration requirements of the United States federal and state securities laws and that the Company is relying upon the truth and accuracy of, and the Purchaser’s compliance with, the representations and warranties of the Purchaser set forth herein in order to determine the availability of such exemptions and the eligibility of the Purchaser to acquire such Securities.

 

(iv) The Purchaser did not enter into this Agreement as a result of any general solicitation or general advertising within the meaning of Rule 502(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”).

 

(v) The Purchaser has been furnished with all materials relating to the business, finances and operations of the Company and materials relating to the offer and sale of the Securities which have been requested by the Purchaser. The Purchaser has been afforded the opportunity to ask questions of the executive officers and directors of the Company. The Purchaser understands that its investment in the Securities involves a high degree of risk and it has sought such accounting, legal and tax advice as it has considered necessary to make an informed investment decision with respect to the acquisition of the Securities.

 

(vi) The Purchaser understands that no United States federal or state agency or any other government or governmental agency has passed on or made any recommendation or endorsement of the Securities or the fairness or suitability of the investment in the Securities by the Purchaser nor have such authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the offering of the Securities.

 

(vii) The Purchaser understands that: (a) the Securities have not been and are not being registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, and may not be offered for sale, sold, assigned or transferred unless (1) subsequently registered thereunder or (2) sold in reliance on an exemption therefrom; and (b) except as specifically set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement, neither the Company nor any other person is under any obligation to register the Securities under the Securities Act or any state securities laws or to comply with the terms and conditions of any exemption thereunder. In this regard, the Purchaser understands that the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken the position that promoters or affiliates of a blank check company and their transferees, both before and after an initial business combination, are deemed to be “underwriters” under the Securities Act when reselling the securities of a blank check company. Based on that position, Rule 144 adopted pursuant to the Securities Act would not be available for resale transactions of the Securities despite technical compliance with the certain requirements of such Rule, and the Securities can be resold only through a registered offering or in reliance upon another exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

 

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(viii) The Purchaser has such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters, knowledge of the high degree of risk associated with investments in the securities of companies in the development stage such as the Company, is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of an investment in the Securities and is able to bear the economic risk of an investment in the Securities in the amount contemplated hereunder for an indefinite period of time. The Purchaser has adequate means of providing for its current financial needs and contingencies and will have no current or anticipated future needs for liquidity which would be jeopardized by the investment in the Securities. The Purchaser can afford a complete loss of its investments in the Securities.

 

Section 4. Conditions of the Purchaser’s Obligations.  The obligations of the Purchaser to purchase and pay for the Sponsor Warrants are subject to the fulfillment, on or before the Closing Dates, of each of the following conditions:

 

A.  Representations and Warranties . The representations and warranties of the Company contained in Section 2 shall be true and correct at and as of the Closing Dates as though then made.

 

B.  Performance . The Company shall have performed and complied with all agreements, obligations and conditions contained in this Agreement that are required to be performed or complied with by it on or before the Closing Dates.

 

C.  No Injunction . No litigation, statute, rule, regulation, executive order, decree, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated or endorsed by or in any court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction or any self-regulatory organization having authority over the matters contemplated hereby, which prohibits the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Warrant Agreement.

 

D.  Warrant Agreement . The Company shall have entered into a Warrant Agreement with a warrant agent on terms satisfactory to the Purchaser.

 

Section 5. Conditions of the Company’s Obligations.  The obligations of the Company to the Purchaser under this Agreement are subject to the fulfillment, on or before the Closing Dates, of each of the following conditions:

 

A.  Representations and Warranties . The representations and warranties of the Purchaser contained in Section 3 shall be true and correct at and as of the Closing Dates as though then made.

 

B.  Performance . The Purchaser shall have performed and complied with all agreements, obligations and conditions contained in this Agreement that are required to be performed or complied with by the Purchaser on or before the Closing Dates.

 

C.  No Injunction . No litigation, statute, rule, regulation, executive order, decree, ruling or injunction shall have been enacted, entered, promulgated or endorsed by or in any court or governmental authority of competent jurisdiction or any self-regulatory organization having authority over the matters contemplated hereby, which prohibits the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Warrant Agreement.

 

D.  Warrant Agreement and Registration Rights Agreement . The Company shall have entered into a Warrant Agreement with a warrant agent and the Registration Rights Agreement, each on terms satisfactory to the Company.

 

Section 6. Termination.  This Agreement may be terminated at any time after September 30, 2017 upon the election by either the Company or a Purchaser entitled to purchase a majority of the Sponsor Warrants upon written notice to the other parties if the closing of the Public Offering does not occur prior to such date.

 

Section 7. Survival of Representations and Warranties.  All of the representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the Closing Dates.

 

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Section 8. Definitions.  Terms used but not otherwise defined in this Agreement shall have the meaning assigned to such terms in the registration statement on Form S-1 the Company plans to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the Securities Act.

 

Section 9. Miscellaneous.

 

A.  Successors and Assigns . Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, all covenants and agreements contained in this Agreement by or on behalf of any of the parties hereto shall bind and inure to the benefit of the respective successors of the parties hereto whether so expressed or not. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, the parties may not assign this Agreement, other than assignments by the Purchaser to affiliates thereof.

 

B.  Severability . Whenever possible, each provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Agreement is held to be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective only to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of this Agreement.

 

C.  Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, none of which need contain the signatures of more than one party, but all such counterparts taken together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

 

D.  Descriptive Headings; Interpretation . The descriptive headings of this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and do not constitute a substantive part of this Agreement. The use of the word “including” in this Agreement shall be by way of example rather than by limitation.

 

E.  Governing Law . This Agreement shall be deemed to be a contract made under the laws of the State of Delaware and for all purposes shall be construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Delaware.

 

F.  Amendments . This letter agreement may not be amended, modified or waived as to any particular provision, except by a written instrument executed by all parties hereto.

 

[Signature page follows]

  

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties hereto have executed this Agreement to be effective as of the date first set forth above.

 

  COMPANY:
   
  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III   
   
  By:  
  Name:  Daniel J. Hennessy
  Title: Chief Executive Officer
   
  PURCHASER :
   
  HENNESSY CAPITAL PARTNERS III LLC
   
  By: Hennessy Capital LLC, its Managing Member
   
  By:  
  Name: Daniel J. Hennessy   
  Title: Managing Member  

 

 

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Exhibit 10.7

 

INDEMNITY AGREEMENT

 

THIS INDEMNITY AGREEMENT  (this “ Agreement ”) is made as of [●], 2017, by and between HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), and __________________ (“ Indemnitee ”).

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS , highly competent persons have become more reluctant to serve publicly-held corporations as directors, officers or in other capacities unless they are provided with adequate protection through insurance or adequate indemnification against inordinate risks of claims and actions against them arising out of their service to and activities on behalf of such corporations;

 

WHEREAS , the Board of Directors of the Company (the “ Board ”) has determined that, in order to attract and retain qualified individuals, the Company will attempt to maintain on an ongoing basis, at its sole expense, liability insurance to protect persons serving the Company and its subsidiaries from certain liabilities. Although the furnishing of such insurance has been a customary and widespread practice among United States-based corporations and other business enterprises, the Company believes that, given current market conditions and trends, such insurance may be available to it in the future only at higher premiums and with more exclusions. At the same time, directors, officers and other persons in service to corporations or business enterprises are being increasingly subjected to expensive and time-consuming litigation relating to, among other things, matters that traditionally would have been brought only against the Company or business enterprise itself.  The Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “ Charter ”) and the Bylaws (the “ Bylaws ”) of the Company require indemnification of the officers and directors of the Company. Indemnitee may also be entitled to indemnification pursuant to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“ DGCL ”). The Charter, Bylaws and the DGCL expressly provide that the indemnification provisions set forth therein are not exclusive, and thereby contemplate that contracts may be entered into between the Company and members of the board of directors, officers and other persons with respect to indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, advancement and reimbursement rights;

 

WHEREAS , the uncertainties relating to such insurance and to indemnification have increased the difficulty of attracting and retaining such persons;

 

WHEREAS , the Board has determined that the increased difficulty in attracting and retaining such persons is detrimental to the best interests of the Company’s stockholders and that the Company should act to assure such persons that there will be increased certainty of such protection in the future;

 

WHEREAS , it is reasonable, prudent and necessary for the Company contractually to obligate itself to indemnify, hold harmless, exonerate and to advance expenses on behalf of, such persons to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law so that they will serve or continue to serve the Company free from undue concern that they will not be so protected against liabilities;

 

WHEREAS , this Agreement is a supplement to and in furtherance of the Charter and Bylaws of the Company and any resolutions adopted pursuant thereto, and shall not be deemed a substitute therefor, nor to diminish or abrogate any rights of Indemnitee thereunder;

 

WHEREAS , Indemnitee may not be willing to serve as an officer or director, advisor or in another capacity without adequate protection, and the Company desires Indemnitee to serve in such capacity. Indemnitee is willing to serve, continue to serve and to take on additional service for or on behalf of the Company on the condition that he be so indemnified; and

 

NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the premises and the covenants contained herein and subject to the provisions of the letter agreement dated as of [●], 2017, the Company and Indemnitee do hereby covenant and agree as follows: 

 

 

 

 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

 

1.             SERVICES TO THE COMPANY . In consideration of the Company’s covenants and obligations hereunder, Indemnitee will serve or continue to serve as an officer, director, advisor, key employee or in any other capacity of the Company, as applicable, for so long as Indemnitee is duly elected or appointed or retained or until Indemnitee tenders his resignation or until Indemnitee is removed. The foregoing notwithstanding, this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect after Indemnitee has ceased to serve as a director, officer, advisor, key employee or in any other capacity of the Company, as provided in Section 17. This Agreement, however, shall not impose any obligation on Indemnitee or the Company to continue Indemnitee’s service to the Company beyond any period otherwise required by law or by other agreements or commitments of the parties, if any.

 

2.             DEFINITIONS . As used in this Agreement:

 

(a)           References to “ agent ” shall mean any person who is or was a director, officer or employee of the Company or a subsidiary of the Company or other person authorized by the Company to act for the Company, to include such person serving in such capacity as a director, officer, employee, advisor, fiduciary or other official of another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other enterprise at the request of, for the convenience of, or to represent the interests of the Company or a subsidiary of the Company.

 

(b)           The terms “ Beneficial Owner ” and “ Beneficial Ownership ” shall have the meanings set forth in Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act (as defined below) as in effect on the date hereof.

 

(c)           A “ Change in Control ” shall be deemed to occur upon the earliest to occur after the date of this Agreement of any of the following events:

 

(i)             Acquisition of Stock by Third Party . Other than an affiliate of Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC (“ HCP ”), any Person (as defined below) is or becomes the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing fifteen percent (15%) or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, unless (1) the change in the relative Beneficial Ownership of the Company’s securities by any Person results solely from a reduction in the aggregate number of outstanding shares of securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, or (2) such acquisition was approved in advance by the Continuing Directors (as defined below) and such acquisition would not constitute a Change in Control under part (iii) of this definition;

 

(ii)            Change in Board of Directors . Individuals who, as of the date hereof, constitute the Board, and any new director whose election by the Board or nomination for election by the Company’s stockholders was approved by a vote of at least two thirds of the directors then still in office who were directors on the date hereof or whose election for nomination for election was previously so approved (collectively, the “ Continuing Directors ”), cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the members of the Board;

 

(iii)           Corporate Transactions . The effective date of a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination, involving the Company and one or more businesses (a “ Business Combination ”), in each case, unless, following such Business Combination: (1) all or substantially all of the individuals and entities who were the Beneficial Owners of securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors immediately prior to such Business Combination beneficially own, directly or indirectly, more than 51% of the combined voting power of the then outstanding securities of the Company entitled to vote generally in the election of directors resulting from such Business Combination (including, without limitation, a corporation which as a result of such transaction owns the Company or all or substantially all of the Company’s assets either directly or through one or more Subsidiaries (as defined below)) in substantially the same proportions as their ownership immediately prior to such Business Combination, of the securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors; (2) other than an affiliate of HCP, no Person (excluding any corporation resulting from such Business Combination) is the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of 15% or more of the combined voting power of the then outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors of the surviving corporation except to the extent that such ownership existed prior to the Business Combination; and (3) at least a majority of the Board of Directors of the corporation resulting from such Business Combination were Continuing Directors at the time of the execution of the initial agreement, or of the action of the Board of Directors, providing for such Business Combination;

 

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(iv)           Liquidation . The approval by the stockholders of the Company of a complete liquidation of the Company or an agreement or series of agreements for the sale or disposition by the Company of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, other than factoring the Company’s current receivables or escrows due (or, if such stockholder approval is not required, the decision by the Board to proceed with such a liquidation, sale, or disposition in one transaction or a series of related transactions); or

 

(v)            Other Events . There occurs any other event of a nature that would be required to be reported in response to Item 6(e) of Schedule 14A of Regulation 14A (or any successor rule) (or a response to any similar item on any similar schedule or form) promulgated under the Exchange Act (as defined below), whether or not the Company is then subject to such reporting requirement.

 

(d)           “ Corporate Status ” describes the status of a person who is or was a director, officer, trustee, general partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of the Company or of any other Enterprise (as defined below) which such person is or was serving at the request of the Company.

 

(e)           “ Delaware Court ” shall mean the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.

 

(f)            “ Disinterested Director ” shall mean a director of the Company who is not and was not a party to the Proceeding (as defined below) in respect of which indemnification is sought by Indemnitee.

 

(g)           “ Enterprise ” shall mean the Company and any other corporation, constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger to which the Company (or any of its wholly owned subsidiaries) is a party, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise of which Indemnitee is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, trustee, general partner, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent.

 

(h)           “ Exchange Act ” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

 

(i)            “ Expenses ” shall include all direct and indirect costs, fees and expenses of any type or nature whatsoever, including, without limitation, all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, retainers, court costs, transcript costs, fees of experts, witness fees, travel expenses, fees of private investigators and professional advisors, duplicating costs, printing and binding costs, telephone charges, postage, delivery service fees, fax transmission charges, secretarial services and all other disbursements, obligations or expenses in connection with prosecuting, defending, preparing to prosecute or defend, investigating, being or preparing to be a witness in, settlement or appeal of, or otherwise participating in, a Proceeding (as defined below). Expenses also shall include Expenses incurred in connection with any appeal resulting from any Proceeding (as defined below), including without limitation the principal, premium, security for, and other costs relating to any cost bond, supersedeas bond, or other appeal bond or its equivalent. Expenses, however, shall not include amounts paid in settlement by Indemnitee or the amount of judgments or fines against Indemnitee.

 

(j)            References to “ fines ” shall include any excise tax assessed on Indemnitee with respect to any employee benefit plan; references to “ serving at the request of the Company ” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of the Company which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan, Indemnitee shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “ not opposed to the best interests of the Company ” as referred to in this Agreement.

 

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(k)           “ Independent Counsel ” shall mean a law firm or a member of a law firm with significant experience in matters of corporation law and that neither presently is, nor in the past five years has been, retained to represent: (i) the Company or Indemnitee in any matter material to either such party (other than with respect to matters concerning Indemnitee under this Agreement, or of other indemnitees under similar indemnification agreements); or (ii) any other party to the Proceeding (as defined below) giving rise to a claim for indemnification hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term “Independent Counsel” shall not include any person who, under the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing, would have a conflict of interest in representing either the Company or Indemnitee in an action to determine Indemnitee’s rights under this Agreement.

 

(l)            The term “ Person ” shall have the meaning as set forth in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act as in effect on the date hereof; provided, however, that “Person” shall exclude: (i) the Company; (ii) any Subsidiaries (as defined below) of the Company; (iii) any employment benefit plan of the Company or of a Subsidiary (as defined below) of the Company or of any corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company; and (iv) any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or of a Subsidiary (as defined below) of the Company or of a corporation owned directly or indirectly by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company.

 

(m)          The term “ Proceeding ” shall include any threatened, pending or completed action, suit, arbitration, mediation, alternate dispute resolution mechanism, investigation, inquiry, administrative hearing or any other actual, threatened or completed proceeding, whether brought in the right of the Company or otherwise and whether of a civil (including intentional or unintentional tort claims), criminal, administrative or investigative or related nature, in which Indemnitee was, is, will or might be involved as a party or otherwise by reason of the fact that Indemnitee is or was a director or officer of the Company, by reason of any action (or failure to act) taken by him or of any action (or failure to act) on his part while acting as a director or officer of the Company, or by reason of the fact that he is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, trustee, general partner, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other Enterprise, in each case whether or not serving in such capacity at the time any liability or expense is incurred for which indemnification, reimbursement, or advancement of expenses can be provided under this Agreement.

 

(n)           The term “ Subsidiary ,” with respect to any Person, shall mean any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust or other entity of which a majority of the voting power of the voting equity securities or equity interest is owned, directly or indirectly, by that Person.

 

3.             INDEMNITY IN THIRD-PARTY PROCEEDINGS . To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company shall indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3 if Indemnitee was, is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant (as a witness, deponent or otherwise) in any Proceeding, other than a Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of Indemnitee’s Corporate Status. Pursuant to this Section 3, Indemnitee shall be indemnified, held harmless and exonerated against all Expenses, judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such Expenses, judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement) actually, and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on his behalf in connection with such Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company and, in the case of a criminal Proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.

 

4.             INDEMNITY IN PROCEEDINGS BY OR IN THE RIGHT OF THE COMPANY . To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company shall indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee in accordance with the provisions of this Section 4 if Indemnitee was, is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant (as a witness, deponent or otherwise) in any Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of Indemnitee’s Corporate Status. Pursuant to this Section 4, Indemnitee shall be indemnified, held harmless and exonerated against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection with such Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company. No indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration for Expenses shall be made under this Section 4 in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which Indemnitee shall have been finally adjudged by a court to be liable to the Company, unless and only to the extent that any court in which the Proceeding was brought or the Delaware Court shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, Indemnitee is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification, to be held harmless or to exoneration. 

 

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5.             INDEMNIFICATION FOR EXPENSES OF A PARTY WHO IS WHOLLY OR PARTLY SUCCESSFUL . Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement except for Section 27, to the extent that Indemnitee was or is, by reason of Indemnitee’s Corporate Status, a party to (or a participant in) and is successful, on the merits or otherwise, in any Proceeding or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, in whole or in part, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection therewith. If Indemnitee is not wholly successful in such Proceeding but is successful, on the merits or otherwise, as to one or more but less than all claims, issues or matters in such Proceeding, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection with each successfully resolved claim, issue or matter. If Indemnitee is not wholly successful in such Proceeding, the Company also shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee against all Expenses reasonably incurred in connection with a claim, issue or matter related to any claim, issue, or matter on which Indemnitee was successful. For purposes of this Section and without limitation, the termination of any claim, issue or matter in such a Proceeding by dismissal, with or without prejudice, shall be deemed to be a successful result as to such claim, issue or matter.

 

6.             INDEMNIFICATION FOR EXPENSES OF A WITNESS . Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement except for Section 27, to the extent that Indemnitee is, by reason of his Corporate Status, a witness or deponent in any Proceeding to which Indemnitee was or is not a party or threatened to be made a party, he shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be indemnified, held harmless and exonerated against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or on his behalf in connection therewith.

 

7.             ADDITIONAL INDEMNIFICATION, HOLD HARMLESS AND EXONERATION RIGHTS. Notwithstanding any limitation in Sections 3, 4, or 5, except for Section 27, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee if Indemnitee is a party to or threatened to be made a party to any Proceeding (including a Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor) against all Expenses, judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement (including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such Expenses, judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in settlement) actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee in connection with the Proceeding. No indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration rights shall be available under this Section 7 on account of Indemnitee’s conduct which constitutes a breach of Indemnitee’s duty of loyalty to the Company or its stockholders or is an act or omission not in good faith or which involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law. 

 

8.             CONTRIBUTION IN THE EVENT OF JOINT LIABILITY .

 

(a)           To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, if the indemnification, hold harmless and/or exoneration rights provided for in this Agreement are unavailable to Indemnitee in whole or in part for any reason whatsoever, the Company, in lieu of indemnifying, holding harmless or exonerating Indemnitee, shall pay, in the first instance, the entire amount incurred by Indemnitee, whether for judgments, liabilities, fines, penalties, amounts paid or to be paid in settlement and/or for Expenses, in connection with any Proceeding without requiring Indemnitee to contribute to such payment, and the Company hereby waives and relinquishes any right of contribution it may have at any time against Indemnitee. 

 

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(b)           The Company shall not enter into any settlement of any Proceeding in which the Company is jointly liable with Indemnitee (or would be if joined in such Proceeding) unless such settlement provides for a full and final release of all claims asserted against Indemnitee.

 

(c)           The Company hereby agrees to fully indemnify, hold harmless and exonerate Indemnitee from any claims for contribution which may be brought by officers, directors or employees of the Company other than Indemnitee who may be jointly liable with Indemnitee.

 

9.             EXCLUSIONS . Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement, the Company shall not be obligated under this Agreement to make any indemnification, advance expenses, hold harmless or exoneration payment in connection with any claim made against Indemnitee:

 

(a)           for which payment has actually been received by or on behalf of Indemnitee under any insurance policy or other indemnity or advancement provision, except with respect to any excess beyond the amount actually received under any insurance policy, contract, agreement, other indemnity or advancement provision or otherwise;

 

(b)           for an accounting of profits made from the purchase and sale (or sale and purchase) by Indemnitee of securities of the Company within the meaning of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act (or any successor rule) or similar provisions of state statutory law or common law; or

 

(c)           except as otherwise provided in Sections 14(f)-(g) hereof, prior to a Change in Control, in connection with any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) initiated by Indemnitee, including any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) initiated by Indemnitee against the Company or its directors, officers, employees or other indemnitees, unless (i) the Board authorized the Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) prior to its initiation or (ii) the Company provides the indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration payment, in its sole discretion, pursuant to the powers vested in the Company under applicable law. Indemnitee shall seek payments or advances from the Company only to the extent that such payments or advances are unavailable from any insurance policy of the Company covering Indemnitee.

 

10.          ADVANCES OF EXPENSES; DEFENSE OF CLAIM .

 

(a)           Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary except for Section 27, and to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law, the Company shall pay the Expenses incurred by Indemnitee (or reasonably expected by Indemnitee to be incurred by Indemnitee within three months) in connection with any Proceeding within ten (10) days after the receipt by the Company of a statement or statements requesting such advances from time to time, prior to the final disposition of any Proceeding. Advances shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be unsecured and interest free. Advances shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be made without regard to Indemnitee’s ability to repay the Expenses and without regard to Indemnitee’s ultimate entitlement to be indemnified, held harmless or exonerated under the other provisions of this Agreement. Advances shall include any and all reasonable Expenses incurred pursuing a Proceeding to enforce this right of advancement, including Expenses incurred preparing and forwarding statements to the Company to support the advances claimed. To the fullest extent required by applicable law, such payments of Expenses in advance of the final disposition of the Proceeding shall be made only upon the Company’s receipt of an undertaking, by or on behalf of Indemnitee, to repay the advanced amounts to the extent that it is ultimately determined that Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company under the provisions of this Agreement, the Charter, the Bylaws of the Company, applicable law or otherwise. This Section 10(a) shall not apply to any claim made by Indemnitee for which an indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration payment is excluded pursuant to Section 9.

 

(b)           The Company will be entitled to participate in the Proceeding at its own expense.

 

(c)           The Company shall not settle any action, claim or Proceeding (in whole or in part) which would impose any Expense, judgment, fine, penalty or limitation on Indemnitee without Indemnitee’s prior written consent.

 

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11.          PROCEDURE FOR NOTIFICATION AND APPLICATION FOR INDEMNIFICATION .

 

(a)           Indemnitee agrees to notify promptly the Company in writing upon being served with any summons, citation, subpoena, complaint, indictment, information or other document relating to any Proceeding, claim, issue or matter therein which may be subject to indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration rights, or advancement of Expenses covered hereunder. The failure of Indemnitee to so notify the Company shall not relieve the Company of any obligation which it may have to Indemnitee under this Agreement, or otherwise.

 

(b)           Indemnitee may deliver to the Company a written application to indemnify, hold harmless or exonerate Indemnitee in accordance with this Agreement. Such application(s) may be delivered from time to time and at such time(s) as Indemnitee deems appropriate in his sole discretion. Following such a written application for indemnification by Indemnitee, Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification shall be determined according to Section 12(a) of this Agreement.

 

12.          PROCEDURE UPON APPLICATION FOR INDEMNIFICATION .

 

(a)           A determination, if required by applicable law, with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification shall be made in the specific case by one of the following methods: (i) if no Change in Control has occurred, (x) by a majority vote of the Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum of the Board, (y) by a committee of Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum of the Board, or (z) if there are no Disinterested Directors, or if such Disinterested Directors so direct, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Board, a copy of which shall be delivered to Indemnitee, or (ii) if a Change in Control has occurred, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Board, a copy of which shall be delivered to Indemnitee. The Company promptly will advise Indemnitee in writing with respect to any determination that Indemnitee is or is not entitled to indemnification, including a description of any reason or basis for which indemnification has been denied. If it is so determined that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, payment to Indemnitee shall be made within ten (10) days after such determination. Indemnitee shall reasonably cooperate with the person, persons or entity making such determination with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification, including providing to such person, persons or entity upon reasonable advance request any documentation or information which is not privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure and which is reasonably available to Indemnitee and reasonably necessary to such determination. Any costs or Expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements) incurred by Indemnitee in so cooperating with the person, persons or entity making such determination shall be borne by the Company (irrespective of the determination as to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification) and the Company hereby agrees to indemnify and to hold Indemnitee harmless therefrom.

 

(b)           In the event the determination of entitlement to indemnification is to be made by Independent Counsel pursuant to Section 12(a) hereof, the Independent Counsel shall be selected as provided in this Section 12(b). The Independent Counsel shall be selected by Indemnitee (unless Indemnitee shall request that such selection be made by the Board), and Indemnitee shall give written notice to the Company advising it of the identity of the Independent Counsel so selected and certifying that the Independent Counsel so selected meets the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 2 of this Agreement. If the Independent Counsel is selected by the Board, the Company shall give written notice to Indemnitee advising him of the identity of the Independent Counsel so selected and certifying that the Independent Counsel so selected meets the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 2 of this Agreement. In either event, Indemnitee or the Company, as the case may be, may, within ten (10) days after such written notice of selection shall have been received, deliver to the Company or to Indemnitee, as the case may be, a written objection to such selection; provided, however, that such objection may be asserted only on the ground that the Independent Counsel so selected does not meet the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 2 of this Agreement, and the objection shall set forth with particularity the factual basis of such assertion. Absent a proper and timely objection, the person so selected shall act as Independent Counsel. If such written objection is so made and substantiated, the Independent Counsel so selected may not serve as Independent Counsel unless and until such objection is withdrawn or a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that such objection is without merit. If, within twenty (20) days after submission by Indemnitee of a written request for indemnification pursuant to Section 11(b) hereof, no Independent Counsel shall have been selected and not objected to, either the Company or Indemnitee may petition the Delaware Court for resolution of any objection which shall have been made by the Company or Indemnitee to the other’s selection of Independent Counsel and/or for the appointment as Independent Counsel of a person selected by the Delaware Court, and the person with respect to whom all objections are so resolved or the person so appointed shall act as Independent Counsel under Section 12(a) hereof. Upon the due commencement of any judicial proceeding or arbitration pursuant to Section 14(a) of this Agreement, Independent Counsel shall be discharged and relieved of any further responsibility in such capacity (subject to the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing).

 

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(c)           The Company agrees to pay the reasonable fees and expenses of Independent Counsel and to fully indemnify and hold harmless such Independent Counsel against any and all Expenses, claims, liabilities and damages arising out of or relating to this Agreement or its engagement pursuant hereto. 

 

13.          PRESUMPTIONS AND EFFECT OF CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS .

 

(a)           In making a determination with respect to entitlement to indemnification hereunder, the person, persons or entity making such determination shall presume that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification under this Agreement if Indemnitee has submitted a request for indemnification in accordance with Section 11(b) of this Agreement, and the Company shall have the burden of proof to overcome that presumption in connection with the making by any person, persons or entity of any determination contrary to that presumption. Neither the failure of the Company (including by the Disinterested Directors or Independent Counsel) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of any action pursuant to this Agreement that indemnification is proper in the circumstances because Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct, nor an actual determination by the Company (including by the Disinterested Directors or Independent Counsel) that Indemnitee has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct.

 

(b)           If the person, persons or entity empowered or selected under Section 12 of this Agreement to determine whether Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification shall not have made a determination within thirty (30) days after receipt by the Company of the request therefor, the requisite determination of entitlement to indemnification shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be deemed to have been made and Indemnitee shall be entitled to such indemnification, absent (i) a misstatement by Indemnitee of a material fact, or an omission of a material fact necessary to make Indemnitee’s statement not materially misleading, in connection with the request for indemnification, or (ii) a final judicial determination that any or all such indemnification is expressly prohibited under applicable law; provided, however, that such 30-day period may be extended for a reasonable time, not to exceed an additional fifteen (15) days, if the person, persons or entity making the determination with respect to entitlement to indemnification in good faith requires such additional time for the obtaining or evaluating of documentation and/or information relating thereto.

 

(c)           The termination of any Proceeding or of any claim, issue or matter therein, by judgment, order, settlement or conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not (except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement) of itself adversely affect the right of Indemnitee to indemnification or create a presumption that Indemnitee did not act in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company or, with respect to any criminal Proceeding, that Indemnitee had reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.

 

(d)           For purposes of any determination of good faith, Indemnitee shall be deemed to have acted in good faith if Indemnitee’s action is based on the records or books of account of the Enterprise, including financial statements, or on information supplied to Indemnitee by the directors, manager, or officers of the Enterprise in the course of their duties, or on the advice of legal counsel for the Enterprise, its Board, any committee of the Board or any director, trustee, general partner, manager or managing member, or on information or records given or reports made to the Enterprise, its Board, any committee of the Board or any director, trustee, general partner, manager or managing member, by an independent certified public accountant or by an appraiser or other expert selected by the Enterprise, its Board, any committee of the Board or any director, trustee, general partner, manager or managing member. The provisions of this Section 13(d) shall not be deemed to be exclusive or to limit in any way the other circumstances in which Indemnitee may be deemed or found to have met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in this Agreement.

 

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(e)           The knowledge and/or actions, or failure to act, of any other director, officer, trustee, partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, agent or employee of the Enterprise shall not be imputed to Indemnitee for purposes of determining the right to indemnification under this Agreement. 

 

14.           REMEDIES OF INDEMNITEE .

 

(a)           In the event that (i) a determination is made pursuant to Section 12 of this Agreement that Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification under this Agreement, (ii) advancement of Expenses, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, is not timely made pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement, (iii) no determination of entitlement to indemnification shall have been made pursuant to Section 12(a) of this Agreement within thirty (30) days after receipt by the Company of the request for indemnification, (iv) payment of indemnification is not made pursuant to Section 5, 6, 7 or the last sentence of Section 12(a) of this Agreement within ten (10) days after receipt by the Company of a written request therefor, (v) a contribution payment is not made in a timely manner pursuant to Section 8 of this Agreement, (vi) payment of indemnification pursuant to Section 3 or 4 of this Agreement is not made within ten (10) days after a determination has been made that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, or (vii) payment to Indemnitee pursuant to any hold harmless or exoneration rights under this Agreement or otherwise is not made in accordance with this Agreement, Indemnitee shall be entitled to an adjudication by the Delaware Court to such indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, contribution or advancement rights. Alternatively, Indemnitee, at his option, may seek an award in arbitration to be conducted by a single arbitrator pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Except as set forth herein, the provisions of Delaware law (without regard to its conflict of laws rules) shall apply to any such arbitration. The Company shall not oppose Indemnitee’s right to seek any such adjudication or award in arbitration.

 

(b)           In the event that a determination shall have been made pursuant to Section 12(a) of this Agreement that Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification, any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14 shall be conducted in all respects as a de novo trial, or arbitration, on the merits and Indemnitee shall not be prejudiced by reason of that adverse determination.

 

(c)           In any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14, Indemnitee shall be presumed to be entitled to be indemnified, held harmless, exonerated to receive advancement of Expenses under this Agreement and the Company shall have the burden of proving Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, held harmless, exonerated and to receive advancement of Expenses, as the case may be, and the Company may not refer to or introduce into evidence any determination pursuant to Section 12(a) of this Agreement adverse to Indemnitee for any purpose. If Indemnitee commences a judicial proceeding or arbitration pursuant to this Section 14, Indemnitee shall not be required to reimburse the Company for any advances pursuant to Section 10 until a final determination is made with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification (as to which all rights of appeal have been exhausted or lapsed).

 

(d)           If a determination shall have been made pursuant to Section 12(a) of this Agreement that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, the Company shall be bound by such determination in any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14, absent (i) a misstatement by Indemnitee of a material fact, or an omission of a material fact necessary to make Indemnitee’s statement not materially misleading, in connection with the request for indemnification, or (ii) a prohibition of such indemnification under applicable law.

 

(e)           The Company shall be precluded from asserting in any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 14 that the procedures and presumptions of this Agreement are not valid, binding and enforceable and shall stipulate in any such court or before any such arbitrator that the Company is bound by all the provisions of this Agreement.

 

(f)            The Company shall indemnify and hold harmless Indemnitee to the fullest extent permitted by law against all Expenses and, if requested by Indemnitee, shall (within ten (10) days after the Company’s receipt of such written request) pay to Indemnitee, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, such Expenses which are incurred by Indemnitee in connection with any judicial proceeding or arbitration brought by Indemnitee: (i) to enforce his rights under, or to recover damages for breach of, this Agreement or any other indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, advancement or contribution agreement or provision of the Charter, or the Bylaws now or hereafter in effect; or (ii) for recovery or advances under any insurance policy maintained by any person for the benefit of Indemnitee, regardless of the outcome and whether Indemnitee ultimately is determined to be entitled to such indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration right, advancement, contribution or insurance recovery, as the case may be (unless such judicial proceeding or arbitration was not brought by Indemnitee in good faith). 

 

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(g)           Interest shall be paid by the Company to Indemnitee at the legal rate under Delaware law for amounts which the Company indemnifies, holds harmless or exonerates, or advances, or is obliged to indemnify, hold harmless or exonerate or advance for the period commencing with the date on which Indemnitee requests indemnification, to be held harmless, exonerated, contribution, reimbursement or advancement of any Expenses and ending with the date on which such payment is made to Indemnitee by the Company.

 

15.           SECURITY . Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, except for Section 27, to the extent requested by Indemnitee and approved by the Board, the Company may at any time and from time to time provide security to Indemnitee for the Company’s obligations hereunder through an irrevocable bank line of credit, funded trust or other collateral. Any such security, once provided to Indemnitee, may not be revoked or released without the prior written consent of Indemnitee.

 

16.           NON-EXCLUSIVITY; SURVIVAL OF RIGHTS; INSURANCE; SUBROGATION .

 

(a)           The rights of Indemnitee as provided by this Agreement shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which Indemnitee may at any time be entitled under applicable law, the Charter, the Bylaws, any agreement, a vote of stockholders or a resolution of directors, or otherwise. No amendment, alteration or repeal of this Agreement or of any provision hereof shall limit or restrict any right of Indemnitee under this Agreement in respect of any Proceeding (regardless of when such Proceeding is first threatened, commenced or completed) or claim, issue or matter therein arising out of, or related to, any action taken or omitted by such Indemnitee in his Corporate Status prior to such amendment, alteration or repeal. To the extent that a change in applicable law, whether by statute or judicial decision, permits greater indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration rights or advancement of Expenses than would be afforded currently under the Charter, the Bylaws or this Agreement, it is the intent of the parties hereto that Indemnitee shall enjoy by this Agreement the greater benefits so afforded by such change. No right or remedy herein conferred is intended to be exclusive of any other right or remedy, and every other right and remedy shall be cumulative and in addition to every other right and remedy given hereunder or now or hereafter existing at law or in equity or otherwise. The assertion or employment of any right or remedy hereunder, or otherwise, shall not prevent the concurrent assertion or employment of any other right or remedy.

 

(b)           The DGCL, the Charter and the Bylaws permit the Company to purchase and maintain insurance or furnish similar protection or make other arrangements including, but not limited to, providing a trust fund, letter of credit, or surety bond (“ Indemnification Arrangements ”) on behalf of Indemnitee against any liability asserted against him or incurred by or on behalf of him or in such capacity as a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not the Company would have the power to indemnify him against such liability under the provisions of this Agreement or under the DGCL, as it may then be in effect. The purchase, establishment, and maintenance of any such Indemnification Arrangement shall not in any way limit or affect the rights and obligations of the Company or of Indemnitee under this Agreement except as expressly provided herein, and the execution and delivery of this Agreement by the Company and Indemnitee shall not in any way limit or affect the rights and obligations of the Company or the other party or parties thereto under any such Indemnification Arrangement.

 

(c)           To the extent that the Company maintains an insurance policy or policies providing liability insurance for directors, officers, trustees, partners, managers, managing members, fiduciaries, employees, or agents of the Company or of any other Enterprise which such person serves at the request of the Company, Indemnitee shall be covered by such policy or policies in accordance with its or their terms to the maximum extent of the coverage available for any such director, officer, trustee, partner, managers, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent under such policy or policies. If, at the time the Company receives notice from any source of a Proceeding as to which Indemnitee is a party or a participant (as a witness, deponent or otherwise), the Company has director and officer liability insurance in effect, the Company shall give prompt notice of such Proceeding to the insurers in accordance with the procedures set forth in the respective policies. The Company shall thereafter take all necessary or desirable action to cause such insurers to pay, on behalf of Indemnitee, all amounts payable as a result of such Proceeding in accordance with the terms of such policies. 

 

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(d)           In the event of any payment under this Agreement, the Company, to the fullest extent permitted by law, shall be subrogated to the extent of such payment to all of the rights of recovery of Indemnitee, who shall execute all papers required and take all action necessary to secure such rights, including execution of such documents as are necessary to enable the Company to bring suit to enforce such rights.

 

(e)           The Company’s obligation to indemnify, hold harmless, exonerate or advance Expenses hereunder to Indemnitee who is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, trustee, partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other Enterprise shall be reduced by any amount Indemnitee has actually received as indemnification, hold harmless or exoneration payments or advancement of expenses from such Enterprise. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the contrary except for Section 27, (i) Indemnitee shall have no obligation to reduce, offset, allocate, pursue or apportion any indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration, advancement, contribution or insurance coverage among multiple parties possessing such duties to Indemnitee prior to the Company’s satisfaction and performance of all its obligations under this Agreement, and (ii) the Company shall perform fully its obligations under this Agreement without regard to whether Indemnitee holds, may pursue or has pursued any indemnification, advancement, hold harmless, exoneration, contribution or insurance coverage rights against any person or entity other than the Company. 

 

17.           DURATION OF AGREEMENT . All agreements and obligations of the Company contained herein shall continue during the period Indemnitee serves as a director or officer of the Company or as a director, officer, trustee, partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other Enterprise which Indemnitee serves at the request of the Company and shall continue thereafter so long as Indemnitee shall be subject to any possible Proceeding (including any rights of appeal thereto and any Proceeding commenced by Indemnitee pursuant to Section 14 of this Agreement) by reason of his Corporate Status, whether or not he is acting in any such capacity at the time any liability or expense is incurred for which indemnification or advancement can be provided under this Agreement.

 

18.           SEVERABILITY . If any provision or provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (a) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement (including, without limitation, each portion of any Section, paragraph or sentence of this Agreement containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby and shall remain enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law; (b) such provision or provisions shall be deemed reformed to the extent necessary to conform to applicable law and to give the maximum effect to the intent of the parties hereto; and (c) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this Agreement (including, without limitation, each portion of any Section, paragraph or sentence of this Agreement containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested thereby.

 

19.           ENFORCEMENT AND BINDING EFFECT .

 

(a)           The Company expressly confirms and agrees that it has entered into this Agreement and assumed the obligations imposed on it hereby in order to induce Indemnitee to serve as a director, officer or key employee of the Company, and the Company acknowledges that Indemnitee is relying upon this Agreement in serving as a director, officer or key employee of the Company.

 

(b)           Without limiting any of the rights of Indemnitee under the Charter or Bylaws of the Company as they may be amended from time to time, this Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, oral, written and implied, between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof.

 

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(c)           The indemnification, hold harmless, exoneration and advancement of expenses rights provided by or granted pursuant to this Agreement shall be binding upon and be enforceable by the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns (including any direct or indirect successor by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise to all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Company), shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company or a director, officer, trustee, general partner, manager, managing member, fiduciary, employee or agent of any other Enterprise at the Company’s request, and shall inure to the benefit of Indemnitee and his spouse, assigns, heirs, devisees, executors and administrators and other legal representatives.

 

(d)           The Company shall require and cause any successor (whether direct or indirect by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all, substantially all or a substantial part, of the business and/or assets of the Company, by written agreement in form and substance satisfactory to Indemnitee, expressly to assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would be required to perform if no such succession had taken place.

 

(e)           The Company and Indemnitee agree herein that a monetary remedy for breach of this Agreement, at some later date, may be inadequate, impracticable and difficult of proof, and further agree that such breach may cause Indemnitee irreparable harm. Accordingly, the parties hereto agree that Indemnitee may, to the fullest extent permitted by law, enforce this Agreement by seeking, among other things, injunctive relief and/or specific performance hereof, without any necessity of showing actual damage or irreparable harm and that by seeking injunctive relief and/or specific performance, Indemnitee shall not be precluded from seeking or obtaining any other relief to which he may be entitled. The Company and Indemnitee further agree that Indemnitee shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be entitled to such specific performance and injunctive relief, including temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and permanent injunctions, without the necessity of posting bonds or other undertaking in connection therewith. The Company acknowledges that in the absence of a waiver, a bond or undertaking may be required of Indemnitee by a court of competent jurisdiction, the Company hereby waives any such requirement of such a bond or undertaking to the fullest extent permitted by law.

 

20.           MODIFICATION AND WAIVER . No supplement, modification or amendment of this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the Company and Indemnitee. No waiver of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed or shall constitute a waiver of any other provisions of this Agreement nor shall any waiver constitute a continuing waiver.

 

21.           NOTICES . All notices, requests, demands and other communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given (i) if delivered by hand and receipted for by the party to whom said notice or other communication shall have been directed, or (ii) mailed by certified or registered mail with postage prepaid, on the third (3rd) business day after the date on which it is so mailed:

 

(a)           If to Indemnitee, at the address indicated on the signature page of this Agreement, or such other address as Indemnitee shall provide in writing to the Company.

 

(b)           If to the Company, to:

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III

3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014

Attention: Daniel J. Hennessy

 

With a copy, which shall not constitute notice, to

 

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

1345 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10105

Attn: Stuart Neuhauser, Esq.

Fax No.: (212) 370-7889

 

or to any other address as may have been furnished to Indemnitee in writing by the Company.

 

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22.           APPLICABLE LAW AND CONSENT TO JURISDICTION . This Agreement and the legal relations among the parties shall be governed by, and construed and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Except with respect to any arbitration commenced by Indemnitee pursuant to Section 14(a) of this Agreement, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company and Indemnitee hereby irrevocably and unconditionally: (a) agree that any action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be brought only in the Delaware Court and not in any other state or federal court in the United States of America or any court in any other country; (b) consent to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Delaware Court for purposes of any action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement; (c) waive any objection to the laying of venue of any such action or proceeding in the Delaware Court; and (d) waive, and agree not to plead or to make, any claim that any such action or proceeding brought in the Delaware Court has been brought in an improper or inconvenient forum, or is subject (in whole or in part) to a jury trial. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the parties hereby agree that the mailing of process and other papers in connection with any such action or proceeding in the manner provided by Section 21 or in such other manner as may be permitted by law, shall be valid and sufficient service thereof.

 

23.           IDENTICAL COUNTERPARTS . This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same Agreement. Only one such counterpart signed by the party against whom enforceability is sought needs to be produced to evidence the existence of this Agreement.

 

24.           MISCELLANEOUS . Use of the masculine pronoun shall be deemed to include usage of the feminine pronoun where appropriate. The headings of the paragraphs of this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and shall not be deemed to constitute part of this Agreement or to affect the construction thereof.

 

25.           PERIOD OF LIMITATIONS . No legal action shall be brought and no cause of action shall be asserted by or in the right of the Company against Indemnitee, Indemnitee’s spouse, heirs, executors or personal or legal representatives after the expiration of two years from the date of accrual of such cause of action, and any claim or cause of action of the Company shall be extinguished and deemed released unless asserted by the timely filing of a legal action within such two-year period; provided, however, that if any shorter period of limitations is otherwise applicable to any such cause of action such shorter period shall govern.

 

26.           ADDITIONAL ACTS . If for the validation of any of the provisions in this Agreement any act, resolution, approval or other procedure is required to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company undertakes to cause such act, resolution, approval or other procedure to be affected or adopted in a manner that will enable the Company to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement.

 

27.           WAIVER OF CLAIMS TO TRUST ACCOUNT . Indemnitee hereby agrees that it does not have any right, title, interest or claim of any kind (each, a “ Claim ”) in or to any monies in the trust account established in connection with the Company’s initial public offering for the benefit of the Company and holders of shares issued in such offering, and hereby waives any Claim it may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to the Company and will not seek recourse against such trust account for any reason whatsoever.

 

28.          MAINTENANCE OF INSURANCE . The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain and maintain in effect during the entire period for which the Company is obligated to indemnify Indemnitee under this Agreement, one or more policies of insurance with reputable insurance companies to provide the officers/directors of the Company with coverage for losses from wrongful acts and omissions and to ensure the Company’s performance of its indemnification obligations under this Agreement.  Indemnitee shall be covered by such policy or policies in accordance with its or their terms to the maximum extent of the coverage available for any such director or officer under such policy or policies.  In all such insurance policies, Indemnitee shall be named as an insured in such a manner as to provide Indemnitee with the same rights and benefits as are accorded to the most favorably insured of the Company’s directors and officers. 

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties hereto have caused this Indemnity Agreement to be signed as of the day and year first above written.

 

  HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
     
  By:  
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title: Chief Executive Officer
     
  INDEMNITEE
     
  By:                   
    Name:  
    Address:  

 

[Signature page to Indemnity Agreement]

 

 

14

 

 

Exhibit 10.8

 

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III
3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014


[__], 2017

Hennessy Capital LLC
3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110

Wilson, Wyoming 83014

 

Re: Administrative Services Agreement

 

Gentlemen:

 

This letter will confirm our agreement that, commencing on the date the securities of Hennessy Acquisition Corp. III (the “ Company ”) are first listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market (the “ Listing Date ”), pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-1 and prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Registration Statement ”) and continuing until the earlier of the consummation by the Company of an initial business combination or the Company’s liquidation (in each case as described in the Registration Statement) (such earlier date hereinafter referred to as the “ Termination Date ”), Hennessy Capital LLC (“ Hennessy Capital ”), an affiliate of our sponsor, Hennessy Capital Partners III LLC, shall make available to the Company, at 3485 N. Pines Way, Suite 110, Wilson, Wyoming 83014 (or any successor location), certain office space, utilities, and general office, receptionist and secretarial support as may be reasonably required by the Company.  In exchange therefor, the Company shall pay Hennessy Capital the sum of $15,000 per month on the Listing Date and continuing monthly thereafter and will be entitled to be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses until the Termination Date.

 

Hennessy Capital hereby irrevocably waives any and all right, title, interest, causes of action and claims of any kind (each, a “ Claim ”) in or to, and any and all right to seek payment of any amounts due to it out of, the trust account established for the benefit of the public shareholders of the Company and into which substantially all of the proceeds of the Company’s initial public offering will be deposited (the “ Trust Account ”), and hereby irrevocably waives any Claim it may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, this agreement, which Claim would reduce, encumber or otherwise adversely affect the Trust Account or any monies or other assets in the Trust Account, and further agrees not to seek recourse, reimbursement, payment or satisfaction of any Claim against the Trust Account or any monies or other assets in the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever.

 

This letter agreement constitutes the entire agreement and understanding of the parties hereto in respect of its subject matter and supersedes all prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the parties hereto, written or oral, to the extent they relate in any way to the subject matter hereof or the transactions contemplated hereby.

     

This letter agreement may not be amended, modified or waived as to any particular provision, except by a written instrument executed by all parties hereto.

     

No party hereto may assign either this letter agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written approval of the other party. Any purported assignment in violation of this paragraph shall be void and ineffectual and shall not operate to transfer or assign any interest or title to the purported assignee.

     

This letter agreement, the entire relationship of the parties hereto, and any litigation between the parties (whether grounded in contract, tort, statute, law or equity) shall be governed by, construed in accordance with, and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to its choice of laws principles.

 

[Signature page follows]

 

 

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  HENNESSY  CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III
     
  By:  
    Name: Daniel J. Hennessy
    Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED BY:

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL LLC

 

By:      
  Name: Daniel J. Hennessy  
  Title:   Managing Member  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Signature Page to Administrative Services Agreement]

 

 

 

Exhibit 14

 

CODE OF ETHICS

OF

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

1.           Introduction

 

The Board of Directors (the “ Board ”) of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “ Company ”) has adopted this code of ethics (this “ Code ”), as amended from time to time by the Board and which is applicable to all of the Company’s directors, officers and employees to:

 

  promote honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships;

 

  promote the full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the Company files with, or submits to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ SEC ”), as well as in other public communications made by or on behalf of the Company;

 

  promote compliance with applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations;

 

  deter wrongdoing; and

 

  require prompt internal reporting of breaches of, and accountability for adherence to, this Code.

 

This Code may be amended and modified by the Board.  In this Code, references to the “Company” means Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III and, in appropriate context, the Company’s subsidiaries, if any.

 

2.             Honest, Ethical and Fair Conduct

 

Each person owes a duty to the Company to act with integrity. Integrity requires, among other things, being honest, fair and candid. Deceit, dishonesty and subordination of principle are inconsistent with integrity. Service to the Company should never be subordinated to personal gain and advantage.

 

Each person must:

 

  Act with integrity, including being honest and candid while still maintaining the confidentiality of the Company’s information where required or when in the Company’s interests;

 

  Observe all applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations;

 

  Comply with the requirements of applicable accounting and auditing standards, as well as Company policies, in order to maintain a high standard of accuracy and completeness in the Company’s financial records and other business-related information and data;

 

  Adhere to a high standard of business ethics and not seek competitive advantage through unlawful or unethical business practices;

 

  Deal fairly with the Company’s customers, suppliers, competitors and employees;

 

  Refrain from taking advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts or any other unfair-dealing practice;

 

  Protect the assets of the Company and ensure their proper use;

 

  Until the earliest of (i) the Company’s initial business combination (as such is defined in the Company’s initial registration statement filed with the SEC), (ii) liquidation, or (iii) such time as such person ceases to be an officer or director of the Company, to first present to the Company for its consideration, prior to presentation to any other entity, any business opportunity suitable for the Company, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations such officer may have; and

 

 

 

  

  Avoid conflicts of interest, wherever possible, except as may be allowed under guidelines or resolutions approved by the Board (or the appropriate committee of the Board) or as disclosed in the Company’s public filings with the SEC. Anything that would be a conflict for a person subject to this Code also will be a conflict for a member of his or her immediate family or any other close relative. Examples of conflict of interest situations include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

  any significant ownership interest in any supplier or customer;

 

  any consulting or employment relationship with any supplier or customer;

 

  the receipt of any money, non-nominal gifts or excessive entertainment from any entity with which the Company has current or prospective business dealings;

 

  selling anything to the Company or buying anything from the Company, except on the same terms and conditions as comparable officers or directors are permitted to so purchase or sell;

 

  any other financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the Company; and

 

  any other circumstance, event, relationship or situation in which the personal interest of a person subject to this Code interferes — or even appears to interfere — with the interests of the Company as a whole.

  

3.              Disclosure

 

The Company strives to ensure that the contents of and the disclosures in the reports and documents that the Company files with the SEC and other public communications shall be full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable in accordance with applicable disclosure standards, including standards of materiality, where appropriate. Each person must:

 

  not knowingly misrepresent, or cause others to misrepresent, facts about the Company to others, whether within or outside the Company, including to the Company’s independent registered public accountants, governmental regulators, self-regulating organizations and other governmental officials, as appropriate; and

 

  in relation to his or her area of responsibility, properly review and critically analyze proposed disclosure for accuracy and completeness.

 

In addition to the foregoing, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company and each subsidiary of the Company (or persons performing similar functions), and each other person that typically is involved in the financial reporting of the Company must familiarize himself or herself with the disclosure requirements applicable to the Company as well as the business and financial operations of the Company.

 

Each person must promptly bring to the attention of the Chairman of the Board any information he or she may have concerning (a) significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal and/or disclosure controls that could adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data or (b) any fraud that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s financial reporting, disclosures or internal controls.

 

  4.             Compliance

 

  It is the Company’s obligation and policy to comply with all applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations. All directors, officers and employees of the Company are expected to understand, respect and comply with all of the laws, regulations, policies and procedures that apply to them in their positions with the Company. Employees are responsible for talking to their supervisors to determine which laws, regulations and Company policies apply to their position and what training is necessary to understand and comply with them.

 

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Directors, officers and employees are directed to specific policies and procedures available to persons they supervise.

 

5.              Reporting and Accountability

 

The Board is responsible for applying this Code to specific situations in which questions are presented to it and has the authority to interpret this Code in any particular situation. Any person who becomes aware of any existing or potential breach of this Code is required to notify the Chairman of the Board promptly. Failure to do so is, in and of itself, a breach of this Code.

 

Specifically, each person must:

 

  Notify the Chairman of the Board promptly of any existing or potential violation of this Code.

 

  Not retaliate against any other person for reports of potential violations that are made in good faith.

 

The Company will follow the following procedures in investigating and enforcing this Code and in reporting on the Code:

 

  The Board will take all appropriate action to investigate any breaches reported to it.

 

  Upon determination by the Board that a breach has occurred, the Board (by majority decision) will take or authorize such disciplinary or preventive action as it deems appropriate, after consultation with the Company’s General Counsel, up to and including dismissal or, in the event of criminal or other serious violations of law, notification of the SEC or other appropriate law enforcement authorities.

  

No person following the above procedure shall, as a result of following such procedure, be subject by the Company or any officer or employee thereof to discharge, demotion suspension, threat, harassment or, in any manner, discrimination against such person in terms and conditions of employment.

 

6.              Waivers and Amendments

 

Any waiver (defined below) or an implicit waiver (defined below) from a provision of this Code for the principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, and persons performing similar functions or any amendment (as defined below) to this Code is required to be disclosed in a current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. In lieu of filing a current report on Form 8-K to report any such waivers or amendments, the Company may provide such information on a website, in the event that it establishes one in the future, and if it keeps such information on the website for at least 12 months and discloses the website address as well as any intention to provide such disclosures in this manner in its most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

A “waiver” means the approval by the Company’s Board of a material departure from a provision of the Code. An “implicit waiver” means the Company’s failure to take action within a reasonable period of time regarding a material departure from a provision of the Code that has been made known to an executive officer of the Company. An “amendment” means any amendment to this Code other than minor technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments hereto.

 

All persons should note that it is not the Company’s intention to grant or to permit waivers from the requirements of this Code. The Company expects full compliance with this Code.

 

8.              Insider Information and Securities Trading

 

The Company’s directors, officers or employees who have access to material, non-public information are not permitted to use that information for share trading purposes or for any purpose unrelated to the Company's business. It is also against the law to trade or to "tip" others who might make an investment decision based on inside company information. For example, using non-public information to buy or sell the Company shares, options in the Company share or the share of any Company supplier, customer or competitor is prohibited. The consequences of insider trading violations can be severe. These rules also apply to the use of material, nonpublic information about other companies (including, for example, our customers, competitors and potential business partners). In addition to directors, officers or employees, these rules apply to such person’s spouse, children, parents and siblings, as well as any other family members living in such person’s home.

 

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9.            Financial Statements and Other Records

 

All of the Company’s books, records, accounts and financial statements must be maintained in reasonable detail, must appropriately reflect the Company’s transactions and must both conform to applicable legal requirements and to the Company’s system of internal controls. Unrecorded or “off the books” funds or assets should not be maintained unless permitted by applicable law or regulation.

 

Records should always be retained or destroyed according to the Company’s record retention policies. In accordance with those policies, in the event of litigation or governmental investigation, please consult the board of directors or the Company’s counsel.

  

10.          Improper Influence on Conduct of Audits

 

No director or officer, or any other person acting under the direction thereof, shall directly or indirectly take any action to coerce, manipulate, mislead or fraudulently influence any public or certified public accountant engaged in the performance of an audit or review of the financial statements of the Company or take any action that such person knows or should know that if successful could result in rendering the Company's financial statements materially misleading. Any person who believes such improper influence is being exerted should report such action to such person’s supervisor, or if that is impractical under the circumstances, to any of our directors.

 

Types of conduct that could constitute improper influence include, but are not limited to, directly or indirectly:

 

  Offering or paying bribes or other financial incentives, including future employment or contracts for non-audit services; 

 

  Providing an auditor with an inaccurate or misleading legal analysis; 

 

  Threatening to cancel or canceling existing non-audit or audit engagements if the auditor objects to the Company’s accounting;

 

  Seeking to have a partner removed from the audit engagement because the partner objects to the Company’s accounting; 

 

  Blackmailing; and

 

  Making physical threats.

 

  11.           Anti-Corruption Laws

 

The Company complies with the anti-corruption laws of the countries in which it does business, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Directors, officers and employees will not directly or indirectly give anything of value to government officials, including employees of state-owned enterprises or foreign political candidates. These requirements apply both to Company employees and agents, such as third party sales representatives, no matter where they are doing business. If you are authorized to engage agents, you are responsible for ensuring they are reputable and for obtaining a written agreement to uphold the Company’s standards in this area.

 

12.          Violations

 

 Violation of this Code is grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. Such action is in addition to any civil or criminal liability which might be imposed by any court or regulatory agency.

 

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13.             Other Policies and Procedures

 

Any other policy or procedure set out by the Company in writing or made generally known to employees, officers or directors of the Company prior to the date hereof or hereafter are separate requirements and remain in full force and effect.

 

14.             Inquiries

 

All inquiries and questions in relation to this Code or its applicability to particular people or situations should be addressed to the Company’s Secretary, or such other compliance officer as shall be designated from time to time by the Company.

 

 PROVISIONS   FOR

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND SENIOR FINANCIAL OFFICERS

 

The CEO and all senior financial officers, including the CFO and principal accounting officer, are bound by the provisions set forth therein relating to ethical conduct, conflicts of interest, and compliance with law.  In addition to the Code, the CEO and senior financial officers are subject to the following additional specific policies:

 

1.            Act with honesty and integrity, avoiding actual or apparent conflicts between personal, private interests and the interests of the Company, including receiving improper personal benefits as a result of his or her position.

 

2.            Disclose to the CEO and the Board of Directors of the Company any material transaction or relationship that reasonably could be expected to give rise to a conflict of interest.

 

3.            Perform responsibilities with a view to causing periodic reports and documents filed with or submitted to the Securities & Exchange Commission and all other public communications made by the Company to contain information that is accurate, complete, fair, objective, relevant, timely and understandable, including full review of all annual and quarterly reports.

 

4.            Comply with laws, rules and regulations of federal, state and local governments applicable to the Company and with the rules and regulations of private and public regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the Company.

 

5.            Act in good faith, responsibly, with due care, competence and diligence, without misrepresenting or omitting material facts or allowing independent judgment to be compromised or subordinated.

 

6.            Respect the confidentiality of information acquired in the course of performance of his or her responsibilities except when authorized or otherwise legally obligated to disclose any such information; not use confidential information acquired in the course of performing his or her responsibilities for personal advantage.

 

7.            Share knowledge and maintain skills important and relevant to the needs of the Company, its stockholders and other constituencies and the general public.

 

8.            Proactively promote ethical behavior among subordinates and peers in his or her work environment and community.

 

9.            Use and control all corporate assets and resources employed by or entrusted to him or her in a responsible manner.

 

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10.         Not use corporate information, corporate assets, corporate opportunities or his or her position with the Company for personal gain; not compete directly or indirectly with the Company.

 

11.         Comply in all respects with the Company’s Code.

 

12.         Advance the Company’s legitimate interests when the opportunity arises.

 

The Board of Directors will investigate any reported violations and will oversee an appropriate response, including corrective action and preventative measures.  Any officer who violates this Code will face appropriate, case specific disciplinary action, which may include demotion or discharge.

 

Any request for a waiver of any provision of this Code must be in writing and addressed to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company.  Any waiver of this Code will be disclosed promptly on Form 8-K or any other means approved by the SEC.

 

It is the policy of the Company that each officer covered by this Code shall acknowledge and certify to the foregoing annually and file a copy of such certification with the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

 

OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION

 

I have read and understand the foregoing Code.  I hereby certify that I am in compliance with the foregoing Code and I will comply with the Code in the future.  I understand that any violation of the Code will subject me to appropriate disciplinary action, which may include demotion or discharge.

 

Dated:    
Name:     
Title:       

 

 

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Exhibit 23.1

 

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

We hereby consent to the use in this Registration Statement on Form S-1 of our report dated May 30, 2017, relating to the balance sheet of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III as of April 4, 2017, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from January 3, 2017 (date of inception) to April 4, 2017, and to the reference to our Firm under the caption “Experts” in the Prospectus.

 

/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC  
   
New York, New York  
May 30, 2017  

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

AUDIT COMMITTEE CHARTER

 

1. STATUS

 

The Audit Committee (the “ Committee ”) is a committee of the Board of Directors (the “ Board ”) of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “ Company ”).

 

2. PURPOSE

 

The Committee is appointed by the Board for the primary purposes of:

 

  Performing the Board’s oversight responsibilities as they relate to the Company’s accounting policies and internal controls, financial reporting practices and legal and regulatory compliance, including, among other things:

 

  the quality and integrity of the Company’s financial statements;

 

  the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;

 

  review of the independent auditors’ qualifications and independence; and

 

  the performance of the Company’s internal audit function and the Company’s independent auditors;

 

  Maintaining, through regularly scheduled meetings, a line of communication between the Board and the Company’s financial management, internal auditors and independent auditors, and

 

  Preparing the report to be included in the Company’s annual proxy statement, as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“ SEC ”) rules.

 

3. COMPOSITION AND QUALIFICATIONS

 

The Committee shall be appointed by the Board and shall be comprised of three or more Directors (as determined from time to time by the Board), each of whom shall meet the independence requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “ Act ”), the NYSE MKT and all other applicable laws.

 

Each member of the Committee shall be financially literate and at least one member of the Committee shall have past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting or any other comparable experience or background which results in the individual’s financial sophistication, including being or having been a chief executive officer, chief financial officer or other senior officer with financial oversight responsibilities, as each such qualification is interpreted by the Board in its business judgment. In addition, at least one member of the Committee shall be an “audit committee financial expert” as such term is defined by the SEC.

 

4. RESPONSIBILITIES

 

The Committee will:

 

1. Review and discuss the annual audited financial statements and the Company’s disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” with management and the independent auditors. In connection with such review, the Committee will:

 

  Discuss with the independent auditors the matters required to be discussed by Statement on Auditing Standards No. 61 (as may be modified or supplemented) and the matters in the written disclosures required by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the independent accountant’s communications with the audit committee concerning independence;

  

 

 

 

  Review significant changes in accounting or auditing policies;

 

  Review with the independent auditors any problems or difficulties encountered in the course of their audit, including any change in the scope of the planned audit work and any restrictions placed on the scope of such work and management’s response to such problems or difficulties;

 

  Review with the independent auditors, management and the senior internal auditing executive the adequacy of the Company’s internal controls, and any significant findings and recommendations with respect to such controls;

 

  Review reports required to be submitted by the independent auditor concerning: (a) all critical accounting policies and practices used; (b) all alternative treatments of financial information within generally accepted accounting principles (“ GAAP ”) that have been discussed with management, the ramifications of such alternatives, and the accounting treatment preferred by the independent auditors; and (c) any other material written communications with management;

 

  Review (a) major issues regarding accounting principles and financial statement presentations, including any significant changes in the Company’s selection or application of accounting principles, and major issues as to the adequacy of the Company’s internal controls and any special audit steps adopted in light of material control deficiencies; and (b) analyses prepared by management and/or the independent auditor setting forth significant financial reporting issues and judgments made in connection with the preparation of the financial statements, including analysis of the effects of alternative GAAP methods on the financial statements and the effects of regulatory and accounting initiatives, as well as off-balance sheet structures, on the financial statements of the Company; and

 

  Discuss policies and procedures concerning earnings press releases and review the type and presentation of information to be included in earnings press releases (paying particular attention to any use of “pro forma” or “adjusted” non-GAAP information), as well as financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies.

 

2. Review and discuss the quarterly financial statements and the Company’s disclosures provided in periodic quarterly reports including “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” with management, the senior internal auditing executive and the independent auditor.

 

3. Oversee the external audit coverage. The Company’s independent auditors are ultimately accountable to the Committee, which has the direct authority and responsibility to appoint, retain, compensate, terminate, select, evaluate and, where appropriate, replace the independent auditors. In connection with its oversight of the external audit coverage, the Committee will have authority to:

 

  Appoint and replace (subject to stockholder approval, if deemed advisable by the Board) the independent auditors;

 

  Approve the engagement letter and the fees to be paid to the independent auditors;

 

  Pre-approve all audit and non-audit services to be performed by the independent auditors and the related fees for such services other than prohibited nonauditing services as promulgated under rules and regulations of the SEC (subject to the inadvertent  de minimus  exceptions set forth in the Act and the SEC rules);

  

  Monitor and obtain confirmation and assurance as to the independent auditors’ independence, including ensuring that they submit on a periodic basis (not less than annually) to the Committee a formal written statement delineating all relationships between the independent auditors and the Company consistent with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Rule 3526. The Committee is responsible for actively engaging in a dialogue with the independent auditors with respect to any disclosed relationships or services that may impact the objectivity and independence of the independent auditors and for taking appropriate action in response to the independent auditors’ report to satisfy itself of their independence;

 

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  At least annually, obtain and review a report by the independent auditors describing: the firm’s internal quality-control procedures; any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the 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 any such issues; and to assess the independent auditors’ independence, all relationships between the independent auditors and the Company;

 

  Meet with the independent auditors prior to the annual audit to discuss planning and staffing of the audit;

 

  Review and evaluate the performance of the independent auditors, as the basis for a decision to reappoint or replace the independent auditors;

 

  Set clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors, including but not limited to, as required by all applicable laws and listing rules; and

 

  Assure regular rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit, as required by the Act, and consider whether rotation of the independent auditor is required to ensure independence.

 

4. Oversee internal audit coverage. In connection with its oversight responsibilities, the Committee will:

 

  Review the appointment or replacement of the senior internal auditing executive;

 

  Review, in consultation with management, the independent auditors and the senior internal auditing executive, the plan and scope of internal audit activities;

 

  Review internal audit activities, budget and staffing; and

 

  Review significant reports to management prepared by the internal auditing department and management’s responses to such reports.

 

5. Review with the independent auditors and the senior internal auditing executive the adequacy of the Company’s internal controls, and any significant findings and recommendations with respect to such controls.

 

6. Resolve any differences in financial reporting between management and the independent auditors.

 

7. Establish procedures for (i) the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by the Company regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters and (ii) the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

  

8. Discuss policies and guidelines to govern the process by which risk assessment and risk management is undertaken.

 

9. Meet periodically and at least four times per year with management to review and assess the Company’s major financial risk exposures and the manner in which such risks are being monitored and controlled.

 

10. Meet periodically (not less than annually) in separate executive session with each of the chief financial officer, the senior internal auditing executive, and the independent auditors.

 

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11. Review and approve all “related party transactions” requiring disclosure under SEC Regulation S-K, Item 404, in accordance with the policy set forth in Section 6 below.

 

12. Review periodically with the Company’s outside legal counsel (i) legal and regulatory matters which may have a material effect on the financial statements, and (ii) corporate compliance policies or codes of conduct.

 

13. As it determines necessary to carry out its duties, engage and obtain advice and assistance from outside legal, accounting or other advisers.

 

14. Report regularly to the Board with respect to Committee activities.

 

15. Prepare the report of the Committee required by the rules of the SEC to be included in the proxy statement for each annual meeting.

 

16. Review and reassess annually the adequacy of this Charter and recommend any proposed changes to the Board.

 

17. Monitor compliance, on a regularly scheduled basis, with the terms of the Company’s initial public offering (the “ Offering ”) and, if any noncompliance is identified, promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise cause the Company to come into compliance with the terms of the Offering.

 

18. Inquire and discuss with management the Company’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

 

19. Determine the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent auditor (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditors regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work.

 

20. Review and approve all payments made to the Company’s existing holders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates.

 

5. PROCEDURES

 

1.  Action .

 

A majority of the members of the entire Committee shall constitute a quorum. The Committee shall act on the affirmative vote a majority of members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present. Without a meeting, the Committee may act by unanimous written consent of all members. However, the Committee may delegate to one or more of its members the authority to grant pre-approvals of audit and non-audit services, provided the decision is reported to the full Committee at its next scheduled meeting.

  

2.  Fees .

 

The Company shall provide for appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of compensation: (a) to outside legal, accounting or other advisors employed by the Committee; and (b) for ordinary administrative expenses of the Committee that are necessary or appropriate in carrying out its duties.

 

3.  Limitations .

 

While the Committee has the responsibilities and powers set forth in this Charter, it is not the duty of the Committee to plan or conduct audits or to determine that the Company’s financial statements are complete and accurate and are in accordance with GAAP. This is the responsibility of management and the independent auditors.

 

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6. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS POLICY.

 

1. Definitions.

 

A “ Related Party Transaction ” is any transaction directly or indirectly involving any Related Party that would need to be disclosed under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. Under Item 404(a), the Company is required to disclose any transaction occurring since the beginning of the Company’s last fiscal year, or any currently proposed transaction, involving the Company where the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and in which any related person had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related Party Transaction” also includes any material amendment or modification to an existing Related Party Transaction.

 

Related Party ” means any of the following:

 

  a director (which term when used herein includes any director nominee);

 

  an executive officer;

 

  a person known by the Company to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the Company's common stock (a “5% stockholder”); or

 

  a person known by the Company to be an immediate family member of any of the foregoing.

 

Immediate family member ” means a child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, spouse, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of such director, executive officer, nominee for director or beneficial owner, and any person (other than a tenant or employee) sharing the household of such director, executive officer, nominee for director or beneficial owner.

 

2. Identification of Potential Related Party Transactions.

 

Related Party Transactions will be brought to management's and the Board's attention in a number of ways. Each of the Company’s directors and executive officers shall inform the Chairman of the Committee of any potential Related Party Transactions. In addition, each such director and executive officer shall complete a questionnaire on an annual basis designed to elicit information about any potential Related Party Transactions.

 

Any potential Related Party Transactions that are brought to the Committee’s attention shall be analyzed by the Committee, in consultation with outside counsel or members of management, as appropriate, to determine whether the transaction or relationship does, in fact, constitute a Related Party Transaction requiring compliance with this Policy.

  

3. Review and Approval of Related Party Transactions.

 

At each of its meetings, the Committee shall be provided with the details of each new, existing or proposed Related Party Transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the Company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits to the Company and to the relevant Related Party. In determining whether to approve a Related Party Transaction, the Committee shall consider, among other factors, the following factors to the extent relevant to the Related Party Transaction:

 

  whether the terms of the Related Party Transaction are fair to the Company and on the same basis as would apply if the transaction did not involve a Related Party;

 

  whether there are business reasons for the Company to enter into the Related Party Transaction;

 

  whether the Related Party Transaction would impair the independence of an outside director;

 

  whether the Related Party Transaction would present an improper conflict of interest for any director or executive officer of the Company, taking into account the size of the transaction, the overall financial position of the director, executive officer or Related Party, the direct or indirect nature of the director's, executive officer's or Related Party's interest in the transaction and the ongoing nature of any proposed relationship, and any other factors the Committee deems relevant; and

 

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  any pre-existing contractual obligations.

 

Any member of the Committee who has an interest in the transaction under discussion shall abstain from voting on the approval of the Related Party Transaction, but may, if so requested by the Chairman of the Committee, participate in some or all of the Committee's discussions of the Related Party Transaction. Upon completion of its review of the transaction, the Committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the Related Party Transaction.

 

A Related Party Transaction entered into without pre-approval of the Committee shall not be deemed to violate this Policy, or be invalid or unenforceable, so long as the transaction is brought to the Committee as promptly as reasonably practical after it is entered into or after it becomes reasonably apparent that the transaction is covered by this Policy.

 

A Related Party Transaction entered into prior to the effective date of this Charter shall not be required to be reapproved by the Committee.

 

 

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Exhibit 99.2

 

HENNESSY CAPITAL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

CHARTER OF THE COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

The following Compensation Committee Charter (the “ Charter ”) was adopted by the Board of Directors (the “ Board ”) of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”) on the date indicated above.

 

1.            Members .  The Board shall appoint the members of the Compensation Committee (the “ Committee ”).  The Committee shall be comprised of at least three “independent” directors of the Board who shall also satisfy such other criteria imposed on members of the Committee pursuant to the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“ SEC ”), the listing standards of any exchange or national listing market system upon which the Company’s securities are listed or quoted for trading (including, without limitation, the NYSE MKT) (the “ Principal Market ”), any other applicable laws or regulations, and any additional requirements that the Board deems appropriate.  The term “independent director” means a director who (i) meets the definition of “independence” under the rules and regulations of the SEC and the Principal Market, (ii) is a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and (c) is an “outside director” under the regulations promulgated under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.  Each appointed member of the Committee may be removed by the Board at any time, with or without cause.  Unless the Board elects a Chair of the Committee, the Committee shall elect a Chair by majority vote.  Each Committee member shall have one vote.

 

2.            Purpose .  In addition to such other duties as may be assigned to the Committee by the Board from time to time, the purpose of the Committee is to represent and assist the Board in (a) discharging its responsibilities for approving and evaluating the officer compensation plans, policies and programs of the Company, (b) reviewing and recommending to the Board regarding compensation to be provided to the Company’s employees and directors, and (c) administering the equity compensation plans of the Company.  The Committee shall ensure that the Company’s compensation programs are competitive, designed to attract and retain highly qualified directors, officers and employees, encourage high performance, promote accountability and assure that employee interests are aligned with the interests of the Company’s stockholders.

 

3.            Duties and Responsibilities .  The Committee shall, among its duties and responsibilities as may be delegated to the Committee by the Board, and in addition to any duties and responsibilities imparted to the Committee by the SEC or any applicable Principal Market or any other applicable laws or regulations:

 

(a)        Determine, in executive session at which the Chief Executive Officer of the Company (the “ CEO ”) is not present, the compensation for the Company’s CEO or President, if such person is acting as the CEO.

 

(b)        Review and determine the compensation of the executive officers of the Company other than the CEO based upon the recommendation of the CEO and such other customary factors that the Committee deems necessary or appropriate.

 

(c)        Recommend awards and/or bonuses to be granted to executive officers of the Company under the Company’s equity plans and other compensation or benefit plans or policies as approved by the Board or the Committee.

 

(d)        Approve the overall amount or percentage of plan and/or bonus awards to be granted to all Company employees and delegate to the Company’s executive management the right and power to specifically grant such awards to each Company employee within the aggregate limits and parameters set by the Committee.

 

(e)        Review and evaluate the performance of the CEO and the other executive officers of the Company;

  

(f)        Review and approve the design of other benefit plans pertaining to executives and employees of the Company.

 

 

 

 

(g)        Approve such reports on compensation as are necessary for filing with the SEC and other government bodies.

 

(h)        Review, recommend to the Board, and administer all plans that require “disinterested administration” under Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

 

(i)        Approve the amendment or modification of any compensation or benefit plan pertaining to executives or employees of the Company that does not require stockholder approval.

 

(j)        Review and recommend to the Board the adoption of or changes to the compensation of the Company’s independent directors.

 

(k)        Retain (at the Company’s expense) outside consultants and obtain assistance from members of management as the Committee deems appropriate in the exercise of its authority.

 

(l)        Make reports and recommendations to the Board within the scope of its functions and advise the officers of the Company regarding various personnel matters as may be raised with the Committee.

 

(m)       Approve all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for the Company’s executive officers and employees.

 

(n)        Review the form, terms and provisions of employment and similar agreements with the Company’s executive officers and any amendments thereto.

 

(o)        To the extent the same has been adopted, review, at least annually, the compensation philosophy of the Company.

 

The powers and responsibilities delegated by the Board to the Committee in this Charter or otherwise shall be exercised and carried out by the Committee as it deems appropriate without requirement of Board approval, and any decision made by the Committee (including any decision to exercise or refrain from exercising any of the powers delegated to the Committee hereunder) shall be at the Committee’s sole discretion.  While acting within the scope of the powers and responsibilities delegated to it, the Committee shall have and may exercise all the powers and authority of the Board.  To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Committee shall have the power to determine which matters are within the scope of the powers and responsibilities delegated to it.  To the extent that the Company’s securities are not listed or quoted on a Principal Market, the Committee shall determine which of the aforementioned duties and responsibilities it shall undertake or shall be applicable to the Committee. 

 

4.            Meetings; Reports .  The Committee will meet as often as it deems necessary or appropriate, in its judgment, either in person or telephonically, and at such times and places as the Committee members determine.  Face to face meetings shall be encouraged at least twice each year.  The majority of the members of the Committee constitutes a quorum and shall be empowered to act on behalf of the Committee.  Minutes will be kept of each meeting of the Committee.  The Chairman of the Committee shall report to the Board following meetings of the Committee and as otherwise requested by the Chairman of the Board.  The Committee shall also make reports and recommendations to the Board within the scope of its functions.

 

5.           The Committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser. The Committee shall be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any compensation consultant, legal counsel and other adviser retained by the Committee.  The Company shall provide for appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of reasonable compensation to a compensation consultant, legal counsel or any other adviser retained by the Committee.

  

Before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the Committee shall consider the independence of each such adviser by taking into account the following factors and any other factors required by the Principal Market or the SEC and corresponding rules that may be amended from time to time, including any exceptions permitted by such rules:

 

(i)        the provision of other services to the Company by the person that employs the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser (the “ Advisory Firm ”);

 

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(ii)        the amount of fees received from the Company by the Advisory Firm, as a percentage of the total revenue of the Advisory Firm;

 

(iii)       the policies and procedures of the Advisory Firm or other adviser that are designed to prevent conflicts of interest;

 

(iv)        any business or personal relationship of the compensation consultant, legal counsel or adviser with a member of the Committee;

 

(v)        any stock of the Company owned by the compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser; and

 

(vi)        any business or personal relationship of the compensation consultant, legal counsel, other adviser or the Advisory Firm.

 

6.            Review of Charter .  The Committee shall review this Charter at least annually and recommend any changes thereto to the Board.

 

7.            Self Assessment .  The Committee will annually evaluate the Committee’s own performance and report that it has done so to the Board.

 

8.            Delegation by Committee .  The Committee may delegate authority consistent with this Charter to one or more Committee members or subcommittees comprised of one or more Committee members when appropriate.  Any such member, members or subcommittee shall be subject to this Charter.  The decisions of any such member, members or subcommittees to which authority is delegated under this paragraph shall be presented to the full Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

 

9.            Amendment .  Any amendment or other modification of this Charter shall be made and approved by the full Board.

 

10.           Disclosure of Charter .  If required by the rules of the SEC or any Principal Market, this Charter, as amended from time to time, shall be made available to the public on the Company’s website.

 

# # #

 

 

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Exhibit 99.3

 

Consent OF DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named as a Director Nominee in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), originally filed on May 30, 2017, and any and all amendments thereto, registering securities for issuance in the Company’s initial public offering.

 

Dated: May 30, 2017

 

  /s/ Kevin M. Charlton
  Kevin M. Charlton

 

Exhibit 99.4

 

Consent OF DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named as a Director Nominee in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), originally filed on May 30, 2017, and any and all amendments thereto, registering securities for issuance in the Company’s initial public offering.

 

Dated: May 30, 2017 

 

  /s/ Bradley Bell
  Bradley Bell

Exhibit 99.5

 

Consent OF DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named as a Director Nominee in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), originally filed on May 30, 2017, and any and all amendments thereto, registering securities for issuance in the Company’s initial public offering.

 

Dated: May 30, 2017

 

  /s/ Peter Shea
  Peter Shea


Exhibit 99.6

 

Consent OF DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named as a Director Nominee in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), originally filed on May 30, 2017, and any and all amendments thereto, registering securities for issuance in the Company’s initial public offering.

 

Dated: May 30, 2017

 

  /s/ Richard Burns
  Richard Burns

Exhibit 99.7

 

Consent OF DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named as a Director Nominee in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), originally filed on May 30, 2017, and any and all amendments thereto, registering securities for issuance in the Company’s initial public offering.

 

Dated: May 30, 2017

 

  /s/ James F. O’Neil III
  James F. O’Neil III

 

Exhibit 99.8

 

Consent OF DIRECTOR NOMINEE

 

As required by Rule 438 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned hereby consents to being named as a Director Nominee in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”), originally filed on May 30, 2017, and any and all amendments thereto, registering securities for issuance in the Company’s initial public offering.

 

Dated: May 30, 2017

 

  /s/ Daniel R. DiMicco
  Daniel R. DiMicco