UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 001-41002
Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation |
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) |
Cayman Islands |
| |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
| (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
767 Third Avenue, 38th Floor New York, New York | 10017 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (646) 807-8832 |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: |
Title of Each Class: |
| Trading Symbol(s) |
| Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered: |
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-half of one Redeemable Warrant |
| LGSTU |
| The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, included as part of the Units |
| LGST |
| The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Redeemable Warrants, each exercisable for one Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share, included as part of the Units |
| LGSTW |
| The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
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 definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ |
Emerging growth company | ☒ |
|
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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, at June 30, 2022, computed by reference to the closing price for the Class A ordinary shares on such date, as reported on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, was $345,345,000.
As of March 31, 2023, there were 15,816,386 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and no Class B ordinary shares of the registrant issued and outstanding.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or the context otherwise requires, references to:
● | “amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association adopted on November 3, 2021, as amended on February 3, 2023; |
● | “board of directors” or “board” are to the board of directors of the Company; |
● | “Cantor” or the “representative” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters in our initial public offering; |
● | “Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (2021 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
● | “Continental” are to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, trustee of our trust account (as defined below) and warrant agent of our public warrants (as defined below); |
● | “DWAC System” are to the Depository Trust Company’s Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian System; |
● | “EGM” are to the extraordinary meeting of shareholders we held on February 3, 2023 for the purpose of considering the Extension Amendment. |
● | “Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; |
● | “Extension Amendment” are to the amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we must consummate our initial business combination from February 8, 2023 to December 15, 2023, which was approved by a special resolution of our shareholders at the EGM and took effect upon such approval. |
● | “Extension Period” are to any extended time that we have to consummate a business combination beyond December 15, 2023 as a result of a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; |
● | “equity-linked securities” are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination; |
● | “FINRA” are to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority; |
● | “founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering, which were converted at our sponsor’s election into Class A ordinary shares on January 30, 2023 (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares are not considered “public shares”); |
● | “GAAP” are to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; |
● | “initial business combination” are to a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses; |
● | “initial public offering” or “IPO” are to the initial public offering that was consummated by the Company on November 8, 2021; |
● | “initial shareholders” are to the holders of our founder shares immediately prior to our initial public offering; |
● | “Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; |
● | “JOBS Act” are to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012; |
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● | “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors; |
● | “Marcum” are to Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | “Nasdaq” are to the Nasdaq Global Market; |
● | “ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
● | “PCAOB” are to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States); |
● | “placement shares” are to the 1,450,000 Class A ordinary shares included within the placement units purchased separately by our sponsor and Cantor in the private placement; |
● | “placement units” are to the units issued to our sponsor and Cantor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering; |
● | “placement warrants” are to redeemable warrants to purchase an aggregate of 725,000 of our Class A ordinary shares included within the placement units purchased separately by our sponsor and Cantor in the private placement; |
● | “public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market); |
● | “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial shareholders to the extent our initial shareholders purchase public shares; provided that our initial shareholders’ status as a “public shareholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
● | “public warrants” are to our warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market); |
● | “Report” are to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022; |
● | “Sarbanes-Oxley Act” are to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; |
● | “SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; |
● | “Securities Act” are to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; |
● | “sponsor” is to Semper Paratus Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and |
● | “trust account” are to the trust account in which an amount of $351,900,000 ($10.20 per unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the units and a portion of the placement units in the initial public offering was placed following the closing of our initial public offering |
● | “units” are to the units sold in our initial public offering, which consist of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant; |
● | “warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market) and the private placement warrants; and |
● | “we,” “us,” “our,” “Company” or “our company” are to Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company. |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Report, including, without limitation, statements under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including, but not limited to:
● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
● | our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses; |
● | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
● | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
● | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
● | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
● | the lack of a market for our securities; |
● | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
● | our financial performance. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. 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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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on April 21, 2021 as an exempted company in the Cayman Islands and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Report as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities related to our initial public offering and our search for a suitable target for a potential business combination. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.
While we may pursue an initial business combination with a company in any business, industry, sector or geographic location, we are concentrating our efforts on pursuing an acquisition opportunity in the transportation, supply chain and logistics industry in any stage of the target’s corporate evolution. Traditional and next-generation supply chain solutions, physical or digital, are driving essential changes across end markets as business leaders around the world navigate unprecedented supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We seek to capitalize on our management team’s extensive experience in our target sectors, along with their valuable networks of seasoned venture capital and private equity investors, veteran operational partners and others to identify these unique acquisition opportunities. Our management team has a distinguished history of accomplishments across a broad spectrum of subsectors within the transportation, supply chain, and logistics industry, growing businesses into industry-leading enterprises by structurally improving their strategic position, growth trajectory and profitability. Our board of directors also has a significant track record in our target sectors and expertise in corporate strategy, technological innovation and operational enhancement. Their knowledge enhances the management team’s perspective as we evaluate potential initial business combinations and we expect will support the target’s management after completing an initial business combination, to the extent they remain on our board following the completion of our initial business combination.
Initial Public Offering
On November 8, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 34,500,000 units. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-half of one redeemable warrant of the Company, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $345,000,000. Prior to the closing of our initial public offering, the underwriters for our initial public offering exercised their over-allotment option in full.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 1,450,000 units (1,300,000 units to our sponsor and 150,000 units to Cantor) at a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $14,500,000.
A total of $351,900,000, comprised of the proceeds from the initial public offering after offering expenses and a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units, was placed in the trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.
Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies wishing to conduct business outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Law. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, No law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
Conversion of Founder Shares
On January 30, 2023, our sponsor elected to convert all of the Class B ordinary shares issued to it in a private placement prior to our initial public offering into Class A ordinary shares of the Company on a one-for-one basis. As a result, all 11,983,333 of our
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then outstanding Class B ordinary shares were cancelled and 11,983,333 of our Class A ordinary shares were issued to our sponsor. Our sponsor agreed that all of the terms and conditions applicable to the founder shares set forth in the Letter Agreement, dated November 3, 2021, by and among the Company, its officers, its directors and the sponsor, shall continue to apply to the Class A ordinary shares that the founder shares converted into, including the voting agreement, transfer restrictions and waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to the trust account or any monies or other assets held therein.
Extension Amendment
On February 3, 2023, we held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for the purpose of considering and voting on a proposal to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we must consummate our initial business combination from February 8, 2023 to December 15, 2023. The Extension Amendment was approved by a special resolution of our shareholders and took effect upon such approval. If our initial business combination is not consummated by December 15, 2023 (or by the end of any Extension Period if we further extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), then our existence will terminate, and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account.
In connection with the EGM, shareholders holding 32,116,947 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in our trust account. As a result, approximately $333 million (approximately $10.38 per public share) was removed from the trust account to pay such holders. As of March 15, 2023, approximately $25 million remained in the trust account and there were 2,383,053 public shares outstanding.
Our Management Team
Our management team is led by Richard N. Peretz, our Executive Chairman, Hooman Yazhari, our Vice Chairman, Ben Baldanza, our Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff Rogers, our President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. The team has significant operational and transactional experience, primarily in the transportation, mobility and supply chain management industries. We believe our management team has complementary skills and deep operational experience relevant to our target industries with a strong history of working productively and creatively with stakeholders and labor groups, which represent a prominent and sustainable competitive advantage. Enriching this differentiated characteristic is management’s well-connected network, extending from leadership of the largest industrial and transportation enterprises to founders at early-stage technology ventures across our target markets as well as consultants, private equity and venture capital firms, and more. Our team is a flat, consensus-driven organization with a focus on seeking business combination opportunities that we hope will meaningfully benefit from accessing capital via the public market and more importantly, have the potential to become a world-class, industry leading organization with help from the wide-ranging set of competencies of our officers and directors.
Industry Opportunity
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly challenged the resilience of global supply chains, putting a signification portion of global companies’ earnings and cash flows at risk. We believe that the pandemic has highlighted the urgency and significance of supply chain innovations, as company executives seek to instill flexibility into their logistics networks and deliver productivity improvements. We believe companies must recognize the fundamental shifts in how customers spend and how transportation and logistics infrastructures should operate differently to meet customer expectations and foster trust and loyalty. The global logistics industry was worth $5.819 trillion in 2020 and is projected to grow at a 4.7% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2024 according to Transport Intelligence.1 Multiple macroeconomic trends, such as the globalization of trade, acceleration of e-commerce adoption, rise of Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled devices, focus on energy efficiency/carbon footprint and emergence of specialty outsourced transportation and logistics providers, are expected to be the driving force of market growth for logistics services providers.
The e-commerce industry relies on exceptionally competent logistics services to manage its supply chains and meet its consumer promises. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread stay-at-home orders and concerns over the virus compressed 10 years of adoption of e-commerce into three months, according to McKinsey. The impact of this acceleration is significant to both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) enterprises. As companies prepare for this structural uplift and large influx of online traffic, new technologies and operation innovations are strategically imperative for navigating fulfillment challenges and associated reverse logistics volume.
1 Converted to USD from €5.275 trillion at a rate of 1:1.1031 as of March 24, 2022.
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As global supply chains become increasingly integrated, innovations around logistics automation, big data analytics, and network optimization have gained traction across the industry. Interoperability is playing an increasingly critical role for service providers today. We believe that companies view digital interoperability, through data analytics and information exchanges, as the key enabler of the next-generation supply chain. We believe logistics of tomorrow will heavily rely upon artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and digitalization to help connect and coordinate for improved visibility, productivity, and predictability. We also believe logistics management via multi-modal transport requires handovers between stakeholders and numerous document exchanges. As global trade volume grows, we anticipate that demand for faster processing and communication across electronic interfaces will follow. We believe that digitally-enabled supply chains can provide real-time tracking of shipments, delivery time prediction, and much higher automation-enabled throughput. In order to remain competitive, we believe transportation service providers must embrace and adopt digital transformation to deliver expected business results.
We source our potential combination opportunities by proactively approaching our extensive network of contacts, including private equity and venture capital sponsors, executives of public and private companies, merger and acquisition advisory firms, investment banks, capital markets desks, lenders and other financial intermediaries. We believe the prior operational and investment experience of our team gives us a competitive advantage when accessing potential initial business combination opportunities. Collectively, our management team and directors have extensive experience in the following areas:
● | Broad experience in both the public and private companies over the last three decades providing guidance on managing a wide range of challenges, including strategy, operations, finance, marketing and regulatory affairs. |
● | Established networks across the global transportation, supply chain and logistics sectors providing a deep sourcing network and due diligence acumen. |
● | Extensive operating and investing experience and a strong track record of creating shareholder value, with clear focus on operations and organizational alignment with management for progressive growth. |
● | Scaling companies with compelling competitive moats and unit economics models through organic and acquisition-based strategic investments. |
● | Ability to attract, assess and develop talented, high performing and resilient management teams, with an emphasis on mentoring and values-based leadership, excellence and integrity. |
Following the completion of our initial public offering, we began the process of communicating with the network of relationships of our management team and their affiliates to articulate the parameters for our search for a potential initial business combination target and began the process of pursuing and reviewing potential opportunities.
Our Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective targets for our acquisition opportunities. We use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating initial business combination opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our acquisition with a target business that does not meet any or all of these criteria and guidelines.
● | Asset or Non-Asset Based Companies: Innovative companies with unique assets or intellectual property, disruptive platforms and product offerings, will be at the forefront of our evaluation process. Our management team and our board have extensive operational, commercial and transactional experience with technology-driven companies in our target sectors, and we use these skills to identify market leaders; |
● | Defensible Forward Looking Business Model: Companies exposed to attractive trends in an emerging space that will continue to evolve in a post-COVID world, with differentiated technology aimed at solving critical challenges in their areas of focus, efficiency, customer experience and sustainability; |
● | Scalable Business with Opportunity to Produce Attractive Financial Returns: Marketability to support significant growth while also driving margin expansion through technological or operational advancements; |
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● | Significant Opportunity for Near-and Long-Term Growth: Fundamentally sound business that is underperforming its full potential and can benefit from applications and use of modern technology and tools, which can be leveraged in novel and transformative ways; |
● | Capable and Creative Management Team. Qualified leadership team that is open to mentorship, with a demonstrated track record of driving organic revenue growth and margin improvement; |
● | Partnership Approach: Companies that will benefit from our management team’s knowledge of industry dynamics, proven collection of operational strategies and tools, access to capital and relationships with key players in target industries and ability to rapidly scale businesses; and |
● | Value Proposition as a Public Company: Companies that will benefit from being publicly traded and having access to the public capital markets, enhancing its ability to pursue accretive acquisitions, high- return capital projects, and/or strengthen its balance sheet. |
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 team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet any or all of the above criteria and guidelines, we intend to disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in our prospectus dated November 3, 2021, would be in the form of proxy solicitation or tender offer materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we conduct a comprehensive due diligence review. That due diligence review may include, among other things, financial statement analysis, document reviews, meetings with the target’s management and other employees, consultations with relevant industry experts, competitors, customers and suppliers, as well as a review of additional information that we will seek to obtain as part of our analysis of a target company.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor or a member of our management team. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor or a member of our management team, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, intend to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm that our 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.
Certain of our directors and officers presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities.
Initial Business Combination
So long as our securities are then listed on the Nasdaq, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors intends to make the determination as to fair market value of our initial business combination. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board of directors is less familiar or experienced with the target business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects, including if such target is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. If our board of directors is unable to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we intend to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver
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to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination 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, which we refer to as the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our 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-business combination 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 then listed on the Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net assets test.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers.
Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by enhancing 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 make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
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We are an “emerging growth company”, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of the preceding second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the last business day of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Until the completion of our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the Nasdaq will consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements. We have not utilized these exemptions and have complied with the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, our shareholders will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination in the amount of approximately $25 million (after payment of the expenses of our initial public offering and $14,700,000 of deferred underwriting commissions and the removal of approximately $333 million from our trust account to pay shareholders who exercised their right to redeem their shares in connection with the Extension Amendment), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following our initial public offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, our equity, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially
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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 not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination (which may include a specified future issuance), and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. In addition, we intend to target businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, and in such circumstance we will be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately, including pursuant to any specified future issuance, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
We have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business, other than our officers and directors. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in our initial public offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
Sources of Target Businesses
We utilize the network and industry experience of our management team in seeking an initial business combination and employing our acquisition strategy. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and their affiliates have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe serves as a robust source of acquisition opportunities and a competitive strength. This network has been developed through our management team’s:
● | extensive experience in sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, integrating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses; |
● | significant experience in providing financial advice across a range of sectors, setting and changing strategies and identifying, monitoring and recruiting world-class talent; |
● | deep relationships with sellers, financing providers and target management teams; |
● | experience negotiating transactions favorable to investors; |
● | experience in executing transactions in a broad range of sectors under varying economic and financial market conditions; and |
● | significant experience in analyzing company fundamentals and producing proprietary asset management research. |
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In addition, target business candidates may be brought to our attention by various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. 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 some of these sources will have read our 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 may receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our sponsor, our management team or their respective 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 have been or will be made from the portion of the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of placement units, in each case held in the trust account, prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
● | the repayment of a promissory note in an aggregate principal amount of up to $300,000 made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
● | payments of $10,000 per month to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services; |
● | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; |
● | repayment of loans in the future may be, made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units of the post-business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the placement units. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
In addition, some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or a member of our management team. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or a member of our management team, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, and due to such fiduciary or contractual obligations such officer or director may be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Our management team is also not prohibited from sponsoring, investing or otherwise becoming involved with, any other special purpose acquisition companies, including in connection with their initial business combinations, prior to us completing our initial business combination. A special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of our sponsor or with certain members of our management team also serving on its management team could pursue a business combination opportunity in the same or similar businesses or industries as us, the pursuit of which could create an actual or potential conflict of interest relating to what would otherwise be an opportunity for us. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to
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which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We also utilize our management team’s operational and capital planning experience. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
See “Our Acquisition Criteria,” “Our Acquisition Process” and “Initial Business Combination” for additional information regarding the contemplated evaluation of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business.
Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
● | 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 closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination as any future roles cannot be stated with certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following an initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
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Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under the Nasdaq listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
● | we issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then-outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
● | any of our directors, officers or substantial security holder (as defined by the Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or more if the related party involved is classified as such solely because such person is a substantial security holder); or |
● | the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
● | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
● | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
● | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
● | other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
● | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, management team, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination.
Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, management team, advisors or their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. 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 public shares or warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
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In the event that our sponsor, management team, advisors or their respective affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (iii) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, management team and/or their respective affiliates may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, management team or their respective affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, management team, advisors or their respective affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, management team, advisors or their respective affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and are restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Our sponsor, management team and their respective affiliates are restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect any such purchases would be reported by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
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Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either prior to or upon consummation of an initial business combination (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. In addition, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests in connection with an amendment we seek to make to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval, while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with the Nasdaq rules.
If we hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association: 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 shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and who vote at a quorate general meeting of the company. In such case, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares, public shares, and placement shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to shares held by our initial shareholders and members of our management team, no affirmative votes from public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination because our initial shareholders own 13,283,333 shares in the aggregate (including 11,983,333 founder shares which were converted into Class A ordinary shares and 1,300,000 placement shares), which number exceeds the 7,183,194 votes (representing a majority of our 14,366,386 issued and outstanding shares) needed to approve the initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders and Cantor own an aggregate of 13,433,333 shares, or 93.5% of our issued and outstanding shares, including 11,983,333 founder shares which were converted into Class A ordinary shares and 1,300,000 placement shares held by our initial shareholders and 150,000 placement shares held by Cantor. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of an initial business combination, and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right
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to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
● | 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 initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as “Excess Shares”, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us, our sponsor or our management team to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management team at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name”, will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The DWAC System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to
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tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target by December 15, 2023 (or until the end of any Extension Period).
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we will have until December 15, 2023 (or until the end of any Extension Period) to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
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Our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares and placement shares (but will retain such rights for any public shares) they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period (although the initial shareholders, and each member of our management team will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame).
Our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either prior to or upon consummation of an initial business combination (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our initial shareholders, any member of our management team or any other person.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from cash held outside of the trust account of $129,186, together with up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.20. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.20. 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 seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that such parties will execute such agreements or, even if such parties execute such agreements, that such parties would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account for, among other things, 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, the underwriters of our initial public offering and our independent registered public accounting firm have not executed agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. Further, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by (A) a third-party for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or (B) a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be
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withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers, directors or other affiliates will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. Recourse against us and our sponsor will be limited as noted herein; there will not be any recourse against any of our affiliates other than sponsor as noted herein.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.20 per public share.
We seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. However, there is no guarantee that such parties will execute such agreements or, even if such parties execute such agreements, that such parties would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account for, among other things, 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. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to up to $129,186 following our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate, and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.
If we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law and may be included in our bankruptcy or insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy or insolvency claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.20 per public share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some, or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote
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described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination by December 15, 2023 or by the end of any Extension Period with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies. 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 financial, technical, human and other resources greater than ours. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business.
Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Human Capital Management
We currently have three officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time our officers devote in any time period varies based on the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of 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 cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We evaluated our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and determined that we should not be deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and continue to qualify as an emerging growth company. Therefore, we are not required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
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We have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company”, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of the preceding second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the last business day of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, below is a partial list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors that could have a material effect on the Company and its operations:
● | we are an early stage company with no revenue or basis to evaluate our ability to select a suitable business target; |
● | we may not be able to select an appropriate target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination in the prescribed time frame; |
● | our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses may not be realized; |
● | we may not be successful in retaining or recruiting required officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
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● | our officers and directors may have difficulties allocating their time between the Company and other businesses and may potentially have conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
● | we may not be able to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or reduce number of shareholders requesting redemption; |
● | we may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time; |
● | you may not be given the opportunity to choose the initial business target or to vote on the initial business combination; |
● | trust account funds may not be protected against third party claims or bankruptcy; |
● | an active market for our public securities' may not develop and you will have limited liquidity and trading; |
● | the availability to us of funds from interest income on the trust account balance may be insufficient to operate our business prior to the business combination; |
● | our financial performance following a business combination with an entity may be negatively affected by their lack an established record of revenue, cash flows and experienced management; |
● | the Russian invasion of Ukraine may result in market volatility that could adversely affect our stock price and may impact our financial condition and search for a target company; and |
● | our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.” |
For the complete list of risks relating to our operations, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our prospectus dated November 3, 2021.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 767 Third Avenue, 38th Floor, New York, New York 10017. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. 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.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
(a) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on the Nasdaq under the symbols “LGSTU,” “LGST” and “LGSTW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on November 3, 2021, and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants commenced public trading separately on January 3, 2022.
(b) Holders
On March 31, 2023, there were three (3) holders of record of our units, two (2) holders of record of our Class A ordinary shares and one (1) holder of record of our warrants.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of 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 share dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 1,450,000 units (1,300,000 units to our sponsor and 150,000 units to Cantor) at a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $14,500,000.
(f) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
(g) Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering
On November 3, 2021, our registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-260113) was declared effective. On November 8, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 34,500,000 units. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-half of one redeemable warrant of the Company, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $345,000,000. Prior to the closing of our initial public offering, the underwriters for our initial public offering exercised their over-allotment option in full, which we announced in a press release issued on November 8, 2021.
A total of $351,900,000, comprised of the proceeds from the initial public offering after offering expenses and a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units, was placed in the trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.
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Item 6. [Reserved.]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report.
Overview
Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on April 21, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business transaction with one or more businesses that the Company has not yet identified (a “Business Combination”).
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a Business Combination will be successful.
Results of Operations
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2022, relates to the Company’s formation, the initial public offering (the “IPO”) and the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO placed in the Trust Account (defined below).
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of $4,408,361, which consisted of unrealized gain on investment held in the Trust Account of $4,948,194 and change in the fair value of warrants of $413,250, offset by the general and administrative expenses of $953,083.
For the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $28,745, which consisted of general and administrative expenses of $181,421 and transaction costs allocated to warrant issuance of $880, offset by change in fair value of warrants $137,750 and unrealized gain on investment held in the Trust Account of $15,806.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Registration Statement on Form S-1, as amended (the “Registration Statement”), for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on November 3, 2021. On November 8, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of 30,000,000 units (“Units”) with respect to the ordinary shares included in the Units being offered (the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit generating gross proceeds of $300,000,000, which is discussed in Note 3. The company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the sale of 1,360,000 private placement units (“Private Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement to the Company’s sponsor, Semper Paratus Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”) and underwriter Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (“Cantor”) generating gross proceeds of $13,600,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the closing of the sale of 4,500,000 additional Units upon receiving notice of the underwriter’s election to fully exercise its overallotment option (“Overallotment Units”), generating additional gross proceeds of $45,000,000 and incurring additional offering costs of $2,700,000 in underwriting fees all of which is deferred until completion of the Company’s Business Combination. Simultaneously with the exercise of the overallotment, the Company consummated the Private Placement of an additional 90,000 Private Placement Units to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $900,000.
Following the closing of the IPO, $351,900,000 ($10.20 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the Private Placement Units was placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and will be invested in U.S. government securities,
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within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $215,395, net income of $4,408,361 was impacted by the unrealized gain on investments held in the Trust Account of $4,948,194, a change in the fair value of warrants of $413,250 and changes in operating asset and liabilities of $737,688.
For the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was $713,825, net loss of $28,745 was impacted by the unrealized gain on investments held in the Trust Account of $15,806, a change in the fair value of warrants of $137,750, transaction costs allocated to warrant issuance of $880 and changes in operating asset and liabilities of $532,405.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (less taxes payable), to complete our Business Combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our Business Combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent units at a price of $10.00 per unit. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our Business Combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our Public Shares upon consummation of our Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2022. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities. The underwriter is entitled to deferred underwriting commissions of $14,700,000 in the aggregate, consisting of $13,800,000 deferred underwriting commissions, and $900,000 cash underwriting discount agreed to be deferred until Business Combination. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
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JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We 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 such, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with 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 control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of executive compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our IPO or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Warrant Liabilities
We account for the Private Placement Warrants included in Private Placement Units and the redeemable warrants (the “Public Warrants”) that were included in units issued by the Company in its Initial Public Offering (collectively, the “Warrants”) in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (“ASC 815”), under which the Private Placement Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity classification and must be recorded as liabilities. As the Private Placement Warrants meet the definition of a derivative as contemplated in ASC 815, the Private Placement Warrants are measured at fair value at inception and at each reporting date in accordance with ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement, with changes in fair value recognized in the statement of operations in the period of change.
Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheets. The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
As of December 31, 2022, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. Following the consummation of our IPO, the net proceeds of our IPO, including amounts in the trust account, were 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.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act) were effective.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company,
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and
(3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria as noted above
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and in the attached exhibit, management determined that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
None.
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PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this Report, our directors and officers are as follows:
Name |
| Age |
| Position |
Richard N. Peretz | 61 | Executive Chairman | ||
Hooman Yazhari | 50 | Vice Chairman | ||
Ben Baldanza | 61 | Chief Executive Officer | ||
Jeff Rogers | 60 | President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary | ||
Paul P. Jebely | 42 | Independent Director | ||
Brad Stewart | 46 | Independent Director | ||
Parizad Olver Parchi | 43 | Independent Director |
The experience of our directors and executive officers is as follows:
Richard N. Peretz serves as Executive Chairman. Mr. Peretz currently serves on the Board of Directors for Tribe Capital Growth Corp. I and Tribe Capital Growth Corp. II, both special purpose acquisition companies, as well as for ELMS — Electric Last Mile, Inc., an EV company and is a director nominee for Altus Power, a clean energy C&I company. Mr. Peretz also serves as a venture partner for Playground Global, an early-stage investment firm. From 1981 to 2019, Mr. Peretz held a number of executive roles at United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) in US and Global operations as well as in Supply Chain Management. From 2015 to 2019, he served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and a member of the UPS Executive Leadership Team. The senior leadership team was responsible for the global company’s strategy and day to day operations in over 220 countries. Mr. Peretz oversaw all global financial operations and acted as senior liaison to the financial community. He spearheaded the move into technology-based operational capital investments and improved the capital structure along with the working capital for UPS. Prior to serving as CFO, Mr. Peretz was both the corporate Controller and Treasurer, leading all global M&A for UPS, overseeing nearly $3 billion in acquisitions globally in areas including healthcare logistics, truckload brokerage, business-to-business shipping and business-to-consumer shipping. Acquisitions at UPS included third-party logistics provider Coyote Logistics and healthcare logistics companies such as Marken, Polar Speed (UK), Poltraf (Poland), Cemelog (Hungary) and Pieffe Group (Italy). He helped strengthen UPS’s business-to-consumer portfolio with the acquisitions of iParcel (US) and Kiala (Europe). Mr. Peretz also helped expand the company’s international small package footprint in Turkey, Slovenia, Romania, South Korea, Vietnam and Costa Rica.
Mr. Peretz also served on the team responsible for taking UPS public in 1999, the largest IPO in U.S. history at the time. Mr. Peretz served as an investment committee member for the UPS Strategic Venture Fund. Previously, he was a member of the Board of Directors for First International Bancorp. Mr. Peretz holds a BBA in Accounting (1985) from the University of Texas in San Antonio and an MBA (1995) from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. We believe Mr. Peretz is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and management experience.
Hooman Yazhari serves as Vice Chairman. Mr. Yazhari is the Founder and CEO of Mobility Capital Group, an impact aligned investment manager providing credit-oriented capital for the next generation of enterprises and assets in mobility, logistics and transportation. Mr. Yazhari has served as an Independent Director of Voyager Aviation, a global aircraft lessor since 2017. He also has been a Co-Founder and Chairman of Beyond Capital Fund, an early stage and emerging market focused impact investment fund, since 2010. From February 2018 to March 2019, Mr. Yazhari served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Waypoint Leasing, the largest independent global helicopter lessor and financier, where he led an operational and balance sheet restructuring and transformation and successful strategic sale of its operating assets and business, pursuant to a voluntary filing under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, in March 2019. From 2015 to 2018, he served as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer for CHC Helicopter Corporation (“CHC”), a global helicopter services company, while taking on a leadership role in the operational and balance sheet restructuring and related turnaround, pursuant to a voluntary filing under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Yazhari served as General Counsel for International Lease Finance Corporation (“ILFC”), the largest global aircraft lessor, serving as part of the team that rebuilt and renewed the lessor after the global financial crisis and led it to a strategic sale. Mr. Yazhari previously served as an Independent Director of Speedcast Americas, Inc., a global telecommunication enterprise (2020-2021) and Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director of Bristow Group, a global helicopter services company. Mr. Yazhari holds an LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law (1995) from the London School of
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Economics and Political Science, and a BA in Law (1994) from Jesus College, Oxford University. We believe Mr. Yazhari is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and management experience.
B. Ben Baldanza serves as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Baldanza is currently the CEO of Diemacher LLC, an advisory firm focused on business restructuring, revenue optimization and cost containment. Mr. Baldanza currently serves on the Board of Directors for JetBlue Airways, where he serves as Chair of the Audit Committee, GoAir Limited, where he serves as Vice Chairman, and Six Flags Entertainment. From 2006 to 2016, Mr. Baldanza served as the President and CEO, and as a director, of Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit Airlines”), a low-cost airline, where he oversaw revenue growth from $500 million to $2.1 billion. During his time at Spirit Airlines, he led an IPO in 2011 while also managing an operational turnaround that resulted in industry leading margins. Recruited by Oaktree Capital in 2004, Mr. Baldanza transformed Spirit into an ‘Ultra Low Cost Carrier,’ leveraging a new aircraft fleet, establishment of a defensible franchise network, unbundling of pricing and reduction of costs per seat mile. Mr. Baldanza was twice named to the list of Business Travel News’s 25 Most Influential.
Prior to 2005, Mr. Baldanza held executive roles with American Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, TACA Airlines (“TACA”) and US Airways where he was responsible for finance, marketing and revenue management. While at Continental Airlines, Mr. Baldanza assisted with applying innovations in scheduling, pricing and revenue management, increasing unit revenues, underpinning a rise in the share price and improvements in profitability. With US Airways, Mr. Baldanza led the rationalization of duplicative hubs, rapid Caribbean expansion and shift to monetize frequent flier rewards on a profit, as opposed to usage, basis.
Mr. Baldanza also worked at UPS, where he supervised the improvement of revenues and capital cost savings. Mr. Baldanza also currently serves as an Operating Partner for Sterling Investment Partners, a private equity firm, and as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He holds a BA in Policy Studies and Economics (1984) from Syracuse University and an MPA (1986) from Princeton University in Urban and Regional Planning and Transportation Economics.
Jeff Rogers serves as President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. Mr. Rogers is currently a strategic advisor to TruckPark, an inventory management and booking platform for the trucking industry, and an operating advisor to Red Arts Capital, a private equity firm focused on supply chain and industrial businesses. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Rogers served as CEO and director of Universal Logistics Holdings (“Universal Logistics”), a global asset-light provider of transport and logistics solutions. During an 18-month period at Universal Logistics, Mr. Rogers led multiple acquisitions in the International Intermodal space that provided strategic footprints and positively contributed to growth and profitability. From 1998 to 2013, Mr. Rogers held several executive positions at YRC Worldwide including CFO of YRC Regional Transportation (2006-2008), President of USF Holland Inc. (“Holland”) (2008-2011), a YRC subsidiary and President of YRC Freight (2011-2013). While President of USF Holland, Mr. Rogers led a significant turnaround, closing unprofitable locations and shrinking Holland’s footprint to focus on next-day and two-day lanes. From 1984 to 1998, Mr. Rogers held numerous finance and operations related roles at UPS. He holds a BS in Accounting (1988) from Kansas Newman University and an MBA (1995) from Baker University. Mr. Rogers is also an Army veteran and served as an Airborne Ranger from 1980 to 1984.
Paul P. Jebely serves as an Independent Director and chair of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Jebely has served as Senior Partner and Global Head of Asset Finance at Withers Worldwide since January 2022. Prior to that, he served as a managing partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, where he also served in various leadership positions, such as co-chair of asset finance and co-chair of private wealth, from March 2016 until December 2021. His law practice is focused exclusively on the private and commercial aviation industry. He has served as counsel on billions of dollars of deals involving financing, acquisition, disposal and merger transactions in addition to handling numerous dispute, enforcement and restructuring situations. Mr. Jebely is well regarded in the aviation and legal industries, and has been named top private client attorney in Asia (2020) and rated top private aircraft attorney in Asia (2016 — 2021).
From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Jebely held numerous positions at Clyde & Co where he rose to Senior Equity Partner and Global Head of Aviation Finance. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Jebely held numerous positions at Ashurst, where he rose to head of their AMEA aviation practice. Mr. Jebely holds a JD (2005) from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and a BA (2002) from Trinity Collage at the University of Toronto. We believe Mr. Jebely is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, legal and transactional experience.
Parizad Olver Parchi serves as Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. Ms. Olver is currently the Founder and Managing Partner of Panorama Aero, a US-based special mission aerospace lessor and end-to-end logistics provider. Panorama Aero was founded in 2018 through the management buyout of Cowen Aviation Finance, a company Ms. Olver established and led while at Cowen. Immediately after founding Panorama Aero, she established a funding relationship with Fortress Investment Group,
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called Triangle Aero. From 2009 to 2018, Ms. Olver held numerous executive roles at Cowen Inc., a multinational investment bank, where she most recently served as President and CEO of Cowen Aviation Finance, an operating lessor funded by Cowen Inc. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Olver served as a senior strategist at Fortress Investment Group’s Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund, whose investment portfolio included structured product securities and related investments in the aircraft, equipment and specialty finance sectors.
Ms. Olver’s investment experience began in 2005 at Ramius Capital Group, a multi-strategy hedge fund, where she was a special situations investor and co-managed an investment strategy that included a leasing book of distressed narrow body aircraft. She began her career at Morgan Stanley as an investment banking analyst from 2002 to 2005. Ms. Olver holds a BS (2001) from UC Berkley’s Haas School of Business and an MBA (2011) from Columbia University and London Business School. We believe Ms. Olver is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to her extensive strategic, operational, management, and financial experience.
Brad Stewart serves as Independent Director. Mr. Stewart is currently CEO and board member of Fair.com, a US-based automotive marketplace and technology company. Previously, from 2011 to 2019, Mr. Stewart held numerous executive roles at XOJet, the largest on-demand private jet services company in North America, most recently serving as Chairman and CEO. While leading XOJet, he oversaw a highly complex and regulated business with three separate business units: aircraft fleet ownership and operations; branded direct-to-consumer brokerage with membership/subscription; and shuttle operations. Concurrent with his tenure at XOJet, from 2014 to 2019, Mr. Stewart served as Senior Advisor to TPG Growth, the growth equity and venture capital division of a global private equity company, where he served on multiple portfolio company boards. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Stewart served as Vice President and then Portfolio Company Advisor at Parthenon Capital, a middle market private equity company with expertise in financial, healthcare and business services. Mr. Stewart began his career as a consultant working at both McKinsey & Company (2004-2007) and Deloitte Consulting (1999-2002). Mr. Stewart holds an MBA from Columbia Business School (2004) and a BS in Corporate Finance from University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management (1999). We believe Mr. Stewart is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational, and management experience.
Family Relationships
There are no family relationships between any of our current officers or directors.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our Directors
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the Nasdaq.
The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Paul P. Jebely, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Parizad Olver Parchi and Brad Stewart, will expire at our second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Richard N. Peretz and Hooman Yazhari will expire at our third annual general meeting.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares or by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at a meeting of our board. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors prior to the completion of an initial business combination.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into on or prior to the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, is entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
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Our Officers
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
The Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent, subject to certain phase-in provisions. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that each of Paul P. Jebely, Parizad Olver Parchi and Brad Stewart are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Controlled Company Status
Until the completion of our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the Nasdaq considers us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements. We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in provisions, the rules of the Nasdaq require that the compensation committee and the nominating committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors; provided that if no such nominating committee exists, such selection or recommendation may be made by independent directors constituting a majority of the board’s independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to certain phase-in provisions. Parizad Olver Parchi, Paul P. Jebely, and Brad Stewart are members of our audit committee, and Parizad Olver Parchi serves as the chairman of the audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Parizad Olver Parchi, Paul P. Jebely, and Brad Stewart are independent under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Parizad Olver Parchi qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which is available on our website and details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
● | meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
● | monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
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● | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
● | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
● | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
● | appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
● | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
● | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and |
● | reviewing and approving all payments made to our sponsor, officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
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 Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by our board of directors. Our 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 will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Parizad Olver Parchi and Paul P. Jebely. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, each of Parizad Olver Parchi and Paul P. Jebely is independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
Our board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of shareholders (or, if applicable, an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders). Our shareholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
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, our board of directors considers a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. Our board of directors may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members.
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Parizad Olver Parchi and Paul P. Jebely. Paul P. Jebely serves as chairman of the compensation committee.
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Under the Nasdaq listing standards, we are required to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors, subject to certain phase-in provisions. Our board of directors has determined that each of Parizad Olver Parchi and Paul P. Jebely are independent. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which is available on our website and details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer based on such evaluation; |
● | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 officers; |
● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser.
However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the Nasdaq and the SEC.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us and is available at our website at www.semperparatusspac.com. 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.
Compliance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our ordinary shares and other equity securities. These executive officers, directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms filed by such reporting persons. Based solely on our review of such forms furnished to us and written representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that all reports applicable to our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were filed in a timely manner in accordance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.
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Item 11. Executive Compensation.
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us.
In May 2021, our sponsor allocated (i) 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors in exchange for the payment of $84, or approximately $0.0034 per share; and (ii) 30,000 founder shares to Philippe J. Kurzweil, our former Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, in exchange for the payment of $100, or approximately $0.0033 per share. None of these granted founder shares were subject to forfeiture in the event that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full. Since November 3, 2021 and until the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we have been and will continue to reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, members of our management team and their respective affiliates are 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 reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that are made by us to our sponsor, any member of our management team or their respective affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be described, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-transaction business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of March 1, 2023 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares; |
● | each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our ordinary shares; and |
● | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Report.
32
In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 15,816,386 ordinary shares, consisting of (i) 14,366,386 Class A ordinary shares (including 11,983,333 founder shares that were converted to Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis), (ii) no Class B ordinary shares and (iii) 1,450,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the placement units, issued and outstanding as of March 1, 2023. On all matters to be voted upon, except for the election or removal of directors of the board prior to the initial business combination, holders of the Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares vote together as a single class.
*Less than 1%
(1) Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation, 767 Third Avenue, 38th Floor, New York, New York 10017.
(2) On January 30, 2023, our sponsor elected to convert all of the Class B ordinary shares issued to it in a private placement prior to our initial public offering into Class A ordinary shares of the Company on a one-for-one basis. As a result, all 11,983,333 of our then outstanding Class B ordinary shares were cancelled and 11,983,333 of our Class A ordinary shares were issued to our sponsor.
(3) Our sponsor is the record holder of such shares. Jeff Rogers is the managing member of our sponsor, and as such has voting and investment discretion with respect to the ordinary shares held of record by our sponsor and may be deemed to have beneficial ownership of the ordinary shares held directly by our sponsor. Mr. Rogers disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly. In addition, all of our officers and directors are members of our sponsor. The membership interests not owned by our officers and directors are held by third-party investors that are not affiliated with our management.
(4) According to Schedule 13G/A filed jointly with the SEC on February 14, 2023 by Saba Capital Management, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (“Saba Capital”), Saba Capital Management GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Saba GP”) and Mr. Boaz R. Weinstein, a U.S. citizen, and represents shares held by Saba Capital. The business address of Saba Capital, Saba GP and Mr. Weinstein is 405 Lexington Avenue, 58th Floor, New York, New York 10174.
(5) According to Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 13, 2023 by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of Ontario, Canada (“Polar”), which serves as an investment advisor to Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“PMSMF”)and represents shares held directly by PMSMF. The business address of Polar is 16 York Street, Suite 2900, Toronto, ON, Canada M5J 0E6.
(6) According to Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 14, 2022 and represents shares held by Corbin Capital Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and Corbin Capital Partners GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. The business address of each is 590 Madison Avenue, 31st Floor, New York, NY 10022.
33
Changes in Control
None.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
On April 22, 2021, our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.0029 per share, to subscribe for an aggregate of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, our company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to our company by the number of founder shares issued. In May 2021, our sponsor allocated (i) 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors in exchange for the payment of $84, or approximately $0.0034 per share; and (ii) 30,000 founder shares to Philippe J. Kurzweil, our former Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, in exchange for the payment of $100, or approximately $0.0033 per share. On August 9, 2021, we effected a dividend of approximately 0.3628 shares for each outstanding Class B ordinary share, such that our sponsor owned an aggregate of 11,754,150 founder shares, for approximately $0.0021 per share. On October 1, 2021, we effected a dividend of approximately 0.0195 shares for each outstanding Class B ordinary share, such that our sponsor owned an aggregate of 11,983,333 founder shares, for approximately $0.0021 per share. As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option, none of the 1,530,000 founder shares that were subject to forfeiture by our sponsor were forfeited. On January 30, 2023, our sponsor elected to convert all of the Class B ordinary shares issued to it into Class A ordinary shares of the Company on a one-for-one basis. As a result, all 11,983,333 of our then outstanding Class B ordinary shares were cancelled and 11,983,333 of our Class A ordinary shares were issued to our sponsor.
Our sponsor and Cantor purchased an aggregate of 1,450,000 placement units (1,300,000 placement units to our sponsor and 150,000 placement units to Cantor) at a purchase price of $10.00 per whole unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $14,500,000, in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. The placement units (including the placement shares and placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
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, then, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
In addition, all of our officers and directors are members of our sponsor. The membership interests not owned by our officers and directors are held by third-party investors that are not affiliated with our management.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 767 Third Avenue, 38th Floor, New York, New York 10017. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we began to pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services, commencing on November 3, 2021. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we expect to cease paying these monthly fees.
Our sponsor, members of our management team or their respective affiliates are 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 reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that are made by us to our sponsor, any member of our management team or their respective affiliates and determines which expenses and the amount of expenses that are 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 loaned us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering. These loans were non-interest bearing, unsecured and were due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 and the closing of our initial public offering, which occurred on November 8, 2021. The loan was repaid upon the closing of our initial public offering out of the portion of the proceeds from our initial public offering and the sale of placement units that were allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting discounts and commissions) and were not held in the trust account.
In addition, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor may, but is not obligated to, loan us additional funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account
34
released to us. 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 made available by our sponsor or its affiliates may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the placement units, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such additional loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or its affiliates as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be described, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-transaction business to determine officer and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration and shareholder rights agreement pursuant to which (i) our initial shareholders are entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the placement units, the units issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the Class A ordinary shares included in the units and issuable upon exercise of the warrants included in the units, and (ii) our sponsor, upon consummation of our initial business combination, are entitled to nominate individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors adopted a charter providing for the review, approval and/or ratification of “related party transactions”, which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee is provided with the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.
Director Independence
The Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent, subject to certain phase-in provisions. 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 determined that each of Paul P. Jebely, Parizad Olver Parchi and Brad Stewart are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum LLP, or Marcum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees of Marcum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-K for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 totaled approximately $68,645 and $129,265. The aggregate fees of Marcum related to audit services in connection with our initial public offering totaled approximately $129,265. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
35
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 we did not pay Marcum any audit-related fees.
Tax Fees. We have not paid Marcum for tax services, planning or advice for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Marcum for any other services for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
36
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K: |
(1) | Financial Statements |
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
| ||
| Page | ||
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID # 688) | F-2 | ||
F-3 | |||
F-4 | |||
F-5 | |||
F-6 | |||
F-7 – F-19 |
(2)Financial Statements Schedule
None.
(3)Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.
Not applicable.
37
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
| ||
| Page | ||
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID # 688) | F-2 | ||
F-3 | |||
F-4 | |||
F-5 | |||
F-6 | |||
F-7 — F-19 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related statements of operations, stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has a significant working capital deficiency, has incurred significant losses and needs to raise additional funds to meet its obligations and sustain its operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
Los Angeles, CA
April 17, 2023
F-2
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
BALANCE SHEETS
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Period from | ||||||
April 21, 2021 | ||||||
| For the | (Inception) | ||||
Year Ended | through | |||||
December 31, | December 31, | |||||
| 2022 | 2021 | ||||
General and administrative | $ | 953,083 | $ | 181,421 | ||
Total operating expenses | (953,083) | (181,421) | ||||
Other income (expense): | ||||||
Unrealized gain on investments held in Trust Account | 4,948,194 | 15,806 | ||||
Change in fair value of warrants | 413,250 | 137,750 | ||||
Transaction costs allocated to warrant issuance | — | (880) | ||||
Total other income, net | 5,361,444 | 152,675 | ||||
Net income (loss) | $ | 4,408,361 | $ | (28,745) | ||
|
|
|
| |||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A Ordinary shares |
| 35,950,000 |
| 7,198,819 | ||
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class A | 0.09 | (0.00) | ||||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B Ordinary shares |
| 11,983,333 |
| 11,983,333 | ||
Basic and diluted income (loss) per share, Class B | 0.09 | (0.00) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 AND FOR THE PERIOD APRIL 21, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021
Ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | ||||||||||||||||||
Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholder’s | |||||||||||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Deficit | ||||||
Balance, April 21, 2021 (inception) | — | $ | — | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor | — | — | 11,983,333 | 1,198 | 23,802 | — | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Proceeds from Initial Public Offering Costs allocated to Public Warrants (net of offering costs) | — | — | — | — | 11,817,103 | — | 11,817,103 | ||||||||||||
Fair value adjustment upon on sale of private placement warrants | — | — | — | — | (588,250) | (588,250) | |||||||||||||
Sale of Private Units | 1,450,000 | 145 | — | — | 14,499,855 | — | 14,500,000 | ||||||||||||
Remeasurement for Class A Ordinary Share to redemption value | — | — | — | — | (26,340,760) | (3,642,057) | (39,982,817) | ||||||||||||
Net loss | — | — | — | — | — | (28,745) | (28,745) | ||||||||||||
Balance, December 31, 2021 | 1,450,000 | 145 | 11,983,333 | 1,198 | — | (14,229,052) | (14,227,709) | ||||||||||||
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | — | — | — | — | — | (4,964,000) | (4,964,000) | ||||||||||||
Net income | — | — | — | — | — | 4,408,361 | 4,408,361 | ||||||||||||
Balance, December 31, 2022 | 1,450,000 | $ | 145 | 11,983,333 | $ | 1,198 | $ | — | $ | (14,784,691) | $ | (14,783,348) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Period | ||||||
from April 21, | ||||||
2021 | ||||||
For the Year | (Inception) | |||||
Ended | through | |||||
December 31, | December 31, | |||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | 4,408,361 | $ | (28,745) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Unrealized gain on investments held in Trust Account | (4,948,194) | (15,806) | ||||
Change in fair value of warrants | (413,250) | (137,750) | ||||
Transaction costs allocated to warrant issuance | — |
| 880 | |||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
| |||||
Prepaid expenses and other assets | 446,609 |
| (591,780) | |||
Due to affiliate | 120,000 |
| 20,000 | |||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
| 171,079 |
| 39,375 | ||
Net cash used in operating activities |
| (215,395) |
| (713,826) | ||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||
Cash deposited to Trust Account | — | (351,900,000) | ||||
Net cash used in investing activities | — | (351,900,000) | ||||
|
|
|
| |||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriting fees |
| — |
| 339,000,000 | ||
Proceeds from sale of private units | — | 14,500,000 | ||||
Proceeds from issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor |
| — |
| 25,000 | ||
Payment of offering costs | — | (566,594) | ||||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
| — |
| 352,958,406 | ||
|
|
|
| |||
Net Change in Cash |
| (215,395) |
| 344,581 | ||
Cash – Beginning |
| 344,581 |
| — | ||
Cash – Ending | $ | 129,186 | $ | 344,581 | ||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Deferred underwriting commissions payable | $ | — | $ | 14,700,000 | ||
Initial classification of warrant liability | $ | — | $ | 558,250 | ||
Initial value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | — | $ | 345,000,000 | ||
Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption amount | $ | 4,964,000 | $ | 39,982,817 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
Note 1 — Description of Organization, Business Operations and Liquidity
Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on April 21, 2021. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).
The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2022, relates to the Company’s formation and Initial Public Offering (“IPO”), which is described below, and the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income earned on investments from the proceeds derived from the IPO. The registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on November 3, 2021. On November 8, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of 30,000,000 units (“Units”) with respect to the ordinary shares included in the Units being offered (the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit generating gross proceeds of $300,000,000, which is discussed in Note 3. The company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the sale of 1,360,000 private placement units (“Private Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement to the Company’s sponsor, Semper Paratus Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”) and underwriter Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (“Cantor”) generating gross proceeds of $13,600,000 which is described in Note 4.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the closing of the sale of 4,500,000 additional Units upon receiving notice of the underwriter’s election to fully exercise its overallotment option (“Overallotment Units”), generating additional gross proceeds of $45,000,000 and incurring additional offering costs of $2,700,000 in underwriting fees all of which are deferred until completion of the Company’s Business Combination. Simultaneously with the exercise of the overallotment, the Company consummated the Private Placement of an additional 90,000 Private Placement Units to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $900,000.
Offering costs for the IPO amounted to $21,266,594, consisting of $6,000,000 of paid underwriting fees, $14,700,000 of deferred underwriting fees payable (which are held in the Trust Account (defined below)) and $566,594 of other costs. As described in Note 6, the $14,700,000 of deferred underwriting fee payable is contingent upon the consummation of a Business Combination by February 8, 2023, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Following the closing of the IPO, $351,900,000 ($10.20 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the Private Placement Units was placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and will be invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account, as described below.
F-7
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. There is no assurance the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
The Company will provide the holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “Public Shareholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.20 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest then in the Trust Account, net of taxes payable). There will be no redemption rights with respect to the Company’s warrants.
All of the Public Shares contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Company’s Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Memorandum and Articles of Association”). In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the Public Shares were issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants), the initial carrying value of ordinary shares classified as temporary equity was the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. The ordinary shares are subject to ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, the Company has the option to either (i) accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or (ii) recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. The Company has elected to recognize the changes immediately. While redemptions cannot cause the Company’s net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, the Public Shares are redeemable and are classified as such on the balance sheet until such date that a redemption event takes place.
Redemptions of the Company’s Public Shares may be subject to the satisfaction of conditions, including minimum cash conditions, pursuant to an agreement relating to the Company’s Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval of the Business Combination, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination, or such other vote as required by law or stock exchange rule. If a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Memorandum and Articles of Association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the IPO in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Memorandum and Articles of Association provides that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under
F-8
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the ordinary shares sold in the IPO, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors (the “Initial Shareholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Memorandum and Articles of Association that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination by February 8, 2023, 15 months from the closing of the IPO (“Combination Period”), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than
business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay the Company’s franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.The Initial Shareholders have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Shareholders should acquire Public Shares in or after the IPO, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to its deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.20 per shares held in the Trust Account. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations, and search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these financial
F-9
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
statements and the specific impact on the Company's financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these financial statements.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $129,186 in its operating bank accounts, $356,864,000 in cash and marketable securities held in the Trust Account to be used for a Business Combination or to repurchase or redeem its ordinary shares in connection therewith and working capital deficit of $76,098. As of December 31, 2022, approximately $4,948,000 of the amount on deposit in the Trust Account represented interest income.
Until the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination. The Company will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from its Sponsor, shareholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers, directors and Sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Accordingly, the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing.
If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.
Management has also determined that the mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution described in the financial statements, should the Company be unable to complete a business combination, raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The Company has until December 15, 2023, to consummate a Business Combination. It is uncertain that the Company will be able to consummate a Business Combination by the specified period. If a Business Combination is not consummated by December 15, 2023, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an emerging growth company as defined in Section 102(b)(1) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), which 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 an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised, and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard.
F-10
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. Such estimates may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Investments Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2022, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in U.S. Treasury securities. The Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account in the accompanying statements of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Offering Costs associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs, including additional underwriting fees associated with the underwriters’ exercise of the over-allotment option, consist principally of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs directly related to the IPO. Offering costs, including those attributable to the underwriters’ exercise of the over-allotment option in full, amounted to $21,266,594 consisting of $6,000,000 of paid underwriting fees, $14,700,000 of deferred underwriting fees payable (which are held in the Trust Account (defined below)) and $566,594 of other costs and was charged to shareholders’ equity upon the completion of the IPO.
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 Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage limit of $250,000. At December 31, 2022, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the (“FASB”) ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
F-11
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
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 December 31, 2022 and 2021. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from April 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with federal income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company, but rather on the individual owners. United States (“U.S.”) taxation would occur on the individual owners if certain tax elections are made by U.S. owners and the Company were treated as a passive foreign investment company. Additionally, U.S. taxation could occur to the Company itself if the Company is engaged in a U.S. trade or business. The Company is not expected to be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business at this time.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Public Shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2022 and 2021, 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheet.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable Class A ordinary share to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary share are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
F-12
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Class A ordinary share subject to possible redemption reflected in the balance sheet is reconciled in the following table:
Gross proceeds |
| $ | 345,000,000 |
Less: |
|
| |
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants |
| (12,592,500) | |
Class A ordinary share issuance costs |
| (20,490,317) | |
Plus: |
| ||
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | 39,982,817 | ||
Class A ordinary share subject to possible redemption , December 31, 2021 | 351,900,000 | ||
Plus: | |||
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | 4,964,000 | ||
Class A ordinary share subject to possible redemption , December 31, 2022 | $ | 356,864,000 |
Net Income (Loss) per Ordinary Share
The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A ordinary shares and Class B Ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Public Warrants (see Note 3) and Private Placement Warrants (see Note 4) to purchase 17,975,000 ordinary shares at $11.50 per share were issued on November 8, 2021. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, no Public Warrants or Private Placement Warrants have been exercised. The 17,975,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants were excluded from diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2022 because they are contingently exercisable, and the contingencies have not yet been met. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share is the same as basic net income (loss) per ordinary share for the period. The table below presents a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used to compute basic and diluted net income (loss) per share for each class of share.
Accounting for Warrants
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the instruments’ specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the instruments are free standing financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the instruments meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the instruments are indexed to the Company’s own ordinary shares and whether the instrument holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, was conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as
F-13
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
of each subsequent period end date while the instruments are outstanding. Management has concluded that the Public Warrants qualify for equity accounting treatment and Private Placement Warrants qualify for liability accounting treatment.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statement.
Note 3 — Initial Public Offering and Over-Allotment
Pursuant to the IPO, the Company sold 34,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one ordinary share (such ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), and
-half of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).Note 4 — Private Placement Warrants
On November 8, 2021, simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO and the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option, the Company consummated the issuance and sale (“Private Placement”) of 1,450,000 units (the “Private Placement Units”) in a private placement transaction at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit, generating gross proceeds of $14,500,000. The Private Placement Units were purchased by Cantor (150,000 Units) and the Sponsor (1,300,000 Units). Each Private Placement Unit consisted of one Placement Share and one-half of a redeemable warrant (“Placement Warrant”). Each whole Placement Warrant will be exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Units was added to the proceeds from the IPO to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Private Placement Units and all underlying securities will be worthless.
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
Our Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”) which were issued on April 22, 2021. In August 2021, the Company effectuated a dividend of approximately 0.3628 shares for each outstanding Class B ordinary share resulting in an aggregate of 11,754,150 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On October 1, 2021, the Company effectuated a dividend of approximately 0.0195 shares for each outstanding Class B ordinary share resulting in an aggregate of 11,983,333 Class B Founder shares outstanding (up to 1,530,000 of which are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full). The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the Company’s initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions. The initial shareholders had agreed to forfeit up to 1,530,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. Since the underwriters’ exercised the over-allotment option in full, no Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture.
The initial shareholders will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
F-14
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Related Party Loans
On April 22, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the IPO pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of the IPO. The note payable of $121,158 was repaid on November 8, 2021. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had no borrowings under the Note.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans, but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent units at a price of $10.00 per unit. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Administrative Support Services
Commencing on the date of the final prospectus, the Company will agree to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space and administrative and support services. Upon completion of the Initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, $120,000 and $20,000, respectively, have been accrued under this arrangement and included in due to affiliate on the accompanying balance sheets.
Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Units (including the underlying securities), and securities that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed upon consummation of the IPO. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable lock-up period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a
-day option from the final prospectus relating to the IPO to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the IPO price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On November 5, 2021, the underwriters elected to fully exercise the over-allotment option purchasing 4,500,000 Units.The underwriters were paid a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $6,000,000 in the aggregate at the closing of the IPO. The underwriters have agreed to defer the cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per share related to the over-allotment to be paid at Business Combination ($900,000 in the aggregate). In addition, the underwriters are entitled to a deferred underwriting commissions of $0.40 per unit, or $13,800,000 from the closing of the IPO. The total deferred fee is $14,700,000 consisting of the $13,800,000 deferred portion and the $900,000 cash discount agreed to be deferred until Business Combination. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely if the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
F-15
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Note 7 — Shareholders’ Deficit
Class A Ordinary Shares
The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 1,450,000 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding (excluding 34,500,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption).
Class B Ordinary Shares
The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share of Class B ordinary shares. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 11,983,333 Class B ordinary shares outstanding none of which are subject to forfeiture since the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full.
Prior to our initial Business Combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial Business Combination, holders of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our Memorandum and Articles of Association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than 90% of our ordinary share shareholders who attend and vote at our general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial Business Combination, except as required by law, holders of our Class B ordinary shares and holders of our Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the IPO and related to the closing of the initial Business Combination, the ratio at which Class B ordinary shares shall convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 25% of the sum of the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of the IPO plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any private placement-equivalent warrants issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company).
Preference Shares
The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no preferred shares issued or outstanding.
Public Warrants
The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (i) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) one year from the closing of the IPO. No warrants will be exercisable for cash unless the Company has an effective and current registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such Class A ordinary shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the
F-16
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:
● | if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations), for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period commencing at any time after the warrants become exercisable and ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders; and if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants. |
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement.
The Private Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the IPO, except that the Private Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Warrants will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
The exercise price and number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extra Class A Ordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of Class A ordinary shares at a price below their respective exercise prices. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, if the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to the initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by them prior to such issuance), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of a Business Combination on the date of the consummation of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the price at which the Company issues the additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities.
F-17
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Note 8 — Warrant Liabilities
The Company accounts for the 725,000 Private Placement Warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40 due to the fact the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferee. Such guidance provides that, based on these features, the private placement warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, and each such warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classify each private placement warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The Company has determined the Public Warrants do not contain such features, and accordingly will be accounted for as equity and are not subject to subsequent remeasurement.
Note 9 — Fair Value Measurements
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level 1: Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.
Level 2:Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
Level 3:Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.
At December 31, 2022, the assets held in the Trust Account were held in treasury funds. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities.
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2022 and 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value.
F-18
December 31, 2021: |
| Quoted Prices in | Significant Other | Significant Other | |||||||
Active Markets | Observable Inputs | Unobservable Inputs | |||||||||
| Level |
| (Level 1) |
| (Level 2) |
| (Level 3) | ||||
Assets: | |||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Securities |
| 1 | $ | 351,915,805 |
| $ | — | $ | — | ||
Warrant Liability- Private Placement Warrants | 3 | — | — | 420,500 |
The Company utilizes a Monte Carlo simulation model to value the warrants at each reporting period, with changes in fair value recognized in the statement of operations. The estimated fair value of the warrant liability is determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in a Monte Carlo pricing model are assumptions related to expected share-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary shares based on industry historical volatility that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates to remain at zero.
The aforementioned warrant liabilities are not subject to qualified hedge accounting.
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements at December 31, 2022 and 2021:
| At December 31, 2022 | At December 31, 2021 | |||||
Share Price | $ | 10.33 | $ | 9.78 | |||
Exercise Price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | |||
Term (years) | 5.10 |
| 5.85 | ||||
Industry Volatility | 4.40 | % | 9.7 | % | |||
Risk Free Rate | 3.91 | % | 1.33 | % | |||
Dividend Yield | 0.00 | % |
| 0.00 | % |
Note 10 — Subsequent Events
The Company has evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date these financial statements were available to be issued. Based on this review, other than as described below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in these financial statements.
On January 30, 2023, shareholders (the “Initial Shareholders”) holding all of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company elected to convert their Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares of the Company (“Class A Shares”) on a one-for-one basis (the “Conversion”). As a result, 11,983,333 of the Company’s Class B ordinary shares were cancelled and 11,983,333 Class A Shares were issued to such converting Class B stockholders. The Initial Shareholders agreed that all of the terms and conditions applicable to the Founder Shares set forth in the Letter Agreement, dated November 3, 2021, by and among the Company, its officers, its directors and the Initial Shareholders (the “Letter Agreement”), shall continue to apply to the Class A Shares that the Founder Shares converted into, including the voting agreement, transfer restrictions and waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to the Trust Account (as defined in the Letter Agreement) or any monies or other assets held therein.
As disclosed in the definitive proxy statement the Company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 20, 2023, and amended and supplemented on January 26, 2023, 47,933,333 of the Company’s ordinary shares, consisting of (i) 35,950,000 Class A Shares and (ii) 11,983,333 Founder Shares, were
and as of January 12, 2023. Following the Conversion, the Company has 47,933,333 Class A Shares issued and and no Class B ordinary shares and outstanding. A shareholder’s voting power consists of the combined voting power of the Class A Shares and Founder Shares owned beneficially by such shareholder. On all matters to be voted upon at the extraordinary general meeting of the Company’s shareholders to be held on February 3, 2023 (the “Meeting”), the holders of the Class A Shares and Founder Shares will vote together as a single class. Therefore, there has been no impact to the votes required to approve the proposals or the counting of the votes at the Meeting as a result of the Conversion.F-19
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
On February 3, 2023, Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “EGM”) for the purpose of considering and voting on the Charter Amendment (as defined below) and, if presented, the proposal to adjourn the EGM to a later date.
Charter Amendment
At the EGM, the shareholders of the Company approved an amendment (the “Charter Amendment”) to the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association to extend the date by which the Company must consummate an initial business combination from February 8, 2023 to December 15, 2023. Under Cayman Islands law, the Charter Amendment took effect upon approval by the shareholders. The Company plans to file the Charter Amendment with the Cayman Islands General Registry within 15 days of the EGM. In connection with the EGM, shareholders holding approximately 32,116,947 ordinary shares (the “public shares”) exercised their right to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Company’s trust account (the “Trust Account”). As a result, approximately $332 million (approximately $10.34 per public share) will be removed from the Trust Account to pay such holders and approximately $25 million will remain in the Trust Account. Following redemptions, the Company will have approximately 2,383,053 public shares outstanding.
Nasdaq Notices
As disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K the Company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 29, 2023, the Company received a written notice (the “March Notice”) dated March 23, 2023 from the Listing Qualifications division of the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) stating that the Company has not paid certain fees required by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(f) and that the Company will be delisted unless it appeals such determination. As of the date of the March Notice, the Company’s past due fee balance totaled $151,000. As of the date of this annual report, the Company has paid the fee to file an appeal to Nasdaq’s determination. A hearing is scheduled for May 5, 2023.
As disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K the Company filed with the SEC on April 7, 2023, the Company received a written notice (the “April Notice”) from the Nasdaq indicating that the Company was not in compliance with Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(A), requiring the Company to maintain a Market Value of Listed Securities (“MVLS”) of $50,000,000 for the continued listing of its securities on The Nasdaq Global Market. The April Notice is only a notification of deficiency, not of imminent delisting, and has no current effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s securities on Nasdaq. The April Notice states that the Company has 180 calendar days, or until October 2, 2023, to regain compliance with Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(A). If at any time during this compliance period the Company’s MLVS closes at $50,000,000 or more for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, Nasdaq will provide the Company with a written confirmation of compliance, and this matter will be closed. If compliance is not achieved by October 2, 2023, the Letter states that the Company will receive written notification that its securities are subject to delisting. At that time, the Company may appeal the delisting determination to a Hearings Panel. The Letter further notes that alternatively, the Company may be eligible to transfer the listing of its securities to The Nasdaq Capital Market (provided that it then satisfies the requirements for continued listing on that market). The Company will continue to monitor its MVLS and consider its available options to regain compliance with the Nasdaq minimum MVLS requirements, but there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to do so.
F-20
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. |
| Description | |
1.1 |
| ||
3.1 |
| Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended on February 3, 2023* | |
4.1 |
| ||
4.2 |
| ||
4.3 |
| ||
4.4 |
| ||
4.5 |
| ||
10.1 |
| ||
10.2 |
| ||
10.3 |
| ||
10.4 | Unit Subscription Agreement, dated November 3, 2021, by and between the Company and Cantor (2) | ||
10.5 |
| ||
10.6 |
| ||
10.7 | Promissory Note, dated as of April 22, 2021, by and between the Company and the Sponsor (1) | ||
10.8 | |||
14.1 | |||
31.1 | |||
31.2 | |||
32.1 | |||
32.2 | |||
101.INS | Inline XBRL Instance Document* | ||
101.SCH | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema* | ||
101.CAL | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase* | ||
101.DEF | Inline XBRL Definition Linkbase Document* | ||
101.LAB | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase* | ||
101.PRE | Inline XBRL Definition Linkbase Document* | ||
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (Embedded within the Inline XBRL document and included as Exhibit 101)* |
* Filed herewith
** Furnished herewith
(1) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1, filed with the SEC on October 7, 2021. |
(2) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on November 8, 2021. |
(3) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on April 1, 2022. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
April 17, 2023
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION | ||
| By: | /s/ B. Ben Baldanza |
| Name: B. Ben Baldanza | |
| Title: Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature |
| Name |
| Title |
| Date |
/s/ B. Ben Baldanza |
| B. Ben Baldanza | Chief Executive Officer |
| April 17, 2023 | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
/s/ Jeff Rogers |
| Jeff Rogers | President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary |
| April 17, 2023 | |
|
|
|
|
| ||
/s/ Richard N. Peretz |
| Richard N. Peretz | Executive Chairman |
| April 17, 2023 | |
|
|
|
|
| ||
/s/ Hooman Yazhari |
| Hooman Yazhari | Vice Chairman |
| April 17, 2023 | |
|
|
|
|
| ||
/s/ Paul P. Jebely |
| Paul P. Jebely | Director |
| April 17, 2023 | |
/s/ Brad Stewart | Brad Stewart | Director | April 17, 2023 | |||
/s/ Parizad Olver Parchi | Parizad Olver Parchi | Director | April 17, 2023 |
Exhibit 3.1
THE COMPANIES ACT (AS REVISED)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
AMENDED AND RESTATED
MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
OF
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
(ADOPTED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION DATED 1 NOVEMBER 2021 AND EFFECTIVE ON 3 NOVEMBER 2021)
1 | The name of the Company is Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation |
2 | The Registered Office of the Company shall be at the offices of Maples Corporate Services Limited, PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, KY1-1104, Cayman Islands, or at such other place within the Cayman Islands as the Directors may decide. |
3 | The objects for which the Company is established are unrestricted and the Company shall have full power and authority to carry out any object not prohibited by the laws of the Cayman Islands. |
4 | The liability of each Member is limited to the amount unpaid on such Member’s shares. |
5 | The share capital of the Company is US$22,100 divided into 200,000,000 Class A Ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each, and 20,000,000 Class B Ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each, and 1,000,000 Preference Shares of a par value of US$0.0001 each. |
6 | The Company has power to register by way of continuation as a body corporate limited by shares under the laws of any jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands and to be deregistered in the Cayman Islands. |
7 | Capitalised terms that are not defined in this Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association bear the respective meanings given to them in the Amended and Restated Articles of Association of the Company. |
1
THE COMPANIES ACT (AS REVISED)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
AMENDED AND RESTATED
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
OF
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
(ADOPTED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION DATED 1 NOVEMBER 2021 AND EFFECTIVE ON 3 NOVEMBER 2021)
1 | Interpretation |
1.1 | In the Articles Table A in the First Schedule to the Statute does not apply and, unless there is something in the subject or context inconsistent therewith: |
“Affiliate” | in respect of a person, means any other person that, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such person, and (a) in the case of a natural person, shall include, without limitation, such person’s spouse, parents, children, siblings, mother-in-law and father-in-law and brothers and sisters-in-law, whether by blood, marriage or adoption or anyone residing in such person’s home, a trust for the benefit of any of the foregoing, a company, partnership or any natural person or entity wholly or jointly owned by any of the foregoing and (b) in the case of an entity, shall include a partnership, a corporation or any natural person or entity which directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such entity. |
“Applicable Law” | means, with respect to any person, all provisions of laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, regulations, permits, certificates, judgments, decisions, decrees or orders of any governmental authority applicable to such person. |
“Articles” | means these amended and restated articles of association of the Company. |
“Audit Committee” | means the audit committee of the board of directors of the Company established pursuant to the Articles, or any successor committee. |
“Auditor” | means the person for the time being performing the duties of auditor of the Company (if any). |
“Business Combination” | means a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganisation or similar business combination involving the Company, with one or more businesses or entities (the “target business”), which |
2
| Business Combination: (a) as long as the securities of the Company are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80 per cent of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the signing of the definitive agreement to enter into such Business Combination; and (b) must not be solely effectuated with another blank cheque company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
“business day” | means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or trust companies are authorised or obligated by law to close in New York City. |
“Clearing House” | means a clearing house recognised by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Shares (or depositary receipts therefor) are listed or quoted on a stock exchange or interdealer quotation system in such jurisdiction. |
“Class A Share” | means a Class A ordinary share of a par value of US$0.0001 in the share capital of the Company. |
“Class B Share” | means a Class B ordinary share of a par value of US$0.0001 in the share capital of the Company. |
“Company” | means the above named company. |
“Company’s Website” | means the website of the Company and/or its web-address or domain name (if any). |
“Compensation Committee” | means the compensation committee of the board of directors of the Company established pursuant to the Articles, or any successor committee. |
“Designated Stock Exchange” | means any United States national securities exchange on which the securities of the Company are listed for trading, including the Nasdaq Capital Market. |
“Directors” | means the directors for the time being of the Company. |
“Dividend” | means any dividend (whether interim or final) resolved to be paid on Shares pursuant to the Articles. |
“Electronic Communication” | means a communication sent by electronic means, including electronic posting to the Company’s Website, transmission to any number, address or internet website (including the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission) or other electronic delivery methods as otherwise decided and approved by the Directors. |
“Electronic Record” | has the same meaning as in the Electronic Transactions Act. |
“Electronic Transactions Act” | means the Electronic Transactions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands. |
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“Representative” | means a representative of the Underwriters. |
“Seal” | means the common seal of the Company and includes every duplicate seal. |
“Securities and Exchange Commission” | means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. |
“Share” | means a Class A Share, a Class B Share, an Ordinary Share or a Preference Share and includes a fraction of a share in the Company. |
“Special Resolution” | subject to Article 29.4, has the same meaning as in the Statute, and includes a unanimous written resolution. |
“Sponsor” | means Semper Paratus Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and its successors or assigns. |
“Statute” | means the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands. |
“Treasury Share” | means a Share held in the name of the Company as a treasury share in accordance with the Statute. |
“Trust Account” | means the trust account established by the Company upon the consummation of the IPO and into which a certain amount of the net proceeds of the IPO, together with a certain amount of the proceeds of a private placement of units and/or warrants simultaneously with the closing date of the IPO, will be deposited. |
“Underwriter” | means an underwriter of the IPO from time to time and any successor underwriter. |
1.2 | In the Articles: |
(a) | words importing the singular number include the plural number and vice versa; |
(b) | words importing the masculine gender include the feminine gender; |
(c) | words importing persons include corporations as well as any other legal or natural person; |
(d) | “written” and “in writing” include all modes of representing or reproducing words in visible form, including in the form of an Electronic Record; |
(e) | “shall” shall be construed as imperative and “may” shall be construed as permissive; |
(f) | references to provisions of any law or regulation shall be construed as references to those provisions as amended, modified, re-enacted or replaced; |
(g) | any phrase introduced by the terms “including”, “include”, “in particular” or any similar expression shall be construed as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words preceding those terms; |
5
(h) | the term “and/or” is used herein to mean both “and” as well as “or.” The use of “and/or” in certain contexts in no respects qualifies or modifies the use of the terms “and” or “or” in others. The term “or” shall not be interpreted to be exclusive and the term “and” shall not be interpreted to require the conjunctive (in each case, unless the context otherwise requires); |
(i) | headings are inserted for reference only and shall be ignored in construing the Articles; |
(j) | any requirements as to delivery under the Articles include delivery in the form of an Electronic Record; |
(k) | any requirements as to execution or signature under the Articles including the execution of the Articles themselves can be satisfied in the form of an electronic signature as defined in the Electronic Transactions Act; |
(l) | sections 8 and 19(3) of the Electronic Transactions Act shall not apply; |
(m) | the term “clear days” in relation to the period of a notice means that period excluding the day when the notice is received or deemed to be received and the day for which it is given or on which it is to take effect; and |
(n) | the term “holder” in relation to a Share means a person whose name is entered in the Register of Members as the holder of such Share. |
2 | Commencement of Business |
2.1 | The business of the Company may be commenced as soon after incorporation of the Company as the Directors shall see fit. |
2.2 | The Directors may pay, out of the capital or any other monies of the Company, all expenses incurred in or about the formation and establishment of the Company, including the expenses of registration. |
3 | Issue of Shares and other Securities |
3.1 | Subject to the provisions, if any, in the Memorandum (and to any direction that may be given by the Company in general meeting) and, where applicable, the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, and without prejudice to any rights attached to any existing Shares, the Directors may allot, issue, grant options over or otherwise dispose of Shares (including fractions of a Share) with or without preferred, deferred or other rights or restrictions, whether in regard to Dividends or other distributions, voting, return of capital or otherwise and to such persons, at such times and on such other terms as they think proper, and may also (subject to the Statute and the Articles) vary such rights, save that the Directors shall not allot, issue, grant options over or otherwise dispose of Shares (including fractions of a Share) to the extent that it may affect the ability of the Company to carry out a Class B Ordinary Share Conversion set out in the Articles. |
3.2 | The Company may issue rights, options, warrants or convertible securities or securities of similar nature conferring the right upon the holders thereof to subscribe for, purchase or receive any class of Shares or other securities in the Company on such terms as the Directors may from time to time determine. |
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3.3 | The Company may issue units of securities in the Company, which may be comprised of whole or fractional Shares, rights, options, warrants or convertible securities or securities of similar nature conferring the right upon the holders thereof to subscribe for, purchase or receive any class of Shares or other securities in the Company, upon such terms as the Directors may from time to time determine. The securities comprising any such units which are issued pursuant to the IPO can only be traded separately from one another on the 52nd day following the date of the prospectus relating to the IPO unless the Representative(s) determines that an earlier date is acceptable, subject to the Company having filed a current report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Prior to such date, the units can be traded, but the securities comprising such units cannot be traded separately from one another. |
3.4 | The Company shall not issue Shares to bearer. |
4 | Register of Members |
4.1 | The Company shall maintain or cause to be maintained the Register of Members in accordance with the Statute. |
4.2 | The Directors may determine that the Company shall maintain one or more branch registers of Members in accordance with the Statute. The Directors may also determine which register of Members shall constitute the principal register and which shall constitute the branch register or registers, and to vary such determination from time to time. |
5 | Closing Register of Members or Fixing Record Date |
5.1 | For the purpose of determining Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at any meeting of Members or any adjournment thereof, or Members entitled to receive payment of any Dividend or other distribution, or in order to make a determination of Members for any other purpose, the Directors may, after notice has been given by advertisement in an appointed newspaper or any other newspaper or by any other means in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, provide that the Register of Members shall be closed for transfers for a stated period which shall not in any case exceed forty days. |
5.2 | In lieu of, or apart from, closing the Register of Members, the Directors may fix in advance or arrears a date as the record date for any such determination of Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at any meeting of the Members or any adjournment thereof, or for the purpose of determining the Members entitled to receive payment of any Dividend or other distribution, or in order to make a determination of Members for any other purpose. |
5.3 | If the Register of Members is not so closed and no record date is fixed for the determination of Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at, a meeting of Members or Members entitled to receive payment of a Dividend or other distribution, the date on which notice of the meeting is sent or the date on which the resolution of the Directors resolving to pay such Dividend or other distribution is passed, as the case may be, shall be the record date for such determination of Members. When a determination of Members entitled to vote at any meeting of Members has been made as provided in this Article, such determination shall apply to any adjournment thereof. |
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6 | Certificates for Shares |
6.1 | A Member shall only be entitled to a share certificate if the Directors resolve that share certificates shall be issued. Share certificates representing Shares, if any, shall be in such form as the Directors may determine. Share certificates shall be signed by one or more Directors or other person authorised by the Directors. The Directors may authorise certificates to be issued with the authorised signature(s) affixed by mechanical process. All certificates for Shares shall be consecutively numbered or otherwise identified and shall specify the Shares to which they relate. All certificates surrendered to the Company for transfer shall be cancelled and, subject to the Articles, no new certificate shall be issued until the former certificate representing a like number of relevant Shares shall have been surrendered and cancelled. |
6.2 | The Company shall not be bound to issue more than one certificate for Shares held jointly by more than one person and delivery of a certificate to one joint holder shall be a sufficient delivery to all of them. |
6.3 | If a share certificate is defaced, worn out, lost or destroyed, it may be renewed on such terms (if any) as to evidence and indemnity and on the payment of such expenses reasonably incurred by the Company in investigating evidence, as the Directors may prescribe, and (in the case of defacement or wearing out) upon delivery of the old certificate. |
6.4 | Every share certificate sent in accordance with the Articles will be sent at the risk of the Member or other person entitled to the certificate. The Company will not be responsible for any share certificate lost or delayed in the course of delivery. |
6.5 | Share certificates shall be issued within the relevant time limit as prescribed by the Statute, if applicable, or as the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law may from time to time determine, whichever is shorter, after the allotment or, except in the case of a Share transfer which the Company is for the time being entitled to refuse to register and does not register, after lodgement of a Share transfer with the Company. |
7 | Transfer of Shares |
7.1 | Subject to the terms of the Articles, any Member may transfer all or any of his Shares by an instrument of transfer provided that such transfer complies with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. If the Shares in question were issued in conjunction with rights, options, warrants or units issued pursuant to the Articles on terms that one cannot be transferred without the other, the Directors shall refuse to register the transfer of any such Share without evidence satisfactory to them of the like transfer of such right, option, warrant or unit. |
7.2 | The instrument of transfer of any Share shall be in writing in the usual or common form or in a form prescribed by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law or in any other form approved by the Directors and shall be executed by or on behalf of the transferor (and if the Directors so require, signed by or on behalf of the transferee) and may be under hand or, if the transferor or transferee is a Clearing House or its nominee(s), by hand or by machine imprinted signature or by such other manner of execution |
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as the Directors may approve from time to time. The transferor shall be deemed to remain the holder of a Share until
8 | Redemption, Repurchase and Surrender of Shares |
8.1 | Subject to the provisions of the Statute, and, where applicable, the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, the Company may issue Shares that are to be redeemed or are liable to be redeemed at the option of the Member or the Company. The redemption of such Shares, except Public Shares, shall be effected in such manner and upon such other terms as the Company may, by Special Resolution, determine before the issue of such Shares. With respect to redeeming or repurchasing the Shares: |
(a) | Members who hold Public Shares are entitled to request the redemption of such Shares in the circumstances described in the Business Combination Article hereof; |
(b) | Class B Shares held by the Sponsor shall be surrendered by the Sponsor for no consideration on a pro-rata basis to the extent that the Over-Allotment Option is not exercised in full so that the Founders will own 25 per cent of the Company’s issued Shares after the IPO (exclusive of any securities purchased in a private placement simultaneously with the IPO); and |
(c) | Public Shares shall be repurchased by way of tender offer in the circumstances set out in the Business Combination Article hereof. |
8.2 | Subject to the provisions of the Statute, and, where applicable, the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, the Company may purchase its own Shares (including any redeemable Shares) in such manner and on such other terms as the Directors may agree with the relevant Member. For the avoidance of doubt, redemptions, repurchases and surrenders of Shares in the circumstances described in the Article above shall not require further approval of the Members. |
8.3 | The Company may make a payment in respect of the redemption or purchase of its own Shares in any manner permitted by the Statute, including out of capital. |
8.4 | The Directors may accept the surrender for no consideration of any fully paid Share. |
9 | Treasury Shares |
9.1 | The Directors may, prior to the purchase, redemption or surrender of any Share, determine that such Share shall be held as a Treasury Share. |
9.2 | The Directors may determine to cancel a Treasury Share or transfer a Treasury Share on such terms as they think proper (including, without limitation, for nil consideration). |
10 | Variation of Rights of Shares |
10.1 | Subject to Article 3.1, if at any time the share capital of the Company is divided into different classes of Shares, all or any of the rights attached to any class (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the Shares of that class) may, whether or not the Company is being wound up, be varied without the consent of the holders of the issued Shares of that class where such variation is considered by the Directors not to have a material adverse effect upon |
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such rights; otherwise, any such variation shall be made only with the consent in writing of the holders of not less than two- thirds of the issued Shares of that class (other than with respect to a waiver of the provisions of the Class B Ordinary Share Conversion Article hereof, which as stated therein shall only require the consent in writing of the holders of a majority of the issued Shares of that class), or with the approval of a resolution passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the votes cast at a separate meeting of the holders of the Shares of that class. For the avoidance of doubt, the Directors reserve the right, notwithstanding that any such variation may not have a material adverse effect, to obtain consent from the holders of Shares of the relevant class. To any such meeting all the provisions of the Articles relating to general meetings shall apply mutatis mutandis, except that the necessary quorum shall be one person holding or representing by proxy at least one-third of the issued Shares of the class and that any holder of Shares of the class present in person or by proxy may demand a poll.
10.2 | For the purposes of a separate class meeting, the Directors may treat two or more or all the classes of Shares as forming one class of Shares if the Directors consider that such class of Shares would be affected in the same way by the proposals under consideration, but in any other case shall treat them as separate classes of Shares. |
10.3 | The rights conferred upon the holders of the Shares of any class issued with preferred or other rights shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the Shares of that class, be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of further Shares ranking pari passu therewith or Shares issued with preferred or other rights. |
11 | Commission on Sale of Shares |
The Company may, in so far as the Statute permits, pay a commission to any person in consideration of his subscribing or agreeing to subscribe (whether absolutely or conditionally) or procuring or agreeing to procure subscriptions (whether absolutely or conditionally) for any Shares. Such commissions may be satisfied by the payment of cash and/or the issue of fully or partly paid- up Shares. The Company may also on any issue of Shares pay such brokerage as may be lawful.
12 | Non Recognition of Trusts |
The Company shall not be bound by or compelled to recognise in any way (even when notified) any equitable, contingent, future or partial interest in any Share, or (except only as is otherwise provided by the Articles or the Statute) any other rights in respect of any Share other than an absolute right to the entirety thereof in the holder.
13 | Lien on Shares |
13.1 | The Company shall have a first and paramount lien on all Shares (whether fully paid-up or not) registered in the name of a Member (whether solely or jointly with others) for all debts, liabilities or engagements to or with the Company (whether presently payable or not) by such Member or his estate, either alone or jointly with any other person, whether a Member or not, but the Directors may at any time declare any Share to be wholly or in part exempt from the provisions of this Article. The registration of a transfer of any such Share shall operate as a waiver of the Company’s lien thereon. The Company’s lien on a Share shall also extend to any amount payable in respect of that Share. |
13.2 | The Company may sell, in such manner as the Directors think fit, any Shares on which the Company has a lien, if a sum in respect of which the lien exists is presently payable, and is not paid within fourteen clear days after notice has been received or deemed to have been |
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received by the holder of the Shares, or to the person entitled to it in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of the holder, demanding payment and stating that if the notice is not complied with the Shares may be sold.
13.3 | To give effect to any such sale the Directors may authorise any person to execute an instrument of transfer of the Shares sold to, or in accordance with the directions of, the purchaser. The purchaser or his nominee shall be registered as the holder of the Shares comprised in any such transfer, and he shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, nor shall his title to the Shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the sale or the exercise of the Company’s power of sale under the Articles. |
13.4 | The net proceeds of such sale after payment of costs, shall be applied in payment of such part of the amount in respect of which the lien exists as is presently payable and any balance shall (subject to a like lien for sums not presently payable as existed upon the Shares before the sale) be paid to the person entitled to the Shares at the date of the sale. |
14 | Call on Shares |
14.1 | Subject to the terms of the allotment and issue of any Shares, the Directors may make calls upon the Members in respect of any monies unpaid on their Shares (whether in respect of par value or premium), and each Member shall (subject to receiving at least fourteen clear days’ notice specifying the time or times of payment) pay to the Company at the time or times so specified the amount called on the Shares. A call may be revoked or postponed, in whole or in part, as the Directors may determine. A call may be required to be paid by instalments. A person upon whom a call is made shall remain liable for calls made upon him notwithstanding the subsequent transfer of the Shares in respect of which the call was made. |
14.2 | A call shall be deemed to have been made at the time when the resolution of the Directors authorising such call was passed. |
14.3 | The joint holders of a Share shall be jointly and severally liable to pay all calls in respect thereof. |
14.4 | If a call remains unpaid after it has become due and payable, the person from whom it is due shall pay interest on the amount unpaid from the day it became due and payable until it is paid at such rate as the Directors may determine (and in addition all expenses that have been incurred by the Company by reason of such non-payment), but the Directors may waive payment of the interest or expenses wholly or in part. |
14.5 | An amount payable in respect of a Share on issue or allotment or at any fixed date, whether on account of the par value of the Share or premium or otherwise, shall be deemed to be a call and if it is not paid all the provisions of the Articles shall apply as if that amount had become due and payable by virtue of a call. |
14.6 | The Directors may issue Shares with different terms as to the amount and times of payment of calls, or the interest to be paid. |
14.7 | The Directors may, if they think fit, receive an amount from any Member willing to advance all or any part of the monies uncalled and unpaid upon any Shares held by him, and may (until the amount would otherwise become payable) pay interest at such rate as may be agreed upon between the Directors and the Member paying such amount in advance. |
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14.8 | No such amount paid in advance of calls shall entitle the Member paying such amount to any portion of a Dividend or other distribution payable in respect of any period prior to the date upon which such amount would, but for such payment, become payable. |
15 | Forfeiture of Shares |
15.1 | If a call or instalment of a call remains unpaid after it has become due and payable the Directors may give to the person from whom it is due not less than fourteen clear days’ notice requiring payment of the amount unpaid together with any interest which may have accrued and any expenses incurred by the Company by reason of such non-payment. The notice shall specify where payment is to be made and shall state that if the notice is not complied with the Shares in respect of which the call was made will be liable to be forfeited. |
15.2 | If the notice is not complied with, any Share in respect of which it was given may, before the payment required by the notice has been made, be forfeited by a resolution of the Directors. Such forfeiture shall include all Dividends, other distributions or other monies payable in respect of the forfeited Share and not paid before the forfeiture. |
15.3 | A forfeited Share may be sold, re-allotted or otherwise disposed of on such terms and in such manner as the Directors think fit and at any time before a sale, re-allotment or disposition the forfeiture may be cancelled on such terms as the Directors think fit. Where for the purposes of its disposal a forfeited Share is to be transferred to any person the Directors may authorise some person to execute an instrument of transfer of the Share in favour of that person. |
15.4 | A person any of whose Shares have been forfeited shall cease to be a Member in respect of them and shall surrender to the Company for cancellation the certificate for the Shares forfeited and shall remain liable to pay to the Company all monies which at the date of forfeiture were payable by him to the Company in respect of those Shares together with interest at such rate as the Directors may determine, but his liability shall cease if and when the Company shall have received payment in full of all monies due and payable by him in respect of those Shares. |
15.5 | A certificate in writing under the hand of one Director or Officer that a Share has been forfeited on a specified date shall be conclusive evidence of the facts stated in it as against all persons claiming to be entitled to the Share. The certificate shall (subject to the execution of an instrument of transfer) constitute a good title to the Share and the person to whom the Share is sold or otherwise disposed of shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, if any, nor shall his title to the Share be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings in reference to the forfeiture, sale or disposal of the Share. |
15.6 | The provisions of the Articles as to forfeiture shall apply in the case of non payment of any sum which, by the terms of issue of a Share, becomes payable at a fixed time, whether on account of the par value of the Share or by way of premium as if it had been payable by virtue of a call duly made and notified. |
16 | Transmission of Shares |
16.1 | If a Member dies, the survivor or survivors (where he was a joint holder), or his legal personal representatives (where he was a sole holder), shall be the only persons recognised by the Company as having any title to his Shares. The estate of a deceased Member is not thereby released from any liability in respect of any Share, for which he was a joint or sole holder. |
16.2 | Any person becoming entitled to a Share in consequence of the death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution of a Member (or in any other way than by transfer) may, upon such |
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evidence being produced as may be required by the Directors, elect, by a notice in writing sent by him to the Company, either to become the holder of such Share or to have some person nominated by him registered as the holder of such Share. If he elects to have another person registered as the holder of such Share he shall sign an instrument of transfer of that Share to that person. The Directors shall, in either case, have the same right to decline or suspend registration as they would have had in the case of a transfer of the Share by the relevant Member before his death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution, as the case may be.
16.3 | A person becoming entitled to a Share by reason of the death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution of a Member (or in any other case than by transfer) shall be entitled to the same Dividends, other distributions and other advantages to which he would be entitled if he were the holder of such Share. However, he shall not, before becoming a Member in respect of a Share, be entitled in respect of it to exercise any right conferred by membership in relation to general meetings of the Company and the Directors may at any time give notice requiring any such person to elect either to be registered himself or to have some person nominated by him be registered as the holder of the Share (but the Directors shall, in either case, have the same right to decline or suspend registration as they would have had in the case of a transfer of the Share by the relevant Member before his death or bankruptcy or liquidation or dissolution or any other case than by transfer, as the case may be). If the notice is not complied with within ninety days of being received or deemed to be received (as determined pursuant to the Articles), the Directors may thereafter withhold payment of all Dividends, other distributions, bonuses or other monies payable in respect of the Share until the requirements of the notice have been complied with. |
17 | Class B Ordinary Share Conversion |
17.1 | The rights attaching to the Class A Shares and Class B Shares shall rank pari passu in all respects, and the Class A Shares and Class B Shares shall vote together as a single class on all matters (subject to the Variation of Rights of Shares Article and the Appointment and Removal of Directors Article hereof) with the exception that the holder of a Class B Share shall have the conversion rights referred to in this Article. |
17.2 | Class B Shares shall automatically convert into Class A Shares on a one-for-one basis (the “Initial Conversion Ratio”): (a) at any time and from time to time at the option of the holders thereof; or (b) automatically on the day of the consummation of a Business Combination. |
17.3 | Notwithstanding the Initial Conversion Ratio, in the case that additional Class A Shares or any other Equity-linked Securities, are issued, or deemed issued, by the Company in excess of the amounts offered in the IPO and related to the consummation of a Business Combination, all Class B Shares in issue shall automatically convert into Class A Shares at the time of the consummation of a Business Combination at a ratio for which the Class B Shares shall convert into Class A Shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the Class B Shares in issue agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A Shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B Shares will equal, on an as- converted basis, in the aggregate, 25 per cent of the sum of all Class A Shares and Class B Shares in issue upon completion of the IPO plus all Class A Shares and Equity-linked Securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination, excluding any Shares or Equity-linked Securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination and any private placement units and/or warrants issued to the Sponsor or its Affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans made to the Company. |
17.4 | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the foregoing adjustment to the Initial Conversion Ratio may be waived as to any particular issuance or deemed issuance of |
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additional Class A Shares or Equity-linked Securities by the written consent or agreement of holders of a majority of the Class B Shares then in issue consenting or agreeing separately as a separate class in the manner provided in the Variation of Rights of Shares Article hereof.
17.5 | The foregoing conversion ratio shall also be adjusted to account for any subdivision (by share subdivision, exchange, capitalisation, rights issue, reclassification, recapitalisation or otherwise) or combination (by share consolidation, exchange, reclassification, recapitalisation or otherwise) or similar reclassification or recapitalisation of the Class A Shares in issue into a greater or lesser number of Shares occurring after the original filing of the Articles without a proportionate and corresponding subdivision, combination or similar reclassification or recapitalisation of the Class B Shares in issue. |
17.6 | Each Class B Share shall convert into its pro rata number of Class A Shares pursuant to this Article. The pro rata share for each holder of Class B Shares will be determined as follows: each Class B Share shall convert into such number of Class A Shares as is equal to the product of 1 multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the total number of Class A Shares into which all of the Class B Shares in issue shall be converted pursuant to this Article and the denominator of which shall be the total number of Class B Shares in issue at the time of conversion. |
17.7 | References in this Article to “converted”, “conversion” or “exchange” shall mean the compulsory redemption without notice of Class B Shares of any Member and, on behalf of such Members, automatic application of such redemption proceeds in paying for such new Class A Shares into which the Class B Shares have been converted or exchanged at a price per Class B Share necessary to give effect to a conversion or exchange calculated on the basis that the Class A Shares to be issued as part of the conversion or exchange will be issued at par. The Class A Shares to be issued on an exchange or conversion shall be registered in the name of such Member or in such name as the Member may direct. |
17.8 | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Article, in no event may any Class B Share convert into Class A Shares at a ratio that is less than one-for-one. |
18 | Amendments of Memorandum and Articles of Association and Alteration of Capital |
18.1 | The Company may by Ordinary Resolution: |
(a) | increase its share capital by such sum as the Ordinary Resolution shall prescribe and with such rights, priorities and privileges annexed thereto, as the Company in general meeting may determine; |
(b) | consolidate and divide all or any of its share capital into Shares of larger amount than its existing Shares; |
(c) | convert all or any of its paid-up Shares into stock, and reconvert that stock into paid-up Shares of any denomination; |
(d) | by subdivision of its existing Shares or any of them divide the whole or any part of its share capital into Shares of smaller amount than is fixed by the Memorandum or into Shares without par value; and |
(e) | cancel any Shares that at the date of the passing of the Ordinary Resolution have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person and diminish the amount of its share capital by the amount of the Shares so cancelled. |
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18.2 | All new Shares created in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article shall be subject to the same provisions of the Articles with reference to the payment of calls, liens, transfer, transmission, forfeiture and otherwise as the Shares in the original share capital. |
18.3 | Subject to the provisions of the Statute, the provisions of the Articles as regards the matters to be dealt with by Ordinary Resolution and Article 29.4, the Company may by Special Resolution: |
(a) | change its name; |
(b) | alter or add to the Articles; |
(c) | alter or add to the Memorandum with respect to any objects, powers or other matters specified therein; and |
(d) | reduce its share capital or any capital redemption reserve fund. |
19 | Offices and Places of Business |
Subject to the provisions of the Statute, the Company may by resolution of the Directors change the location of its Registered Office. The Company may, in addition to its Registered Office, maintain such other offices or places of business as the Directors determine.
20 | General Meetings |
20.1 | All general meetings other than annual general meetings shall be called extraordinary general meetings. |
20.2 | The Company may, but shall not (unless required by the Statute) be obliged to, in each year hold a general meeting as its annual general meeting, and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it. Any annual general meeting shall be held at such time and place as the Directors shall appoint. At these meetings the report of the Directors (if any) shall be presented. |
20.3 | The Directors, the chief executive officer or the chairman of the board of Directors may call general meetings, and, for the avoidance of doubt, Members shall not have the ability to call general meetings. |
21 | Notice of General Meetings |
21.1 | At least five clear days’ notice shall be given of any general meeting. Every notice shall specify the place, the day and the hour of the meeting and the general nature of the business to be conducted at the general meeting and shall be given in the manner hereinafter mentioned or in such other manner if any as may be prescribed by the Company, provided that a general meeting of the Company shall, whether or not the notice specified in this Article has been given and whether or not the provisions of the Articles regarding general meetings have been complied with, be deemed to have been duly convened if it is so agreed: |
(a) | in the case of an annual general meeting, by all of the Members entitled to attend and vote thereat; and |
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(b) | in the case of an extraordinary general meeting, by a majority in number of the Members having a right to attend and vote at the meeting, together holding not less than ninety-five per cent in par value of the Shares giving that right. |
21.2 | The accidental omission to give notice of a general meeting to, or the non receipt of notice of a general meeting by, any person entitled to receive such notice shall not invalidate the proceedings of that general meeting. |
22 | Proceedings at General Meetings |
22.1 | No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum is present. The holders of a majority of the Shares being individuals present in person or by proxy or if a corporation or other non-natural person by its duly authorised representative or proxy shall be a quorum. |
22.2 | A person may participate at a general meeting by conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all the persons participating in the meeting can communicate with each other. Participation by a person in a general meeting in this manner is treated as presence in person at that meeting. |
22.3 | A resolution (including a Special Resolution) in writing (in one or more counterparts) signed by or on behalf of all of the Members for the time being entitled to receive notice of and to attend and vote at general meetings (or, being corporations or other non-natural persons, signed by their duly authorised representatives) shall be as valid and effective as if the resolution had been passed at a general meeting of the Company duly convened and held. |
22.4 | If a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and/or place or to such other day, time and/or place as the Directors may determine, and if at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the Members present shall be a quorum. |
22.5 | The Directors may, at any time prior to the time appointed for the meeting to commence, appoint any person to act as chairman of a general meeting of the Company or, if the Directors do not make any such appointment, the chairman, if any, of the board of Directors shall preside as chairman at such general meeting. If there is no such chairman, or if he shall not be present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for the meeting to commence, or is unwilling to act, the Directors present shall elect one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
22.6 | If no Director is willing to act as chairman or if no Director is present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the Members present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
22.7 | The chairman may, with the consent of a meeting at which a quorum is present (and shall if so directed by the meeting) adjourn the meeting from time to time and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place. |
22.8 | When a general meeting is adjourned for thirty days or more, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Otherwise it shall not be necessary to give any such notice of an adjourned meeting. |
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22.9 | If, prior to a Business Combination, a notice is issued in respect of a general meeting and the Directors, in their absolute discretion, consider that it is impractical or undesirable for any reason to hold that general meeting at the place, the day and the hour specified in the notice calling such general meeting, the Directors may postpone the general meeting to another place, day and/or hour provided that notice of the place, the day and the hour of the rearranged general meeting is promptly given to all Members. No business shall be transacted at any postponed meeting other than the business specified in the notice of the original meeting. |
22.10 | When a general meeting is postponed for thirty days or more, notice of the postponed meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Otherwise it shall not be necessary to give any such notice of a postponed meeting. All proxy forms submitted for the original general meeting shall remain valid for the postponed meeting. The Directors may postpone a general meeting which has already been postponed. |
22.11 | A resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided on a poll. |
22.12 | A poll shall be taken as the chairman directs, and the result of the poll shall be deemed to be the resolution of the general meeting at which the poll was demanded. |
22.13 | A poll demanded on the election of a chairman or on a question of adjournment shall be taken forthwith. A poll demanded on any other question shall be taken at such date, time and place as the chairman of the general meeting directs, and any business other than that upon which a poll has been demanded or is contingent thereon may proceed pending the taking of the poll. |
22.14 | In the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall be entitled to a second or casting vote. |
23 | Votes of Members |
23.1 | Subject to any rights or restrictions attached to any Shares, including as set out at Article 29.4, every Member present in any such manner shall have one vote for every Share of which he is the holder. |
23.2 | In the case of joint holders the vote of the senior holder who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy (or, in the case of a corporation or other non-natural person, by its duly authorised representative or proxy), shall be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the other joint holders, and seniority shall be determined by the order in which the names of the holders stand in the Register of Members. |
23.3 | A Member of unsound mind, or in respect of whom an order has been made by any court, having jurisdiction in lunacy, may vote by his committee, receiver, curator bonis, or other person on such Member’s behalf appointed by that court, and any such committee, receiver, curator bonis or other person may vote by proxy. |
23.4 | No person shall be entitled to vote at any general meeting unless he is registered as a Member on the record date for such meeting nor unless all calls or other monies then payable by him in respect of Shares have been paid. |
23.5 | No objection shall be raised as to the qualification of any voter except at the general meeting or adjourned general meeting at which the vote objected to is given or tendered and every vote not disallowed at the meeting shall be valid. Any objection made in due time in accordance with this Article shall be referred to the chairman whose decision shall be final and conclusive. |
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23.6 | Votes may be cast either personally or by proxy (or in the case of a corporation or other non-natural person by its duly authorised representative or proxy). A Member may appoint more than one proxy or the same proxy under one or more instruments to attend and vote at a meeting. Where a Member appoints more than one proxy the instrument of proxy shall specify the number of Shares in respect of which each proxy is entitled to exercise the related votes. |
23.7 | A Member holding more than one Share need not cast the votes in respect of his Shares in the same way on any resolution and therefore may vote a Share or some or all such Shares either for or against a resolution and/or abstain from voting a Share or some or all of the Shares and, subject to the terms of the instrument appointing him, a proxy appointed under one or more instruments may vote a Share or some or all of the Shares in respect of which he is appointed either for or against a resolution and/or abstain from voting a Share or some or all of the Shares in respect of which he is appointed. |
24 | Proxies |
24.1 | The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing and shall be executed under the hand of the appointor or of his attorney duly authorised in writing, or, if the appointor is a corporation or other non natural person, under the hand of its duly authorised representative. A proxy need not be a Member. |
24.2 | The Directors may, in the notice convening any meeting or adjourned meeting, or in an instrument of proxy sent out by the Company, specify the manner by which the instrument appointing a proxy shall be deposited and the place and the time (being not later than the time appointed for the commencement of the meeting or adjourned meeting to which the proxy relates) at which the instrument appointing a proxy shall be deposited. In the absence of any such direction from the Directors in the notice convening any meeting or adjourned meeting or in an instrument of proxy sent out by the Company, the instrument appointing a proxy shall be deposited physically at the Registered Office not less than 48 hours before the time appointed for the meeting or adjourned meeting to commence at which the person named in the instrument proposes to vote. |
24.3 | The chairman may in any event at his discretion declare that an instrument of proxy shall be deemed to have been duly deposited. An instrument of proxy that is not deposited in the manner permitted, or which has not been declared to have been duly deposited by the chairman, shall be invalid. |
24.4 | The instrument appointing a proxy may be in any usual or common form (or such other form as the Directors may approve) and may be expressed to be for a particular meeting or any adjournment thereof or generally until revoked. An instrument appointing a proxy shall be deemed to include the power to demand or join or concur in demanding a poll. |
24.5 | Votes given in accordance with the terms of an instrument of proxy shall be valid notwithstanding the previous death or insanity of the principal or revocation of the proxy or of the authority under which the proxy was executed, or the transfer of the Share in respect of which the proxy is given unless notice in writing of such death, insanity, revocation or transfer was received by the Company at the Registered Office before the commencement of the general meeting, or adjourned meeting at which it is sought to use the proxy. |
25 | Corporate Members |
25.1 | Any corporation or other non-natural person which is a Member may in accordance with its constitutional documents, or in the absence of such provision by resolution of its directors or |
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other governing body, authorise such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at any meeting of the Company or of any class of Members, and the person so authorised shall be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the corporation which he represents as the corporation could exercise if it were an individual Member.
25.2 | If a Clearing House (or its nominee(s)), being a corporation, is a Member, it may authorise such persons as it sees fit to act as its representative at any meeting of the Company or at any meeting of any class of Members provided that the authorisation shall specify the number and class of Shares in respect of which each such representative is so authorised. Each person so authorised under the provisions of this Article shall be deemed to have been duly authorised without further evidence of the facts and be entitled to exercise the same rights and powers on behalf of the Clearing House (or its nominee(s)) as if such person was the registered holder of such Shares held by the Clearing House (or its nominee(s)). |
26 | Shares that May Not be Voted |
Shares in the Company that are beneficially owned by the Company shall not be voted, directly or indirectly, at any meeting and shall not be counted in determining the total number of outstanding Shares at any given time.
27 | Directors |
27.1 | There shall be a board of Directors consisting of not less than one person provided however that the Company may by Ordinary Resolution increase or reduce the limits in the number of Directors. |
27.2 | The Directors shall be divided into three classes: Class I, Class II and Class III. The number of Directors in each class shall be as nearly equal as possible. Upon the adoption of the Articles, the existing Directors shall by resolution classify themselves as Class I, Class II or Class III Directors. The Class I Directors shall stand appointed for a term expiring at the Company’s first annual general meeting, the Class II Directors shall stand appointed for a term expiring at the Company’s second annual general meeting and the Class III Directors shall stand appointed for a term expiring at the Company’s third annual general meeting. Commencing at the Company’s first annual general meeting, and at each annual general meeting thereafter, Directors appointed to succeed those Directors whose terms expire shall be appointed for a term of office to expire at the third succeeding annual general meeting after their appointment. Except as the Statute or other Applicable Law may otherwise require, in the interim between annual general meetings or extraordinary general meetings called for the appointment of Directors and/or the removal of one or more Directors and the filling of any vacancy in that connection, additional Directors and any vacancies in the board of Directors, including unfilled vacancies resulting from the removal of Directors for cause, may be filled by the vote of a majority of the remaining Directors then in office, although less than a quorum (as defined in the Articles), or by the sole remaining Director. All Directors shall hold office until the expiration of their respective terms of office and until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified. A Director appointed to fill a vacancy resulting from the death, resignation or removal of a Director shall serve for the remainder of the full term of the Director whose death, resignation or removal shall have created such vacancy and until his successor shall have been appointed and qualified. |
28 | Powers of Directors |
28.1 | Subject to the provisions of the Statute, the Memorandum and the Articles and to any directions given by Special Resolution, the business of the Company shall be managed by the |
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Directors who may exercise all the powers of the Company. No alteration of the Memorandum or Articles and no such direction shall invalidate any prior act of the Directors which would have been valid if that alteration had not been made or that direction had not been given. A duly convened meeting of Directors at which a quorum is present may exercise all powers exercisable by the Directors.
28.2 | All cheques, promissory notes, drafts, bills of exchange and other negotiable or transferable instruments and all receipts for monies paid to the Company shall be signed, drawn, accepted, endorsed or otherwise executed as the case may be in such manner as the Directors shall determine by resolution. |
28.3 | The Directors on behalf of the Company may pay a gratuity or pension or allowance on retirement to any Director who has held any other salaried office or place of profit with the Company or to his widow or dependants and may make contributions to any fund and pay premiums for the purchase or provision of any such gratuity, pension or allowance. |
28.4 | The Directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, property and assets (present and future) and uncalled capital or any part thereof and to issue debentures, debenture stock, mortgages, bonds and other such securities whether outright or as security for any debt, liability or obligation of the Company or of any third party. |
29 | Appointment and Removal of Directors |
29.1 | Prior to the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company may by Ordinary Resolution of the holders of the Class B Shares appoint any person to be a Director or may by Ordinary Resolution of the holders of the Class B Shares remove any Director. For the avoidance of doubt, prior to the consummation of a Business Combination, holders of Class A Shares shall have no right to vote on the appointment or removal of any Director. |
29.2 | The Directors may appoint any person to be a Director, either to fill a vacancy or as an additional Director provided that the appointment does not cause the number of Directors to exceed any number fixed by or in accordance with the Articles as the maximum number of Directors. |
29.3 | After the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company may by Ordinary Resolution appoint any person to be a Director or may by Ordinary Resolution remove any Director. |
29.4 | Prior to the consummation of a Business Combination, Article 29.1 may only be amended by a Special Resolution passed by at least 90 per cent of such Members as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a Special Resolution has been given, or by way of unanimous written resolution. |
30 | Vacation of Office of Director |
The office of a Director shall be vacated if:
(a) | the Director gives notice in writing to the Company that he resigns the office of Director; or |
(b) | the Director absents himself (for the avoidance of doubt, without being represented by proxy) from three consecutive meetings of the board of Directors without special leave |
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of absence from the Directors, and the Directors pass a resolution that he has by reason of such absence vacated office; or
(c) | the Director dies, becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his creditors generally; or |
(d) | the Director is found to be or becomes of unsound mind; or |
(e) | all of the other Directors (being not less than two in number) determine that he should be removed as a Director, either by a resolution passed by all of the other Directors at a meeting of the Directors duly convened and held in accordance with the Articles or by a resolution in writing signed by all of the other Directors. |
31 | Proceedings of Directors |
31.1 | The quorum for the transaction of the business of the Directors may be fixed by the Directors, and unless so fixed shall be a majority of the Directors then in office. |
31.2 | Subject to the provisions of the Articles, the Directors may regulate their proceedings as they think fit. Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes. In the case of an equality of votes, the chairman shall have a second or casting vote. |
31.3 | A person may participate in a meeting of the Directors or any committee of Directors by conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all the persons participating in the meeting can communicate with each other at the same time. Participation by a person in a meeting in this manner is treated as presence in person at that meeting. Unless otherwise determined by the Directors, the meeting shall be deemed to be held at the place where the chairman is located at the start of the meeting. |
31.4 | A resolution in writing (in one or more counterparts) signed by all the Directors or all the members of a committee of the Directors or, in the case of a resolution in writing relating to the removal of any Director or the vacation of office by any Director, all of the Directors other than the Director who is the subject of such resolution shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Directors, or committee of Directors as the case may be, duly convened and held. |
31.5 | A Director may, or other Officer on the direction of a Director shall, call a meeting of the Directors by at least two days’ notice in writing to every Director which notice shall set forth the general nature of the business to be considered unless notice is waived by all the Directors either at, before or after the meeting is held. To any such notice of a meeting of the Directors all the provisions of the Articles relating to the giving of notices by the Company to the Members shall apply mutatis mutandis. |
31.6 | The continuing Directors (or a sole continuing Director, as the case may be) may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body, but if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant to the Articles as the necessary quorum of Directors the continuing Directors or Director may act for the purpose of increasing the number of Directors to be equal to such fixed number, or of summoning a general meeting of the Company, but for no other purpose. |
31.7 | The Directors may elect a chairman of their board and determine the period for which he is to hold office; but if no such chairman is elected, or if at any meeting the chairman is not present |
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within five minutes after the time appointed for the meeting to commence, the Directors present may choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.
31.8 | All acts done by any meeting of the Directors or of a committee of the Directors shall, notwithstanding that it is afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any Director, and/or that they or any of them were disqualified, and/or had vacated their office and/or were not entitled to vote, be as valid as if every such person had been duly appointed and/or not disqualified to be a Director and/or had not vacated their office and/or had been entitled to vote, as the case may be. |
31.9 | A Director may be represented at any meetings of the board of Directors by a proxy appointed in writing by him. The proxy shall count towards the quorum and the vote of the proxy shall for all purposes be deemed to be that of the appointing Director. |
32 | Presumption of Assent |
A Director who is present at a meeting of the board of Directors at which action on any Company matter is taken shall be presumed to have assented to the action taken unless his dissent shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting or unless he shall file his written dissent from such action with the person acting as the chairman or secretary of the meeting before the adjournment thereof or shall forward such dissent by registered post to such person immediately after the adjournment of the meeting. Such right to dissent shall not apply to a Director who voted in favour of such action.
33 | Directors’ Interests |
33.1 | A Director may hold any other office or place of profit under the Company (other than the office of Auditor) in conjunction with his office of Director for such period and on such terms as to remuneration and otherwise as the Directors may determine. |
33.2 | A Director may act by himself or by, through or on behalf of his firm in a professional capacity for the Company and he or his firm shall be entitled to remuneration for professional services as if he were not a Director. |
33.3 | A Director may be or become a director or other officer of or otherwise interested in any company promoted by the Company or in which the Company may be interested as a shareholder, a contracting party or otherwise, and no such Director shall be accountable to the Company for any remuneration or other benefits received by him as a director or officer of, or from his interest in, such other company. |
33.4 | No person shall be disqualified from the office of Director or prevented by such office from contracting with the Company, either as vendor, purchaser or otherwise, nor shall any such contract or any contract or transaction entered into by or on behalf of the Company in which any Director shall be in any way interested be or be liable to be avoided, nor shall any Director so contracting or being so interested be liable to account to the Company for any profit realised by or arising in connection with any such contract or transaction by reason of such Director holding office or of the fiduciary relationship thereby established. A Director shall be at liberty to vote in respect of any contract or transaction in which he is interested provided that the nature of the interest of any Director in any such contract or transaction shall be disclosed by him at or prior to its consideration and any vote thereon. |
33.5 | A general notice that a Director is a shareholder, director, officer or employee of any specified firm or company and is to be regarded as interested in any transaction with such firm or |
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company shall be sufficient disclosure for the purposes of voting on a resolution in respect of a contract or transaction in which he has an interest, and after such general notice it shall not be necessary to give special notice relating to any particular transaction.
34 | Minutes |
The Directors shall cause minutes to be made in books kept for the purpose of recording all appointments of Officers made by the Directors, all proceedings at meetings of the Company or the holders of any class of Shares and of the Directors, and of committees of the Directors, including the names of the Directors present at each meeting.
35 | Delegation of Directors’ Powers |
35.1 | The Directors may delegate any of their powers, authorities and discretions, including the power to sub-delegate, to any committee consisting of one or more Directors (including, without limitation, the Audit Committee and the Compensation Committee). Any such delegation may be made subject to any conditions the Directors may impose and either collaterally with or to the exclusion of their own powers and any such delegation may be revoked or altered by the Directors. Subject to any such conditions, the proceedings of a committee of Directors shall be governed by the Articles regulating the proceedings of Directors, so far as they are capable of applying. |
35.2 | The Directors may establish any committees, local boards or agencies or appoint any person to be a manager or agent for managing the affairs of the Company and may appoint any person to be a member of such committees, local boards or agencies. Any such appointment may be made subject to any conditions the Directors may impose, and either collaterally with or to the exclusion of their own powers and any such appointment may be revoked or altered by the Directors. Subject to any such conditions, the proceedings of any such committee, local board or agency shall be governed by the Articles regulating the proceedings of Directors, so far as they are capable of applying. |
35.3 | The Directors may adopt formal written charters for committees and, if so adopted, shall review and assess the adequacy of such formal written charters on an annual basis. Each of these committees shall be empowered to do all things necessary to exercise the rights of such committee set forth in the Articles and shall have such powers as the Directors may delegate pursuant to the Articles and as required by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. Each of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, if established, shall consist of such number of Directors as the Directors shall from time to time determine (or such minimum number as may be required from time to time by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law). For so long as any class of Shares is listed on the Designated Stock Exchange, the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee shall be made up of such number of Independent Directors as is required from time to time by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. |
35.4 | The Directors may by power of attorney or otherwise appoint any person to be the agent of the Company on such conditions as the Directors may determine, provided that the delegation is not to the exclusion of their own powers and may be revoked by the Directors at any time. |
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35.5 | The Directors may by power of attorney or otherwise appoint any company, firm, person or body of persons, whether nominated directly or indirectly by the Directors, to be the attorney or authorised signatory of the Company for such purpose and with such powers, authorities and discretions (not exceeding those vested in or exercisable by the Directors under the Articles) and for such period and subject to such conditions as they may think fit, and any such powers of attorney or other appointment may contain such provisions for the protection and convenience of persons dealing with any such attorneys or authorised signatories as the Directors may think fit and may also authorise any such attorney or authorised signatory to delegate all or any of the powers, authorities and discretions vested in him. |
35.6 | The Directors may appoint such Officers as they consider necessary on such terms, at such remuneration and to perform such duties, and subject to such provisions as to disqualification and removal as the Directors may think fit. Unless otherwise specified in the terms of his appointment an Officer may be removed by resolution of the Directors or Members. An Officer may vacate his office at any time if he gives notice in writing to the Company that he resigns his office. |
36 | No Minimum Shareholding |
The Company in general meeting may fix a minimum shareholding required to be held by a Director, but unless and until such a shareholding qualification is fixed a Director is not required to hold Shares.
37 | Remuneration of Directors |
37.1 | The remuneration to be paid to the Directors, if any, shall be such remuneration as the Directors shall determine, provided that no cash remuneration shall be paid to any Director by the Company prior to the consummation of a Business Combination. The Directors shall also, whether prior to or after the consummation of a Business Combination, be entitled to be paid all travelling, hotel and other expenses properly incurred by them in connection with their attendance at meetings of Directors or committees of Directors, or general meetings of the Company, or separate meetings of the holders of any class of Shares or debentures of the Company, or otherwise in connection with the business of the Company or the discharge of their duties as a Director, or to receive a fixed allowance in respect thereof as may be determined by the Directors, or a combination partly of one such method and partly the other. |
37.2 | The Directors may by resolution approve additional remuneration to any Director for any services which in the opinion of the Directors go beyond his ordinary routine work as a Director. Any fees paid to a Director who is also counsel, attorney or solicitor to the Company, or otherwise serves it in a professional capacity shall be in addition to his remuneration as a Director. |
38 | Seal |
38.1 | The Company may, if the Directors so determine, have a Seal. The Seal shall only be used by the authority of the Directors or of a committee of the Directors authorised by the Directors. Every instrument to which the Seal has been affixed shall be signed by at least one person who shall be either a Director or some Officer or other person appointed by the Directors for the purpose. |
38.2 | The Company may have for use in any place or places outside the Cayman Islands a duplicate Seal or Seals each of which shall be a facsimile of the common Seal of the Company and, if |
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the Directors so determine, with the addition on its face of the name of every place where it is to be used.
38.3 | A Director or Officer, representative or attorney of the Company may without further authority of the Directors affix the Seal over his signature alone to any document of the Company required to be authenticated by him under seal or to be filed with the Registrar of Companies in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere wheresoever. |
39 | Dividends, Distributions and Reserve |
39.1 | Subject to the Statute and this Article and except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to any Shares, the Directors may resolve to pay Dividends and other distributions on Shares in issue and authorise payment of the Dividends or other distributions out of the funds of the Company lawfully available therefor. A Dividend shall be deemed to be an interim Dividend unless the terms of the resolution pursuant to which the Directors resolve to pay such Dividend specifically state that such Dividend shall be a final Dividend. No Dividend or other distribution shall be paid except out of the realised or unrealised profits of the Company, out of the share premium account or as otherwise permitted by law. |
39.2 | Except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to any Shares, all Dividends and other distributions shall be paid according to the par value of the Shares that a Member holds. If any Share is issued on terms providing that it shall rank for Dividend as from a particular date, that Share shall rank for Dividend accordingly. |
39.3 | The Directors may deduct from any Dividend or other distribution payable to any Member all sums of money (if any) then payable by him to the Company on account of calls or otherwise. |
39.4 | The Directors may resolve that any Dividend or other distribution be paid wholly or partly by the distribution of specific assets and in particular (but without limitation) by the distribution of shares, debentures, or securities of any other company or in any one or more of such ways and where any difficulty arises in regard to such distribution, the Directors may settle the same as they think expedient and in particular may issue fractional Shares and may fix the value for distribution of such specific assets or any part thereof and may determine that cash payments shall be made to any Members upon the basis of the value so fixed in order to adjust the rights of all Members and may vest any such specific assets in trustees in such manner as may seem expedient to the Directors. |
39.5 | Except as otherwise provided by the rights attached to any Shares, Dividends and other distributions may be paid in any currency. The Directors may determine the basis of conversion for any currency conversions that may be required and how any costs involved are to be met. |
39.6 | The Directors may, before resolving to pay any Dividend or other distribution, set aside such sums as they think proper as a reserve or reserves which shall, at the discretion of the Directors, be applicable for any purpose of the Company and pending such application may, at the discretion of the Directors, be employed in the business of the Company. |
39.7 | Any Dividend, other distribution, interest or other monies payable in cash in respect of Shares may be paid by wire transfer to the holder or by cheque or warrant sent through the post directed to the registered address of the holder or, in the case of joint holders, to the registered address of the holder who is first named on the Register of Members or to such person and to such address as such holder or joint holders may in writing direct. Every such cheque or warrant shall be made payable to the order of the person to whom it is sent. Any one of two |
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or more joint holders may give effectual receipts for any Dividends, other distributions, bonuses, or other monies payable in respect of the Share held by them as joint holders.
39.8 | No Dividend or other distribution shall bear interest against the Company. |
39.9 | Any Dividend or other distribution which cannot be paid to a Member and/or which remains unclaimed after six months from the date on which such Dividend or other distribution becomes payable may, in the discretion of the Directors, be paid into a separate account in the Company’s name, provided that the Company shall not be constituted as a trustee in respect of that account and the Dividend or other distribution shall remain as a debt due to the Member. Any Dividend or other distribution which remains unclaimed after a period of six years from the date on which such Dividend or other distribution becomes payable shall be forfeited and shall revert to the Company. |
40 | Capitalisation |
The Directors may at any time capitalise any sum standing to the credit of any of the Company’s reserve accounts or funds (including the share premium account and capital redemption reserve fund) or any sum standing to the credit of the profit and loss account or otherwise available for distribution; appropriate such sum to Members in the proportions in which such sum would have been divisible amongst such Members had the same been a distribution of profits by way of Dividend or other distribution; and apply such sum on their behalf in paying up in full unissued Shares for allotment and distribution credited as fully paid-up to and amongst them in the proportion aforesaid. In such event the Directors shall do all acts and things required to give effect to such capitalisation, with full power given to the Directors to make such provisions as they think fit in the case of Shares becoming distributable in fractions (including provisions whereby the benefit of fractional entitlements accrue to the Company rather than to the Members concerned). The Directors may authorise any person to enter on behalf of all of the Members interested into an agreement with the Company providing for such capitalisation and matters incidental or relating thereto and any agreement made under such authority shall be effective and binding on all such Members and the Company.
41 | Books of Account |
41.1 | The Directors shall cause proper books of account (including, where applicable, material underlying documentation including contracts and invoices) to be kept with respect to all sums of money received and expended by the Company and the matters in respect of which the receipt or expenditure takes place, all sales and purchases of goods by the Company and the assets and liabilities of the Company. Such books of account must be retained for a minimum period of five years from the date on which they are prepared. Proper books shall not be deemed to be kept if there are not kept such books of account as are necessary to give a true and fair view of the state of the Company’s affairs and to explain its transactions. |
41.2 | The Directors shall determine whether and to what extent and at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts and books of the Company or any of them shall be open to the inspection of Members not being Directors and no Member (not being a Director) shall have any right of inspecting any account or book or document of the Company except as conferred by Statute or authorised by the Directors or by the Company in general meeting. |
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41.3 | The Directors may cause to be prepared and to be laid before the Company in general meeting profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, group accounts (if any) and such other reports and accounts as may be required by law. |
42 | Audit |
42.1 | The Directors may appoint an Auditor of the Company who shall hold office on such terms as the Directors determine. |
42.2 | Without prejudice to the freedom of the Directors to establish any other committee, if the Shares (or depositary receipts therefor) are listed or quoted on the Designated Stock Exchange, and if required by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law, the Directors shall establish and maintain an Audit Committee as a committee of the Directors and shall adopt a formal written Audit Committee charter and review and assess the adequacy of the formal written charter on an annual basis. The composition and responsibilities of the Audit Committee shall comply with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. The Audit Committee shall meet at least once every financial quarter, or more frequently as circumstances dictate. |
42.3 | If the Shares (or depositary receipts therefor) are listed or quoted on the Designated Stock Exchange, the Company shall conduct an appropriate review of all related party transactions on an ongoing basis and shall utilise the Audit Committee for the review and approval of potential conflicts of interest. |
42.4 | The remuneration of the Auditor shall be fixed by the Audit Committee (if one exists). |
42.5 | If the office of Auditor becomes vacant by resignation or death of the Auditor, or by his becoming incapable of acting by reason of illness or other disability at a time when his services are required, the Directors shall fill the vacancy and determine the remuneration of such Auditor. |
42.6 | Every Auditor of the Company shall have a right of access at all times to the books and accounts and vouchers of the Company and shall be entitled to require from the Directors and Officers such information and explanation as may be necessary for the performance of the duties of the Auditor. |
42.7 | Auditors shall, if so required by the Directors, make a report on the accounts of the Company during their tenure of office at the next annual general meeting following their appointment in the case of a company which is registered with the Registrar of Companies as an ordinary company, and at the next extraordinary general meeting following their appointment in the case of a company which is registered with the Registrar of Companies as an exempted company, and at any other time during their term of office, upon request of the Directors or any general meeting of the Members. |
42.8 | Any payment made to members of the Audit Committee (if one exists) shall require the review and approval of the Directors, with any Director interested in such payment abstaining from such review and approval. |
42.9 | The Audit Committee shall monitor compliance with the terms of the IPO and, if any non-compliance is identified, the Audit Committee shall be charged with the responsibility to take |
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all action necessary to rectify such non-compliance or otherwise cause compliance with the terms of the IPO.
42.10 | At least one member of the Audit Committee shall be an “audit committee financial expert” as determined by the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or otherwise under Applicable Law. The “audit committee financial expert” shall have such past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or any other comparable experience or background which results in the individual’s financial sophistication. |
43 | Notices |
43.1 | Notices shall be in writing and may be given by the Company to any Member either personally or by sending it by courier, post, cable, telex, fax or e-mail to him or to his address as shown in the Register of Members (or where the notice is given by e-mail by sending it to the e-mail address provided by such Member). Notice may also be served by Electronic Communication in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Designated Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or any other competent regulatory authority or by placing it on the Company’s Website. |
43.2 | Where a notice is sent by: |
(a) | courier; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by delivery of the notice to a courier company, and shall be deemed to have been received on the third day (not including Saturdays or Sundays or public holidays) following the day on which the notice was delivered to the courier; |
(b) | post; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre paying and posting a letter containing the notice, and shall be deemed to have been received on the fifth day (not including Saturdays or Sundays or public holidays in the Cayman Islands) following the day on which the notice was posted; |
(c) | cable, telex or fax; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing and sending such notice and shall be deemed to have been received on the same day that it was transmitted; |
(d) | e-mail or other Electronic Communication; service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by transmitting the e-mail to the e-mail address provided by the intended recipient and shall be deemed to have been received on the same day that it was sent, and it shall not be necessary for the receipt of the e-mail to be acknowledged by the recipient; and |
(e) | placing it on the Company’s Website; service of the notice shall be deemed to have been effected one hour after the notice or document was placed on the Company’s Website. |
43.3 | A notice may be given by the Company to the person or persons which the Company has been advised are entitled to a Share or Shares in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a Member in the same manner as other notices which are required to be given under the Articles and shall be addressed to them by name, or by the title of representatives of the deceased, or trustee of the bankrupt, or by any like description at the address supplied for that purpose by the persons claiming to be so entitled, or at the option of the Company by giving the notice in |
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any manner in which the same might have been given if the death or bankruptcy had not occurred.
43.4 | Notice of every general meeting shall be given in any manner authorised by the Articles to every holder of Shares carrying an entitlement to receive such notice on the record date for such meeting except that in the case of joint holders the notice shall be sufficient if given to the joint holder first named in the Register of Members and every person upon whom the ownership of a Share devolves by reason of his being a legal personal representative or a trustee in bankruptcy of a Member where the Member but for his death or bankruptcy would be entitled to receive notice of the meeting, and no other person shall be entitled to receive notices of general meetings. |
44 | Winding Up |
44.1 | If the Company shall be wound up, the liquidator shall apply the assets of the Company in satisfaction of creditors’ claims in such manner and order as such liquidator thinks fit. Subject to the rights attaching to any Shares, in a winding up: |
(a) | if the assets available for distribution amongst the Members shall be insufficient to repay the whole of the Company’s issued share capital, such assets shall be distributed so that, as nearly as may be, the losses shall be borne by the Members in proportion to the par value of the Shares held by them; or |
(b) | if the assets available for distribution amongst the Members shall be more than sufficient to repay the whole of the Company’s issued share capital at the commencement of the winding up, the surplus shall be distributed amongst the Members in proportion to the par value of the Shares held by them at the commencement of the winding up subject to a deduction from those Shares in respect of which there are monies due, of all monies payable to the Company for unpaid calls or otherwise. |
44.2 | If the Company shall be wound up the liquidator may, subject to the rights attaching to any Shares and with the approval of a Special Resolution of the Company and any other approval required by the Statute, divide amongst the Members in kind the whole or any part of the assets of the Company (whether such assets shall consist of property of the same kind or not) and may for that purpose value any assets and determine how the division shall be carried out as between the Members or different classes of Members. The liquidator may, with the like approval, vest the whole or any part of such assets in trustees upon such trusts for the benefit of the Members as the liquidator, with the like approval, shall think fit, but so that no Member shall be compelled to accept any asset upon which there is a liability. |
45 | Indemnity and Insurance |
45.1 | Every Director and Officer (which for the avoidance of doubt, shall not include auditors of the Company), together with every former Director and former Officer (each an “Indemnified Person”) shall be indemnified out of the assets of the Company against any liability, action, proceeding, claim, demand, costs, damages or expenses, including legal expenses, whatsoever which they or any of them may incur as a result of any act or failure to act in carrying out their functions other than such liability (if any) that they may incur by reason of their own actual fraud, wilful neglect or wilful default. No Indemnified Person shall be liable to the Company for any loss or damage incurred by the Company as a result (whether direct or indirect) of the carrying out of their functions unless that liability arises through the actual fraud, wilful neglect or wilful default of such Indemnified Person. No person shall be found to have |
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committed actual fraud, wilful neglect or wilful default under this Article unless or until a court of competent jurisdiction shall have made a finding to that effect.
45.2 | The Company shall advance to each Indemnified Person reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred in connection with the defence of any action, suit, proceeding or investigation involving such Indemnified Person for which indemnity will or could be sought. In connection with any advance of any expenses hereunder, the Indemnified Person shall execute an undertaking to repay the advanced amount to the Company if it shall be determined by final judgment or other final adjudication that such Indemnified Person was not entitled to indemnification pursuant to this Article. If it shall be determined by a final judgment or other final adjudication that such Indemnified Person was not entitled to indemnification with respect to such judgment, costs or expenses, then such party shall not be indemnified with respect to such judgment, costs or expenses and any advancement shall be returned to the Company (without interest) by the Indemnified Person. |
45.3 | The Directors, on behalf of the Company, may purchase and maintain insurance for the benefit of any Director or Officer against any liability which, by virtue of any rule of law, would otherwise attach to such person in respect of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust of which such person may be guilty in relation to the Company. |
46 | Financial Year |
Unless the Directors otherwise prescribe, the financial year of the Company shall end on 31st December in each year and, following the year of incorporation, shall begin on 1st January in each year.
47 | Transfer by Way of Continuation |
If the Company is exempted as defined in the Statute, it shall, subject to the provisions of the Statute and with the approval of a Special Resolution, have the power to register by way of continuation as a body corporate under the laws of any jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands and to be deregistered in the Cayman Islands.
48 | Mergers and Consolidations |
The Company shall have the power to merge or consolidate with one or more other constituent companies (as defined in the Statute) upon such terms as the Directors may determine and (to the extent required by the Statute) with the approval of a Special Resolution.
49 | Business Combination |
49.1 | Notwithstanding any other provision of the Articles, this Article shall apply during the period commencing upon the adoption of the Articles and terminating upon the first to occur of the consummation of a Business Combination and the full distribution of the Trust Account pursuant to this Article. In the event of a conflict between this Article and any other Articles, the provisions of this Article shall prevail. |
49.2 | Prior to the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company shall either: |
(a) | submit such Business Combination to its Members for approval; or |
(b) | provide Members with the opportunity to have their Shares repurchased by means of a tender offer for a per-Share repurchase price payable in cash, equal to the aggregate |
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amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of such Business Combination, including interest earned on the Trust Account (net of taxes paid or payable, if any), divided by the number of then issued Public Shares, provided that the Company shall not repurchase Public Shares in an amount that would cause the Company’s net tangible assets to be less than US$5,000,001 upon consummation of such Business Combination.
49.3 | If the Company initiates any tender offer in accordance with Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act in connection with a proposed Business Combination, it shall file tender offer documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to completing such Business Combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about such Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act. If, alternatively, the Company holds a general meeting to approve a proposed Business Combination, the Company will conduct any redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and file proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
49.4 | At a general meeting called for the purposes of approving a Business Combination pursuant to this Article, in the event that such Business Combination is approved by Ordinary Resolution, the Company shall be authorised to consummate such Business Combination, provided that the Company shall not consummate such Business Combination unless the Company has net tangible assets of at least US $5,000,001 immediately prior to, or upon such consummation of, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to, such Business Combination. |
49.5 | Any Member holding Public Shares who is not the Sponsor, a Founder, Officer or Director may, at least two business days’ prior to any vote on a Business Combination, elect to have their Public Shares redeemed for cash, in accordance with any applicable requirements provided for in the related proxy materials (the “IPO Redemption”), provided that no such Member acting together with any Affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a partnership, limited partnership, syndicate, or other group for the purposes of acquiring, holding, or disposing of Shares may exercise this redemption right with respect to more than 15 per cent of the Public Shares in the aggregate without the prior consent of the Company and provided further that any beneficial holder of Public Shares on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself to the Company in connection with any redemption election in order to validly redeem such Public Shares. If so demanded, the Company shall pay any such redeeming Member, regardless of whether he is voting for or against such proposed Business Combination, a per-Share redemption price payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, including interest earned on the Trust Account (such interest shall be net of taxes payable) and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, divided by the number of then issued Public Shares (such redemption price being referred to herein as the “Redemption Price”), but only in the event that the applicable proposed Business Combination is approved and consummated. The Company shall not redeem Public Shares that would cause the Company’s net tangible assets to be less than US$5,000,001 following such redemptions (the “Redemption Limitation”). |
49.6 | A Member may not withdraw a Redemption Notice once submitted to the Company unless the Directors determine (in their sole discretion) to permit the withdrawal of such redemption request (which they may do in whole or in part). |
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49.7 | In the event that the Company does not consummate a Business Combination within 15 months from the consummation of the IPO , or such later time as the Members may approve in accordance with the Articles, the Company shall: |
(a) | cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; |
(b) | as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-Share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company (less taxes payable and up to US$100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then Public Shares in issue, which redemption will completely extinguish public Members’ rights as Members (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and |
(c) | as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining Members and the Directors, liquidate and dissolve, |
subject in each case to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of Applicable Law.
49.8 | In the event that any amendment is made to the Articles: |
(a) | to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or redeem 100 per cent of the Public Shares if the Company does not consummate a Business Combination within 15 months from the consummation of the IPO or such later time as the Members may approve in accordance with the Articles; or |
(b) | with respect to any other provision relating to Members’ rights or pre-Business Combination activity, |
each holder of Public Shares who is not the Sponsor, a Founder, Officer or Director shall be provided with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares upon the approval or effectiveness of any such amendment at a per-Share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares. The Company’s ability to provide such redemption in this Article is subject to the Redemption Limitation.
49.9 | A holder of Public Shares shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account only in the event of an IPO Redemption, a repurchase of Shares by means of a tender offer pursuant to this Article, or a distribution of the Trust Account pursuant to this Article. In no other circumstance shall a holder of Public Shares have any right or interest of any kind in the Trust Account. |
49.10 | After the issue of Public Shares, and prior to the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company shall not issue additional Shares or any other securities that would entitle the holders thereof to: |
(a) | receive funds from the Trust Account; or |
(b) | vote as a class with Public Shares on a Business Combination. |
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49.11 | The uninterested Independent Directors shall approve any transaction or transactions between the Company and any of the following parties: |
(a) | any Member owning an interest in the voting power of the Company that gives such Member a significant influence over the Company; and |
(b) | any Director or Officer and any Affiliate of such Director or Officer. |
49.12 | A Director may vote in respect of a Business Combination in which such Director has a conflict of interest with respect to the evaluation of such Business Combination. Such Director must disclose such interest or conflict to the other Directors. |
49.13 | As long as the securities of the Company are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Company must complete one or more Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80 per cent of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the Company’s signing a definitive agreement in connection with a Business Combination. A Business Combination must not be solely effectuated with another blank cheque company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
49.14 | The Company may enter into a Business Combination with a target business that is Affiliated with the Sponsor, a Founder, a Director or an Officer. In the event the Company seeks to consummate a Business Combination with a target that is Affiliated with the Sponsor, a Founder, a Director or an Officer, the Company, or a committee of Independent Directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another valuation or appraisal firm that regularly renders fairness opinions on the type of target business the Company is seeking to acquire that is a member of the United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or an independent accounting firm that such a Business Combination is fair to the Company from a financial point of view. |
50 | Certain Tax Filings |
Each Tax Filing Authorised Person and any such other person, acting alone, as any Director shall designate from time to time, are authorised to file tax forms SS-4, W-8 BEN, W-8 IMY, W-9, 8832 and 2553 and such other similar tax forms as are customary to file with any US state or federal governmental authorities or foreign governmental authorities in connection with the formation, activities and/or elections of the Company and such other tax forms as may be approved from time to time by any Director or Officer. The Company further ratifies and approves any such filing made by any Tax Filing Authorised Person or such other person prior to the date of the Articles.
51 | Business Opportunities |
51.1 | To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, no individual serving as a Director or an Officer (“Management”) shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as the Company. To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, the Company renounces any interest or expectancy of the Company in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for Management, on the one hand, and the Company, on the other. Except to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, Management shall have no duty to communicate or offer any such corporate opportunity to the Company and shall not be liable to the Company or its Members for breach of any fiduciary |
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duty as a Member, Director and/or Officer solely by reason of the fact that such party pursues or acquires such corporate opportunity for itself, himself or herself, directs such corporate opportunity to another person, or does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to the Company.
51.2 | Except as provided elsewhere in this Article, the Company hereby renounces any interest or expectancy of the Company in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for both the Company and Management, about which a Director and/or Officer who is also a member of Management acquires knowledge. |
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AMENDMENT
TO THE
AMENDED AND RESTATED MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES
OF ASSOCIATION
OF
SEMPER PARATUS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
(ADOPTED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION DATED 3 FEBRUARY 2023 AND EFFECTIVE ON 3 FEBRUARY 2023)
RESOLVED, as a special resolution, that the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company be amended by the deletion of the existing Article 49.7 and Article 49.8 in their entirety and the insertion of the following language in its place:
49.7 | In the event that the Company does not consummate a Business Combination by December 15, 2023, or such later time as the Members may approve in accordance with the Articles, the Company shall: |
(a) | cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; |
(b) | as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-Share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company (less taxes payable and up to US$100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then Public Shares in issue, which redemption will completely extinguish public Members’ rights as Members (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and |
(c) | as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining Members and the Directors, liquidate and dissolve, |
subject in each case to its obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of Applicable Law.
49.8 | In the event that any amendment is made to the Articles: |
(a) | to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or redeem 100 per cent of the Public Shares if the Company does not consummate a Business Combination by December 15, 2023, or such later time as the Members may approve in accordance with the Articles; or |
(b) | with respect to any other provision relating to Members’ rights or pre-Business Combination activity, |
each holder of Public Shares who is not the Sponsor, a Founder, Officer or Director shall be provided with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares upon the approval or effectiveness of any such amendment at a per-Share price, payable in cash, equal
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to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares. The Company’s ability to provide such redemption in this Article is subject to the Redemption Limitation.
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Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATIONS
I, B. Ben Baldanza, certify that:
1. | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation; |
2.Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
(b) | (Paragraph omitted pursuant to SEC Release Nos. 33-8238/34-47986 and 33-8392/34-49313); |
(c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
(d) | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and |
5.The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
(b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ Ben Baldanza |
| | B. Ben Baldanza |
| | Chief Executive Officer |
| | (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATIONS
I, Jeff Rogers, certify that:
1.I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation;
2.Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
4. | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have: |
(a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
(b) | (Paragraph omitted pursuant to SEC Release Nos. 33-8238/34-47986 and 33-8392/34-49313); |
(c) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
(d) | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
(a) | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
(b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ Jeff Rogers |
| | Jeff Rogers |
| | Chief Financial Officer |
| | (Principal Financial Officer) |
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Report”), I, B. Ben Baldanza, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:
1. | The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and |
2. | To my knowledge, the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of and for the period covered by the Report. |
Date: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ B. Ben Baldanza |
| | B. Ben Baldanza |
| | Chief Executive Officer |
| | (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 32.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Report”), I, Jeff Rogers, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:
1. | The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and |
2. | To my knowledge, the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of and for the period covered by the report. |
Date: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ Jeff Rogers |
| | Jeff Rogers |
| | Chief Financial Officer |
| | (Principal Financial Officer) |