If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we would be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities would be severely restricted. As a result, in such circumstances, unless we are able to modify our activities so that we would not be deemed an investment company, we may abandon our efforts to complete an initial Business Combination and instead liquidate the Company.
As described further above, the SPAC Rule Proposals relate, among other matters, to the circumstances in which SPACs such as the Company could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. Any uncertainty as to whether SPACS like us may be investment companies under the Investment Company Act is not derived from the SPAC Rule Proposals. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a SPAC satisfies certain criteria, including a limited time period to announce and complete a de-SPAC transaction. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a company to file a report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for a Business Combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of its registration statement for its initial public offering (the “IPO Registration Statement”). The company would then be required to complete its initial Business Combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement.
There is currently some uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a SPAC, including a company like ours, that does not complete its Business Combination within 24 months after the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement. We do not expect to complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months of such date. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities would be severely restricted. In addition, we would be subject to burdensome compliance requirements. We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to regulation as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. However, if we are deemed to be an investment company and subject to compliance with and regulation under the Investment Company Act, we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and expenses for which we have not allotted funds. As a result, unless we are able to modify our activities so that we would not be deemed an investment company, we may abandon our efforts to complete an initial Business Combination and instead liquidate the Company. Were we to liquidate, our warrants would expire worthless, and our securityholders would lose the investment opportunity associated with an investment in the combined company, including potential price appreciation of our securities.
To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the Trust Account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash items (which may be interest bearing to the extent permitted by the Trustee and the applicable rules of the SEC) until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation. As a result, following the liquidation of investments in the Trust Account, we may receive minimal interest, if any, on the funds held in the Trust Account, which would reduce the dollar amount our public stockholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company.
The funds in the Trust Account have, since our IPO, been held only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. However, to mitigate the risk of us being deemed to be an unregistered investment company (including under the subjective test of Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act) and thus subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, we may, on or prior to the 24-month anniversary of the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement, and we currently expect that we will, following such date, instruct Continental, the trustee with respect to the trust account, to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the Trust Account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account as cash items (which may be interest bearing to the extent permitted by the Trustee and the applicable rules of the SEC) until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company. Following such liquidation, we may receive minimal interest, if any, on the funds held in the Trust Account. However, interest previously earned on the funds held in the Trust Account still may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, and certain other expenses as permitted. As a result, any decision to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account in cash items would reduce the dollar amount our public stockholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company. Were we to liquidate, our warrants would expire worthless, and our securityholders would lose the investment opportunity associated with an investment in the combined company, including any potential price appreciation of our securities.
To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the Trust Account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash items until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation. As a result, following the liquidation of investments in the Trust Account, we would likely receive minimal interest, if any, on the funds held in the Trust Account, which would reduce the dollar amount our public stockholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company.
The funds in the Trust Account have, since our IPO, been held only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. However, to mitigate the risk of us being deemed to be an unregistered investment company (including under the subjective test of Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act) and thus subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, we may, on or prior to the 24-month anniversary of the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement, and we currently expect that we will, following such date, instruct Continental, the trustee with respect to the trust account, to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the Trust Account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account as cash items until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company. Following such liquidation, we would likely receive minimal interest, if any, on the funds held in the Trust Account. However, interest previously earned on the funds held in the Trust Account still may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, and certain other expenses as permitted. As a result, any decision to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account in cash items would reduce the dollar amount our public stockholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company. Were we to liquidate, our warrants would expire worthless, and our securityholders would lose the investment opportunity associated with an investment in the combined company, including any potential price appreciation of our securities.
Were we considered to be a “foreign person,” we might not be able to complete an initial Business Combination with a U.S. target company if such initial Business Combination is subject to U.S. foreign investment regulations and review by a U.S. government entity such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), or ultimately prohibited.
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