As filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on October 25, 2021 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
No. 333-255021
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Amendment No. 4
to
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Juniper II Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 6770 | 86-1434822 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
3790 El Camino Real #818
Palo Alto, California 94306
(650) 292-9660
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Noah Kindler
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer
3790 El Camino Real #818
Palo Alto, California 94306
(650) 292-9660
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
Julian Seiguer, Esq. Kirkland & Ellis LLP | Christian O. Nagler, Esq. Kirkland & Ellis LLP 601 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022 Tel: (212) 446-4800 Fax: (212) 446-4900 | Steven R. Burwell, Esq. Proskauer Rose LLP Eleven Times Square New York, New York 10036 Tel: (212) 969-3000 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
| 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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
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Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered | Amount to be Registered | Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Unit(1) | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) | Amount of Registration Fee | ||||
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and one-half of one warrant(2) | 25,875,000 Units | $10.00 | $258,750,000 | $23,986.13 | ||||
Shares of Class A common stock included as part of the units(3) | 25,875,000 Shares | — | — | —(4) | ||||
Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3) | 12,937,500 Warrants | — | — | —(4) | ||||
Class A common stock underlying the redeemable warrants(3) | 12,937,500 Shares | $11.50 | $148,781,250 | $13,792.02 | ||||
Total | $407,531,250 | $37,778.15(5) | ||||||
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| (1) | Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. |
| (2) | Includes 3,375,000 units, consisting of 3,375,000 shares of Class A common stock and 1,687,500 warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any. |
| (3) | Pursuant to Rule 416(a), there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions. |
| (4) | No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g). |
| (5) | Previously paid. |
The registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
| PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS | Subject to Completion, Dated October 25, 2021 |
Juniper II Corp.
$225,000,000
22,500,000 Units
Juniper II Corp. is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We intend to focus our search for a target business in the industrial sector.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,375,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.
We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares throughout this prospectus, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as described in more detail in this prospectus), we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.
Our sponsor, Juniper II Management, LLC (which we refer to as our sponsor throughout this prospectus), will purchase an aggregate of 12,000,000 warrants (or 13,350,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per whole warrant ($12,000,000 in the aggregate, or $13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants as the private placement warrants throughout this prospectus. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our initial stockholders currently own 6,468,750 shares of our Class B common stock (up to 843,750 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). We refer to these shares of Class B common stock as the founder shares throughout this prospectus. The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding
upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B common stock will be entitled to vote on the election of directors.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A common stock or warrants. We have applied to have our units listed on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol “JUN.U” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “JUN” and “JUN WS,” respectively.
We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 36 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
Neither the SEC nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
| Per Unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price | $ | 10.00 | $ | 225,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) | $ | 0.55 | $ | 12,375,000 | ||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to Juniper II Corp. | $ | 9.45 | $ | 212,625,000 | ||||
| (1) | Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,875,000 (or up to $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting.” |
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $229.5 million, or approximately $263.9 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, ($10.20 per unit) will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $3.0 million, after payment of underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion), will be available to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. Except with respect to amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the closing of this offering, or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about , 2021.
| Morgan Stanley | UBS Investment Bank |
, 2021.
We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 81 | |||
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| F-1 |
i
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| • | “we,” “us,” “our” or “our company” are to Juniper II Corp.; |
| • | “advisors” refers to our strategic advisors identified herein; |
| • | “common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock, collectively; |
| • | “DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law, as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| • | “founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein; |
| • | “initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering; |
| • | “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors, and “directors” are to our current directors and director nominees; |
| • | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; |
| • | “public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| • | “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares; and |
| • | “sponsor” are to Juniper II Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, which is owned and controlled by Roger Fradin, our Chairman. |
Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant for each unit purchased. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.
OUR COMPANY
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial
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business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geographical location, we intend to focus our search within the industrials sector, where we believe our management team has a competitive advantage due to their prior experiences and roles. We intend to focus our search efforts on North American-based targets with an aggregate enterprise value of $1 billion to $2 billion.
We believe our management team is well positioned to identify attractive businesses within the industrials sector that would benefit from access to the public markets and the skills of our management team. Our objective is to consummate our initial business combination and enhance shareholder value by helping to identify and recruit effective management, enhance existing business models and strategic planning, identify and complete follow-on acquisitions, implement operational improvements, and expand product offerings and geographic footprint. We expect to utilize our management team’s experience and network to achieve their objectives. We intend to focus on evaluating established companies with leading competitive positions, strong management teams, and long-term potential for growth and profitability.
OUR FOUNDERS, MANAGEMENT, AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We believe our management team has substantive experience across many different types of businesses, and a proven track record of working together to acquire and operate product, solution, and service-oriented businesses across the commercial, industrial, and residential end markets. We believe their robust skillsets and deep industry experience will allow them to apply their expertise and create shareholder value across a wide range of potential target companies.
Roger Fradin serves as the Chairman of our Board of Directors. Mr. Fradin has over 40 years of experience acquiring, building, and leading a diverse set of industrial businesses. Mr. Fradin began his career at Pittway Corporation where he held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including President and Chief Executive Officer of the Security and Fire Solutions segment, and helped lead an entrepreneurial team which transformed Pittway into a $2 billion world leader in electronic security and fire systems. In 2000, Pittway was acquired by Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), or Honeywell. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Fradin assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions, or ACS. In this role, Mr. Fradin transformed ACS from a business with $7 billion in sales in 2003 focused predominantly on the U.S. market to a $17 billion in sales (as of 2014) global business leader in the development and manufacture of environmental controls, life safety products, and building and process solutions. From 2000 to 2017, Mr. Fradin oversaw, directed, and integrated the acquisition of over 60 companies at Honeywell, aggregating billions of dollars in deal value. Mr. Fradin’s strategy and execution for ACS helped deliver more than $85 billion of value to Honeywell’s shareholders. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Fradin also served as Vice Chairman of Honeywell where he was responsible for acquisition strategy for all of Honeywell. Mr Fradin also was responsible for a large advanced research & technology organization that executed many classified programs, as well as inventing many core new technologies such as Honeywell’s quantum computer offering. After retiring from Honeywell, Mr. Fradin was named Chairman of Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), or Resideo, a leading provider of home comfort and security solutions. At Resideo, Mr. Fradin recruited the Chief Executive Officer, senior management team, and Board of Directors as well as installed all public company board processes and procedures. Mr. Fradin also currently serves as a director of Janus International Group, Inc. (NYSE: JBI) (“Janus”), a position he has held since the consummation in June 2021 of Janus’ business combination with Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc. (“Juniper Industrial”), where Mr. Fradin served as the Chairman of the board of directors of from August 2019 to June 2021 and as Chief Executive Officer from August 2019 to January 2020. In addition to Resideo and Janus, Mr. Fradin currently sits on the boards of L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX), Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:
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VRT), or Vertiv, and several of The Carlyle Group’s, or Carlyle, portfolio companies in his capacity as a Carlyle Operating Executive. He also previously served as a member of the board of directors for each of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE: MSM) (“MSC”) and Pitney Bowes, Inc. (NYSE: PBI).
Murray Grainger serves as our Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Grainger has over 25 years of global industrial experience within general management, corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions and integrations, strategic planning, and technology investing. Mr. Grainger began his career at ITT Industries, where he held engineering, product management, investor relations and corporate development roles across Sweden, Australia and the United States. Mr. Grainger joined Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) in 2004 and over the course of his 17 year career held a number of leadership roles across Honeywell’s global businesses and functions. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Grainger served as Vice President of Investor Relations, where he led partnerships with external stakeholders including the buy- and sell-side analyst community and built strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including Mr. Fradin and other senior leaders, to develop expert knowledge of the company and serve as a trusted advisor to share the Wall Street perspective. Mr. Grainger also served Chief Financial Officer for Honeywell’s Specialty Products strategic business unit and General Manager for the Advanced Fibers and Composites businesses. Mr. Grainger was a member of Honeywell’s Global M&A team and subsequently Vice President of Business Development and M&A for Honeywell’s ACS segment, its largest business unit. In these roles, Mr. Grainger aided or led multiple buy- and sell-side transactions including Novar plc, Universal Oil Products (UOP) and Intelligrated, among others, and partnered directly with Mr. Fradin on several of these transactions in his capacity as President and CEO of ACS and Vice Chairman of Honeywell. Most recently, Mr. Grainger was the founding Managing Director and Global Head of Honeywell Ventures, based in Silicon Valley, where he built one of the leading corporate venture capital programs in the industrials sector, making more than 30 investments across emerging technology areas including robotics and advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence/machine learning (“AI/ML”), cybersecurity, urban air mobility, worker productivity and quantum computing.
Noah Kindler serves as our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Kindler has over 20 years of experience as a technology and strategy executive. He has deep experience identifying and working with early stage technology companies. Early in his career, he served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised Fortune 500 companies globally and won awards for innovation. He then joined Avira, a multinational security company where he was the President of the Americas and the VP of Technology/Operations where he focused on growing their market share in the US, where they would eventually be acquired by Symantec. He later joined Knotel in 2015, a property-technology leader, where he served until May 2018 as a general manager and drove substantial sales growth. From May 2018 to August 2019, Mr. Kindler was a member of the senior leadership of Canoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOEV), joining as one of its first employees, in charge of the Silicon Valley office and responsible for the internet enabled software within the vehicle while it grew to an eventual successful merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp IV. In August 2019, Mr. Kindler joined ConcertVDC, Inc. as a founding board member and where he is currently Chief Product Officer. He also serves as a long tenured advisor at the Stanford technology accelerator, StartX.
Mitchell Jacobson has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Jacobson began his career in 1976 at MSC, a premier distributor of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations (“MRO”) products and services to industrial customers throughout North America. In 1995, Mr. Jacobson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of MSC and served as President until 2003 and Chief Executive Officer until 2005. Mr. Jacobson became Chairman of the Board of MSC in 1998 and transitioned to Non-Executive Chairman in 2013, where he continues to serve today and remains active in ongoing growth initiatives. Mr. Jacobson has served as Director of Ambrosia Holdings, L.P. (the holding company of TriMark USA, the country’s largest provider of equipment, supplies, and design services to the foodservices industry) since 2017, and previously served as a Director of Juniper Industrial from November 2019 to June 2021, and as a member of the Board of Directors at HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDS) from 2007 to 2013.
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Mark Levy has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Levy has over 20 years of experience within the industrials sector and has deep expertise in building businesses, developing customer relationships, and executing lean manufacturing. From 2000 to 2014, Mr. Levy served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell Life Safety where he led the transformation of the business into a global leader in commercial fire alarm systems, gas detection, and industrial-grade personal protection equipment. During his tenure at Honeywell Life Safety, in which he worked very closely with Mr. Fradin, Mr. Levy executed over 10 acquisitions, a crucial factor to the segment’s growth. Mr. Levy currently serves as member of the Board of Directors at Quexco, Inc, Eco-Bat Technologies, Sciens Building Solutions and Laticrete International, and as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors at Potter Electric Signal Co. Mr. Levy also served as a director of Juniper Industrial from November 2019 to June 2021.
Andrew Teich has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Teich has over 35 years of experience in the industrial technology sector. In June 2017, after 33 years with the company, Mr. Teich retired as the President and Chief Executive Officer of FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR), a position he had held since 2013. FLIR is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of thermal imaging and stabilized airborne camera systems for a wide variety of applications in the commercial, industrial, and government markets. Mr. Teich joined FLIR in 1999 as Senior Vice President, Marketing, and held various positions within FLIR since that time, including President of Commercial Vision Systems and President of Commercial Systems. During Mr. Teich’s tenure at FLIR, the market capitalization grew from approximately $60 million to more than $6 billion Prior to joining FLIR, Mr. Teich held various positions at Inframetrics, Inc. (acquired by FLIR in 1999), including Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr. Teich served on the board of directors of FLIR from July 2013 until his retirement in June 2017. Throughout his career, Mr. Teich has been involved in more than 25 technology company acquisitions, is listed as an inventor on more than 50 patents and became known in the industry as a principal innovator of commercial and military thermal imaging and successfully expanded into visible, radar, sonar, near infrared, and CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive) technologies and markets. Mr. Teich has served as a director of Sensata Technologies Holdings plc (NYSE: ST), a multinational automotive and industrial sensing company, since May 2014, and as the Chairman of the board since July 2019. In October 2018, he joined the board of directors of Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), where he is currently the lead independent director.
Experience with a Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle
Our management team has previous experience in the execution of a public acquisition vehicle. Mr. Fradin was appointed to the board of directors of GS Acquisition Holdings Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in connection with its initial public offering in June 2018. GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. consummated its initial business combination with Vertiv Holdings, LLC in February 2020. The Class A common stock of the combined company, Vertiv Holdings Co, is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “VRT.” Mr. Fradin continues to serve as a member of the board of directors Vertiv following the consummation of the business combination.
In addition, an affiliate of our sponsor formed and sponsored Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company that completed its initial public offering in November 2019. Each of Messrs. Fradin, Jacobson and Levy previously served on the board of directors of Juniper Industrial until the consummation of its initial business combination, with Mr. Fradin serving as Chairman and formerly as Juniper Industrial’s Chief Executive Officer. On December 21, 2020, Juniper Industrial entered into a business combination agreement with affiliates of Janus International Group, Inc. (f/k/a Janus Parent, Inc.) (“Janus”) to acquire Janus, which business combination was consummated on June 7, 2021. Janus is the leading global manufacturer and supplier of turn-key self-storage, commercial and industrial building solutions, including: roll up and swing doors, hallway systems, re-locatable storage units, and facility and door automation technologies.
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Our directors and officers or their respective affiliates may in the future to become affiliated with other public special purpose acquisition companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours, including potentially during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Our management team is not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating time among various business activities. See “Risk Factors—Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
The past performance of, or businesses associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of such parties as indicative of our future performance. See “Risk Factors—Past performance by, or business associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is not indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” In addition, members of our management team may have conflicts of interest with other entities to which they owe fiduciary or contractual obligations with respect to initial business combination opportunities. For a list of our directors and executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such persons and the company, please refer to “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
OUR ADVISORS
Our experienced strategic advisors will assist our management team in search of suitable acquisition targets following the consummation of this offering. They are as follows:
Darius Adamczyk has agreed to serve as one of our advisors. Mr. Adamczyk is a proven business leader with significant experience in executive leadership positions. Mr. Adamczyk has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell since April 2018. Mr. Adamczyk was President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell from March 2017 to April 2018 and Chief Operating Officer of Honeywell from April 2016 to March 2017. From April 2014 to April 2016, Mr. Adamczyk served as President and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies (“PMT”). Prior to serving as President and CEO of PMT, Mr. Adamczyk served as President of Honeywell Process Solutions from 2012 to 2014 and as President of Honeywell Scanning and Mobility from 2008 to 2012. Mr. Adamczyk joined Honeywell in 2008 when Metrologic, Inc., where he was the Chief Executive Officer, was acquired by Honeywell. Prior to Metrologic, Mr. Adamczyk held several general management assignments at Ingersoll Rand, served as a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, and started his career as an electrical engineer at General Electric.
Bill Fradin has agreed to serve as one of our advisors. Mr. Fradin has over 15 years of experience as a finance and investment professional. Since November 2019, Mr. Fradin has served as Executive Vice President of Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:SFTW), which has entered into a business combination agreement with BlackSky Holdings, Inc., a leading real-time geospatial intelligence, imagery, and data analytics company. In addition, Mr. Fradin is a Managing Partner and Founder at Seal Rock Partners, a family-backed private equity firm, and a Managing Director and Co-Founder at HEPCO Capital Management, LLC, a multi-SPAC sponsor. Prior to founding Seal Rock Partners, Mr. Fradin was an investment professional at JLL Partners. Mr. Fradin is the son of Roger Fradin, our Chairman.
We currently expect our advisors to (i) provide guidance to us in the completion of this offering, (ii) assist us in sourcing and negotiating with potential business combination targets, (iii) provide business insights when we assess potential business combination targets and (iv) upon our request, provide business insights as we work to create additional value in the businesses that we acquire. In this regard, our advisors will fulfill some of the
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same functions as our board members. However, our advisors have no written advisory agreement with us, nor do they have any other employment arrangements with us. Moreover, our advisors will not be under any fiduciary obligation to us nor will they perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. Our advisors will not be required to devote any specific amount of time to our efforts or be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Accordingly, if our advisors become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the entities to which they have fiduciary or contractual obligations, they will honor their fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and will not be under any obligation or duty to present any such business combination opportunity to us. We may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may acquire.
COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS
We will seek to capitalize on the significant experience and network of Roger Fradin, our Chairman, Murray Grainger, our Chief Executive Officer, and Noah Kindler, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer, as well as the other members of our Board of Directors in consummating an initial business combination. Our competitive strengths and factors that we believe will contribute to our ability to execute a transaction include the following:
| • | Leading Operating Executives: Mr. Fradin has over 40 years of experience in operating industrial companies. Mr. Fradin served 17 years as a top executive at Honeywell, a Fortune 100 industrial technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions including aerospace products and services, control technologies for buildings and industry, and performance materials globally. Mr. Fradin has a highly successful track record of recruiting and building leadership teams, growing companies at above market rates, improving business operations, expanding margins, maximizing cash flow, and generating robust return on capital. Mr. Fradin was instrumental in co-creating the signature Honeywell Operating System, an integrated program built on Six Sigma principles to drive sustainable safety, quality, delivery, cost, and inventory improvement among Honeywell businesses. During Mr. Fradin’s time at Honeywell, he expanded the business into new markets, drove global expansion, built first-rate leadership teams and executed strategic M&A, including partnering with Mr. Grainger on numerous transactions, to enhance shareholder value. Following Honeywell’s acquisition of Intelligrated, Mr. Grainger was then selected to lead the Integration of Intelligrated, where he spearheaded a global, multi-functional team that set the stage for more than 200% business growth under the first three years of Honeywell’s ownership. In addition to the valuable experience of Messrs. Fradin and Grainger, Mr. Kindler brings a wealth of broad and deep technology expertise in areas relevant to our initial business combination criteria and a history of working with emerging growth companies. We believe the notable expertise of Messrs. Fradin and Grainger within the industrials sector, as well as Mr. Kindler’s experience with emerging growth companies, will allow our management team to evaluate and prioritize potential opportunities relevant to Mr. Fradin’s background with growth potential. |
| • | Deep Deal Execution Experience: Mr. Fradin is both highly experienced in mergers and acquisitions across a wide variety of industrial sectors. He has successfully identified, executed and integrated highly synergistic transactions within a variety of product categories including, but not limited to, fire and security, gas detection, safety products, building and HVAC controls, building services, home automation, low voltage products and distribution, sensing and control products, data capture technologies, warehouse automation, supply chain software, process automation, automotive products, field instrumentation and metering. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Fradin was responsible for consummating over 60 discrete acquisitions at attractive net multiples that contributed billions in revenue and represented over $20 billion of capital deployed. Mr. Fradin was instrumental in the creation of several new verticals within Honeywell including Scanning & Mobility Technology, Life Safety/Gas Detection, and Warehouse Automation. In his various roles at Honeywell, Mr. Grainger |
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aided or led multiple buy- and sell-side transactions, partnering directly with Mr. Fradin on numerous transactions in his capacity as President and CEO of ACS and Vice-Chairman of Honeywell. We believe the extensive track records of executing deals possessed by Messrs. Fradin and Grainger, as well of their history of successful collaboration on deal execution, will allow our management team to execute an efficient and successful business combination. |
| • | Highly Leverageable Network: We intend to source initial business combination opportunities through our management team’s extensive network of industrial sector business owners, public and private company executives and board members, investment bankers, private equity and debt investors, high net worth families and their advisors, commercial bankers, attorneys, management consultants, accountants and other transaction intermediaries. Additionally, Mr. Fradin holds the highest level of security clearance approved by the U.S. government, which broadens the scope of potential acquisition targets, especially in regard to companies that perform government, defense, and/or classified work. We believe leveraging this vast network, together with Mr. Kindler’s experience identifying and developing emerging growth companies and Messrs. Fradin’s and Grainger’s recognized track records of completing acquisitions across a variety of categories within the broader industrials sector, will provide meaningful opportunities to drive value creation for our shareholders. |
| • | Our Board of Directors: Our directors have experience with acquisitions, divestitures and corporate strategy and implementation, as well as the public markets, which we believe will significantly benefit us as we evaluate potential initial business combination candidates as well as, to the extent they remain on our board of directors, following the completion of our initial business combination. |
BUSINESS COMBINATION CRITERIA
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We expect to conduct a comprehensive due diligence review which will include, among other things, management and employee meetings, review of financial information, facility inspection, and an extensive review of all other material target company information. We intend to use these criteria as guidelines in evaluating potential acquisition opportunities, but an acquisition may be executed even if it does not meet our guidelines.
| • | Focus on companies within the industrials sector such as those within aerospace (including “clean” aviation), defense, automation, building products and construction, business services, capital goods, distribution, industrial services, industrial technology, packaging, safety and security, and supply chain / logistics, among others. We intend to evaluate emerging growth opportunities within the industrial sector and to seek businesses that are currently North American-centric with unrealized potential for global expansion. Additionally, we believe our management team’s deep industry experience and vast network will allow us to identify undervalued assets where we can accelerate operational improvements, organic revenue growth, and potential acquisition opportunities to drive shareholder value. |
| • | Identify market leaders within their particular industries that also have distinguished technologies or proprietary processes that differentiate them from their competitors. Our management team has a track record of identifying market leading technologies across the industrials spectrum and an affinity for businesses with strong brands, mission-critical offerings, and often times an electronic or software foundation. |
| • | Seek opportunities with an attractive financial profile that can be enhanced with the targeted expertise of our management team. While this may include businesses with sound histories of growth and profitability, we may also target underperforming businesses that we believe will benefit from new ownership and the implementation of enhanced operating efficiencies. |
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| • | Seek “channel-based” businesses with end-user connections (i.e., businesses that sell through a dealer/installer network of end-users). Our management team has deep experience with this go-to-market approach. |
| • | Target platforms that can be expanded through bolt-on M&A and/or through targeted capital deployment, such as those within fragmented markets. |
| • | Focus on businesses that offer a degree of market strength or competitive advantages through regulation, strong brands, channel access, and/or superior technology. |
| • | Seek target businesses that have a strong leadership team that may benefit from the additional industry expertise of our management team. |
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 the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.
OUR ACQUISITION PROCESS
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at approximately $0.003 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public stockholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their shares of common stock (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). See “Risk Factors — Since our officers and directors will be eligible to share in a portion of any appreciation in founder shares purchased at approximately $0.003 per share, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.” Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
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We currently do not have any specific transaction under consideration with a target business with which to consummate our initial business combination.
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 duties pursuant to which such officer or director may be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
Our executive officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including in connection with Mr. Fradin’s service as a director of Janus, a position he has held since the consummation in June 2021 of the business combination between Janus and Juniper Industrial, a special purpose acquisition company that, like us, was focused on the industrial sector. See “Risk Factors—Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination for six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination for an additional six months, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $2,250,000, or up to $2,587,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per unit in either case), on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan that will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. We will issue a press release announcing any extension, at least three days prior to the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. We will only be able to effectuate one such extension and only for an additional six months. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The requirement that the target business or businesses
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together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and will continue to apply to us even if our securities are no longer listed on the NYSE. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
CORPORATE INFORMATION
Our executive offices are located at 3790 El Camino Real #818, Palo Alto, California 94306, and our telephone number is (650) 292-9660. Upon completion of this offering, our corporate website address will be www.juniperii.com. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not considered part of, and is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
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In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s 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. References herein to emerging growth company shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
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 any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our shares of Class A common stock held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares of Class A common stock held by non-affiliates did not exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30.
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THE OFFERING
In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.”
Securities offered | 22,500,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, or $225,000,000 in the aggregate, each unit consisting of: |
| • | one share of Class A common stock; and |
| • | one-half of one warrant. |
Proposed NYSE symbols | Units: “JUN.U” |
| Class A common stock: “JUN” |
| Warrants: “JUN WS” |
Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and warrants | The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. |
| Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. |
Separate trading of the Class A common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K | In no event will the Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the |
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gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. |
Units:
Number outstanding before this offering | 0 |
Number outstanding after this offering | 22,500,000(1) |
Common stock:
Number outstanding before this offering | 6,468,750 shares of Class B common stock(2) |
Number outstanding after this offering | 28,125,000 shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock(1)(3) |
Warrants:
Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering | 12,000,000(1) |
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this | 23,250,000(1) |
Exercisability | Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock and only whole warrants are exercisable. |
Exercise price | $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of our Class A |
| (1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 843,750 founder shares. |
| (2) | Includes up to 843,750 founder shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. |
| (3) | The shares of common stock included in the units are 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock. The remaining 5,625,000 are founder shares and are classified as shares of Class B common stock, which shares are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.” |
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common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00” and “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. |
Exercise period | The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement), including as a result of a notice of redemption described below under “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00”). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a post-effective amendment to the registration statement for this offering or a new registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the |
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warrants, to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. |
| The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants, and only whole warrants will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 | Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the “30-day redemption period”; and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sales price (the “closing price”) of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public |
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Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
| We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 | Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at $0.10 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; |
| provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” |
The “fair market value” of our Class A common stock for the above purpose shall mean the volume-weighted average price of our Class A common stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10 trading day period described above ends. In no event will the warrants be |
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exercisable on a cashless basis in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment). |
| No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon redemption. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information. |
Founder shares | On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. In March and April 2021, our sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of our advisors. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. As such, our initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 843,750 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised so that our initial stockholders will maintain ownership of 20% of our common stock after this offering. |
| The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
| • | the founder shares are shares of Class B common stock that automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock |
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at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein; |
| • | only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason; |
| • | the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
| • | our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. Further, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. Our initial stockholders have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,437,501, or 37.5%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised); and |
| • | the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. |
Transfer restrictions on founder shares | Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any |
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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, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. |
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights | The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time. |
Election of Directors; Voting | Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public 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 founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by a resolution passed by a majority of our Class B common stock. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law or the applicable rules of the NYSE then in effect, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. |
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| Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors will be divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. |
Private placement warrants | Our sponsor will, pursuant to a written agreement, purchase 12,000,000 private placement warrants (or 13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per whole warrant ($12,000,000 in the aggregate or $13,350,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. |
| A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing $229.5 million (or approximately $263.9 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. |
| The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. |
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants | The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). |
Cashless exercise of private placement warrants | If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of |
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shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported closing price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate. |
Proceeds to be held in trust account | Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $229,500,000, or $263,925,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full ($10.20 per unit in either case) will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. These proceeds include $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. |
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become |
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subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders. |
Extension of time to complete business combination | We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination for six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination for an additional six months, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $2,250,000, or up to $2,587,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per unit in either case), on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan that will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. We will issue a press release announcing any extension, at least three days prior to the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. We will only be able to effectuate one such extension and only for an additional six months. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. |
Anticipated expenses and funding sources | Except as described above with respect to the payment of franchise and income taxes, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. Assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year, we estimate the interest and other income earned on the trust account will be approximately $229,500 per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from: |
| • | the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $2,250,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $750,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and |
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| • | any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of a business combination. |
Conditions to completing our initial business combination | There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The requirement that the target business or businesses together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and will continue to apply to us even if our securities are no longer listed on the NYSE. |
If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm. We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based |
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on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. |
Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will 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. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as such purchases will be dependent upon several factors, including, but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary. |
Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination | We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, 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 |
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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. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our business combination or otherwise. |
Manner of conducting redemptions | We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. |
| If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: |
| • | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| • | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
Upon the public announcement of our business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with |
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Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. |
| In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination. |
| If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will: |
| • | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| • | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,437,501 or 37.5%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). We intend to give approximately |
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30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. |
| We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. |
| If the proposed business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates delivered, or shares tendered electronically, by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares. |
| Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. |
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Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this | Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our business combination. |
Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation | Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 50% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 50% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote |
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thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL, or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our sponsor, executive officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as described in more detail in this prospectus) or with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. |
Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination | On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “—Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. |
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination | Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 18 months from the closing of this offering (or 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor |
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depositing additional funds into the trust account as described in more detail in this prospectus) to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 18-month time period (or 24-month time period, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination). |
| Our initial stockholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted such time period. |
| The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares. |
| If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 18-month period (or 24-month period, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 24 months. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require that such an amendment be approved by holders of 50% of our outstanding common stock. |
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Limited payments to insiders | There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination: |
| • | repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| • | payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 18 months (or up to 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support; |
| • | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| • | repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. |
| Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. |
Audit Committee | We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.” |
Indemnity | Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date |
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of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our franchise and income taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. |
RISKS
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. We have conducted no operations and generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, including in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
Risks Relating to Our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks
| • | We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| • | Past performance by, or business associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is not indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
| • | Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination. |
| • | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote. |
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| • | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination. |
| • | The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
| • | The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
| • | The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would not be consummated and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock. |
| • | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders. |
| • | We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.20 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| • | We may extend our time period to consummate our initial business combination for an additional six months and accordingly have a total of 24 months from the closing of this offering to consummate a business combination without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith. |
| • | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock. |
| • | If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
| • | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
| • | Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
Risks Relating to Our Sponsor and Our Management Team
| • | Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. |
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| • | Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. |
| • | Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests. |
| • | Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination. |
Risks Relating to Our Securities
| • | If our securities are approved for listing, the NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
| • | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| • | We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants, or for amendments necessary for the warrants to be classified as equity. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened, the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased or we could make certain other changes, all without your approval. |
| • | You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the issuance of the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available. |
General Risks
| • | We may face risks related to businesses in the industrial sector. |
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SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA
The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
| September 30, 2021 | ||||
| (unaudited) | ||||
Balance Sheet Data: | ||||
Working capital (deficiency) | $ | (656,509 | ) | |
Total assets | $ | 630,791 | ||
Total liabilities | $ | 656,549 | ||
Stockholders’ deficit | $ | (25,758 | ) | |
If no business combination is completed within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor, directors, director nominees and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period.
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to Our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks
We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a newly formed company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by, or business associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is not indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of, or businesses associated with, our management team as being indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward.
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons. Except as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial stockholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial
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business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering, in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,437,501, or 37.5%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). Our initial stockholders will own shares representing 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our initial stockholders agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are
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submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would not be consummated and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.
If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would not be consummated is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced, which has and is continuing to spread throughout parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The COVID-19 outbreak has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued
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concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.20 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as described in more detail in this prospectus). We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.20 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.20 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors below.
We may extend our time period to consummate our initial business combination for an additional six months and accordingly have a total of 24 months from the closing of this offering to consummate a business combination without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith.
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by an additional six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for
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approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and subject to deposit of additional funds by our sponsor or its affiliates or designees into our trust account as set forth thereunder, we may effectuate such extension without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection with the proposed extension. We will only be able to effectuate one such extension and only for an additional six months.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the 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. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination—Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in
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connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, or (b) with respect to any other provisions relating to rights of holders of our Class A common stock; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on our redemption of our public shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. This may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.20 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors below.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers
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liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.20 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.20 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against
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us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors below.
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search for a business combination, to pay our franchise and income taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $2,250,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.20 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.20 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors below.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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.”
At September 30, 2021, we had $40 in cash and a working capital deficit of approximately $657,000. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Our management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
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of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to such stockholders, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement related to our initial business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection
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with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our common stock; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and |
| • | other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement
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waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.20 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our franchise and income taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.20 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our franchise and income taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.
While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.20 per share.
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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate our initial business combination, we may seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination but that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and changed industry focus. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or change our industry focus in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of 50% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions sometimes requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 50% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 50% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own up to 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of
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incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
A provision in our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly.
Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term
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U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and we and our board may be exposed to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| • | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| • | restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our business combination. |
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| • | registration as an investment company; |
| • | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| • | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
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In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, or (b) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock; or (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
Holders of Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on any election of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public 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
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our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the founder shares and the private placement warrants held by them and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations.
Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in the industrial sector, we may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.
Although we intend to focus on identifying business combination candidates in the industrials sector, we may consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk
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factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
If we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| • | higher costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets; |
| • | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| • | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| • | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| • | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| • | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| • | longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| • | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| • | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| • | rates of inflation; |
| • | cultural and language differences; |
| • | employment regulations; |
| • | crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; |
| • | deterioration of political relations with the United States; and |
| • | government appropriations of assets. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these
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positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our business combination with an affiliated entity or our board cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 18th month (or 24th month, if we extend the
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period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control over financial reporting of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our
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initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $231,750,000 (or $266,175,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes up to $7,875,000, or up to $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions).
We may effectuate our business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single business, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| • | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| • | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’ management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or
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information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
If we effect a business combination with a target company organized in another jurisdiction, we may take actions in connection with the business combination that could have adverse tax consequences.
We may effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located, or reincorporate in another jurisdiction. Such transactions may result in tax liability for a stockholder or warrantholder in the jurisdiction in which the stockholder or warrantholder is a tax resident (or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity), in which the target company is located, or in which we reincorporate. In the event of a reincorporation pursuant to our initial business combination, such tax liability may attach prior to the consummation of redemptions of any of our public shares properly submitted to us for redemption in connection with such business combination. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders to pay such taxes. Stockholders or warrantholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters or their respective affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters’ or their respective affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
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Risks Relating to Our Sponsor and Our Management Team
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Any such businesses may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. Our independent directors also serve as officers or board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees.”
Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business.
Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled “Management—Officers, Directors and Director Nominees,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
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Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. In March and April 2021, our sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of our advisors. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor will purchase 12,000,000 (or 13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $12,000,000 (or $13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Holders of founder shares have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.
Since our officers and directors will be eligible to share in a portion of any appreciation in founder shares purchased at approximately $0.003 per share, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
The members of our management team have invested in our sponsor by subscribing for units issued by the sponsor. These officers and directors will not receive any cash compensation from us prior to a business combination but through their investment in the sponsor will be eligible to share in a portion of any appreciation in founder shares and private placement units, provided that we successfully complete a business combination. We believe that this structure aligns the incentives of these officers and directors with the interests of our stockholders. However, investors should be aware that, as these officers and directors have paid approximately $0.003 per share for the interest in the founder shares, this structure also creates an incentive whereby our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we complete a business combination with a target that ultimately declines in value and is not profitable for public investors.
Murray Grainger, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our Directors, is a party to non-competition agreements that could limit the companies and businesses that we may target for an initial business combination. This could negatively impact our prospects for an initial business combination.
Murray Grainger, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our Directors, is a party to written restrictive covenant agreements with his former employer, Honeywell. The agreements preclude Mr. Grainger from, without the written consent of Honeywell, becoming associated with (including as an employee, officer, director,
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principal, agent, manager, partner, consultant or representative of) any competing business of Honeywell for a period of two years after his termination of employment, ending in March 2023. The restrictions may not apply if Mr. Grainger demonstrates that he will only become associated with a line of business in, or part of, a competing business that does not compete with Honeywell. The restrictions inure to the benefit of Honeywell its predecessors, successors, designees and assignees, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions and business units. Honeywell has not to-date provided any waiver or consent with respect to any of the agreements described above, and no assurance can be given that Honeywell would in the future provide any consent on terms satisfactory to us or at all with respect to such agreements. The process of obtaining any necessary waiver or consent may delay our initial business combination or later business activities.
As a result of the restrictive covenant agreements, we may be precluded from pursuing an initial business combination with certain businesses. In addition, if our initial business combination does not cause Mr. Grainger to violate any of the agreements described above, no assurance can be given that the combined company would not in the future engage in activities which would cause Mr. Grainger to be in breach of any such agreement. If a court were to conclude that a violation of any such agreement had occurred (and depending on the jurisdiction in which litigation is commenced), it could delay or enjoin Mr. Grainger from participating in our company, or delay or enjoin us from engaging in aspects of the business which compete with Honeywell, as applicable. The court could also award monetary damages against Mr. Grainger or us. Even if ultimately resolved in our favor, any litigation associated with the restrictive covenant agreements could be time consuming, costly and distract management’s focus from locating suitable acquisition candidates and operating our business. This could materially harm our business, reputation and the trading prices of our securities. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. Please see “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our sponsor, upon consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination.
We may structure a business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or
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more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own shares representing 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our initial stockholders, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. 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. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
Risks Relating to Our Securities
If our securities are approved for listing, the NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, our securities may not be, or continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and we must have 400 round lot holders upon the consummation of our initial business combination. We may not be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
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If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| • | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| • | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| • | a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| • | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| • | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants, or for amendments necessary for the warrants to be classified as equity. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened, the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased or we could make other changes, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the
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warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on shares of common stock as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement, (iii) making any amendments that are necessary in the good faith determination of our board of directors (taking into account then existing market precedents for initial public offerings of special purpose acquisition companies underwritten by bulge bracket investment banks) to allow for the warrants to be classified as equity in our financial statements; provided that this clause (iii) will not allow any modification or amendment to the warrant agreement that would adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the public warrants, including by increasing the exercise price of the warrants or shortening the exercise period, which shall require the vote or consent as described below, (iv) removing any cap on the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon a “cashless exercise,” deleting the provision of the warrant agreement described under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants — Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” or amending the terms of the private placement warrants, to provide that the terms of the private placement warrants will not change if transferred to persons other than permitted transferees or to conform the provisions of the private placement warrants to the terms of the public warrants or (v) adding or changing any provisions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants in any material respect, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the issuance of the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A common stock upon the exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, warrant holders will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless.
While we have registered the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act as part of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we do not plan on keeping a prospectus current until required to pursuant to the warrant agreement. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement for this offering or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to
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exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A common stock.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 135.7% (or $13.57 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book deficit per share of $(3.57) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In addition, because of the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.
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Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Following the consummation of this offering and the concurrent private placement of warrants, we will issue an aggregate of 23,250,000 warrants in connection with this offering (comprised of the 11,250,000 warrants included in the units and the 12,000,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). We expect to account for these as a warrant liability and will record at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings as determined by us based upon a valuation report obtained from an independent third party valuation firm. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, potential targets may seek a SPAC that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
We may issue additional common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 477,500,000 and 44,375,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, excluding shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants and currently issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. Shares of Class B common stock are also convertible at the option of the holder at any time.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the warrants as described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” or upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
| • | could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
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We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.
In addition, we may redeem your warrants after they become exercisable for $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. Please see “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding.
Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 11,250,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 12,937,500 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 12,000,000 private placement warrants (or 13,350,000 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Prior to this offering, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares in a private placement. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. In March and April 2021, our sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of our advisors. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Our public warrants are also redeemable by us for Class A common stock as described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.”
To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
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The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.
Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Because, pursuant to the warrant agreement, the warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
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The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:
| • | the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
| • | prior offerings of those companies; |
| • | our prospects for acquiring an operating business; |
| • | a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| • | our capital structure; |
| • | an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| • | general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and |
| • | other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years,
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although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of a prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company or our company’s directors, officers or other employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent
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permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee or agent of our company to our company or our stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting any such alleged breach, (3) action asserting a claim against our company or any director, or officer or employee of our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (4) action asserting a claim against us or any director, or officer or employee of our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine except for, as to each of (1) through (4) above, any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
General Risks
We may face risks related to businesses in the industrial sector.
Business combinations with businesses in the industrial sector entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with such a target business, we may be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:
| • | the markets we may serve may be subject to general economic conditions and cyclical demand, which could lead to significant shifts in our results of operations from quarter to quarter that make it difficult to project long-term performance; |
| • | fluctuations in customer demand; |
| • | competition and consolidation of the specific sector of the industry within which the target business operates; |
| • | volatility in costs for strategic raw material and energy commodities or disruption in the supply of these commodities could adversely affect our financial results; |
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| • | supplier stability, factory transitions and capacity constraints; |
| • | inability to obtain necessary insurance coverage for the target business’ operations; |
| • | additional expenses and delays due to technical problems, labor problems (including union disruptions) or other interruptions at our manufacturing facilities after our initial business combination; |
| • | work-related accidents that may expose us to liability claims; |
| • | our manufacturing processes and products not complying with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, or if we manufacture products containing design or manufacturing defects, the demand for our products declining and potential liability claims; |
| • | litigation and other proceedings, including that we may be liable for damages based on product liability claims, and we may also be exposed to potential indemnity claims from customers for losses due to our work or if our employees are injured performing services; |
| • | warranty claims related to our products, and resulting reputational damage and incurrence of significant costs; |
| • | changes in industry standards; |
| • | changes in tariffs and other trade practices; |
| • | inability to protect our intellectual property rights; |
| • | our products and manufacturing processes being subject to technological change; |
| • | being subject to applicable laws and regulations of federal, state and provincial governments, including environmental and health and safety laws and regulations, and the costs of compliance with such regulations; |
| • | disruption or failure of networks, systems or technology as a result of computer viruses, “cyber-attacks,” misappropriation of data or other malfeasance, as well as outages, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, accidental releases of information or similar events; |
| • | fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; and |
| • | the failure of our customers to pay the amounts owed to us in a timely manner. |
Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to the industrial sector. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks we will be subject to risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, which may or may not be different than those risks listed above.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
| • | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| • | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
| • | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| • | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements; |
| • | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| • | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the recent COVID-19 pandemic, including the efficacy and adoption of recently developed vaccines with respect to COVID-19; |
| • | the lack of a market for our securities; |
| • | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| • | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| • | our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 22,500,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.
| Without Over- Allotment Option | Over-Allotment Option Fully Exercised | |||||||
Gross proceeds | ||||||||
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) | $ | 225,000,000 | $ | 258,750,000 | ||||
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement | 12,000,000 | 13,350,000 | ||||||
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Total gross proceeds | $ | 237,000,000 | $ | 272,100,000 | ||||
Offering expenses(2) | ||||||||
Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3) | $ | 4,500,000 | $ | 5,175,000 | ||||
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Legal fees and expenses | 325,000 | 325,000 | ||||||
Accounting fees and expenses | 40,000 | 40,000 | ||||||
SEC Expenses | 37,779 | 37,779 | ||||||
FINRA Expenses | 61,630 | 61,630 | ||||||
Travel and road show | 10,000 | 10,000 | ||||||
NYSE listing and filing fees | 85,000 | 85,000 | ||||||
Printing and engraving expenses | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||||||
Miscellaneous | 140,591 | 140,591 | ||||||
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Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions) | $ | 750,000 | $ | 750,000 | ||||
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Proceeds after offering expenses | $ | 231,750,000 | $ | 266,175,000 | ||||
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Held in trust account(3) | $ | 229,500,000 | $ | 263,925,000 | ||||
% of public offering size | 102 | % | 102 | % | ||||
Not held in trust account | $ | 2,250,000 | $ | 2,250,000 | ||||
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The following table shows the use of the approximately $2,250,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account.(4)
| Amount | % of Total | |||||||
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination(5) | $ | 500,000 | 22.2 | % | ||||
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations | 160,000 | 7.1 | % | |||||
NYSE continued listing fees | 85,000 | 3.8 | % | |||||
Reimbursement to Sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support (up to $10,000 per month for 18 months) | 180,000 | 8.0 | % | |||||
Director and Officer liability insurance premiums | 870,000 | 38.7 | % | |||||
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses | 455,000 | 20.2 | % | |||||
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Total | $ | 2,250,000 | 100.0 | % | ||||
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| (1) | Includes gross proceeds from this offering of $225,000,000 (or $258,750,000 if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) as well as amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. |
| (2) | A portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. To date, we have borrowed approximately $253,000 under the |
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| promissory note with our sponsor. These amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account. |
| (3) | The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,875,000, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. |
| (4) | These expenses are estimates only, and do not include interest which may be available to us from the trust account. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. |
| (5) | Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing. |
Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $229,500,000 (or $263,925,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year, we estimate the interest and other income earned on the trust account will be approximately $229,500 per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination; (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock; and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our business combination. If our initial business combination is paid
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for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a non-binding letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that stipulates the price and other basic terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.
Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by an additional six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination). In order to effectuate such extension, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $2,250,000, or up to $2,587,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per unit in either case), on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan that will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. We will only be able to effectuate one such extension and only for an additional six months. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. To date, we have borrowed approximately $253,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate
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of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will 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. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.
A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, or (b) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) following the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements, general financial condition and overall financial goals and objectives of our management team subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. However, if we increase the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.
At September 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $(656,509), or approximately $(0.10) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book deficit at September 30, 2021 would have been $(20,065,758), or approximately $(3.57) per share, representing an immediate decrease in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) of $(3.47) per share to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $13.57 per share or 135.7% to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights. Total dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $13.58 per share or 135.8% if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full.
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
| Without Over-Allotment | With Over-Allotment | |||||||||||||||
Public offering price | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | ||||||||||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering | $ | (0.10) | $ | (0.10) | ||||||||||||
Decrease attributable to public stockholders and sale of the private placement warrants | $ | (3.47) | $ | (3.48) | ||||||||||||
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Pro forma net tangible book deficit after this offering | $ | (3.57) | $ | (3.58) | ||||||||||||
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Dilution to public stockholders | $ | 13.57 | $ | 13.58 | ||||||||||||
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Percentage of dilution to public stockholders | 135.7 | % | 135.8 | % | ||||||||||||
For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $229,500,000 because holders of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes), divided by the number of the then outstanding public shares divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.
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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:
| Shares Purchased | Total Consideration | Average Price Per Share | ||||||||||||||||||
| Number | Percentage | Amount | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||
Initial Stockholders(1) | 5,625,000 | 20.0 | % | $ | 25,000 | 0.01 | % | $ | 0.004 | |||||||||||
Public Stockholders | 22,500,000 | 80.0 | % | 225,000,000 | 99.99 | % | $ | 10.00 | ||||||||||||
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| 28,125,000 | 100.0 | % | $ | 225,025,000 | 100.00 | % | ||||||||||||||
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| (1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 843,750 shares of Class B common stock held by our sponsor. |
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering is calculated as follows:
| Without Over-allotment | With Over-allotment | |||||||
Numerator: | ||||||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering | $ | (656,509 | ) | $ | (656,509 | ) | ||
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants(1) | 231,750,000 | 266,175,000 | ||||||
Plus: Offering costs accrued for or paid in advance, excluded from tangible book deficit before this offering | 630,751 | 630,751 | ||||||
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions | (7,875,000 | ) | (9,056,250 | ) | ||||
Less: Derivative warrant liabilities | (14,415,000 | ) | (16,298,248 | ) | ||||
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption | (229,500,000 | ) | (263,925,000 | ) | ||||
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| $ | (20,065,758 | ) | $ | (23,130,256 | ) | |||
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Denominator: | ||||||||
Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering | 6,468,750 | 6,468,750 | ||||||
Class B common stock forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised | (843,750 | ) | — | |||||
Class A common stock included in the units offered | 22,500,000 | 25,875,000 | ||||||
Less: Shares subject to redemption | (22,500,000 | ) | (25,875,000 | ) | ||||
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| 5,625,000 | 6,468,750 | |||||||
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| (1) | Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $750,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,500,000 (or $5,175,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions). See “Use of Proceeds.” |
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at September 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units and the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:
| September 30, 2021 | ||||||||
| Actual | As Adjusted(1) | |||||||
Due to related parties(2) | $ | 253,275 | $ | — | ||||
Deferred underwriting commissions | — | 7,875,000 | ||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities(3) | — | 14,415,000 | ||||||
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Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; -0- and 22,500,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(4) | — | 229,500,000 | ||||||
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted | — | — | ||||||
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized; 6,468,750 and 5,625,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively | 647 | 563 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 24,353 | — | ||||||
Accumulated deficit(5) | (50,758 | ) | (20,066,321 | ) | ||||
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Total shareholders’ deficit | $ | (25,758 | ) | $ | (20,065,758 | ) | ||
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Total capitalization | $ | 227,517 | $ | 231,724,242 | ||||
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| (1) | Assumes the underwriters’ over-allotment option has not been exercised and the resulting forfeiture of 843,750 founder shares held by our sponsor has occurred. |
| (2) | Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. To date, we have borrowed approximately $253,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor. |
| (3) | We will account for the 23,250,000 warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (including the 11,250,000 warrants included in the units and the 12,000,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over- allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statement of operations. Such warrant classification is also subject to re-evaluation at each reporting period. |
| (4) | All of the 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in the offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with our liquidation, if there is a stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with our initial business combination and in connection with certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In accordance with SEC and its guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require common stock subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the 22,500,000 shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in the offering will be issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants), the initial carrying value of Class A common stock classified as temporary equity will be the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. Our Class A common stock is subject to ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, we have 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. We have elected to recognize the changes immediately. The accretion or remeasurement will be treated as a deemed dividend (i.e., a reduction to retained earnings, or in absence of retained earnings, additional paid-in capital). |
| (5) | As adjusted accumulated deficit includes transaction costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities and the immediate accretion of the carry value of Class A common stock subject to redemption value. |
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
OVERVIEW
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.
The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of our common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| • | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our common stock; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; |
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| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and |
| • | other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at September 30, 2021, we had $40 in cash and working capital deficit of approximately $657,000. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND KNOWN TRENDS OR FUTURE EVENTS
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at September 30, 2021, we had $40 in cash and a working capital deficit of approximately $657,000. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Our management’s plans to address this uncertainty through this offering are discussed above. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful.
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor and loans to us of up to $300,000 by our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. To date, we have borrowed approximately $253,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $750,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,500,000 ($5,175,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $12,000,000 (or $13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $231,750,000 (or $266,175,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $229,500,000 (or $263,925,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. The remaining $2,250,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest income (if any) to pay franchise and income taxes. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering, to be $200,000, which is the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation per annum. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the
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amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest income earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our franchise and income taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $2,250,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $500,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $160,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations; $85,000 for the NYSE continued listing fees; $180,000 as a reimbursement to the sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support; $870,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums; and $455,000 for working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves.
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would
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only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control over financial reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no long qualify as an emerging growth company, would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls over financial reporting. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls over financial reporting. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
| • | staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties; |
| • | reconciliation of accounts; |
| • | proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate; |
| • | evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions; |
| • | documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and |
| • | documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’ internal controls while performing their audit of internal controls over financial reporting.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S.
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government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. In March and April 2021, our sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of our advisors. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
Commencing on the date of the completion of the Initial Public Offering, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by an additional six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination). In order to effectuate such extension, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $2,250,000, or up to $2,587,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per unit in either case), on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan that will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. We will only be able to effectuate one such extension and only for an additional six months. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
Prior to the consummation of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan
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us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Our sponsor will purchase 12,000,000 private placement warrants (or 13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per whole warrant or $12,000,000 in the aggregate (or $13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by it to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to it, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the sponsor. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of our business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. The private placement warrants may also be exercised by the sponsor and its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
Pursuant to a registration and stockholder rights agreement we will enter into with our initial stockholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration and stockholder rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration and stockholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS; COMMITMENTS AND CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS; QUARTERLY RESULTS
As of September 30, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus, as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS ACT
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
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Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
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OVERVIEW
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geographical location, we intend to focus our search within the industrial sector, where we believe our management team has a competitive advantage due to their prior experiences and roles. We intend to focus our search efforts on North American-based targets with an aggregate enterprise value of $1 billion to $2 billion.
We believe our management team is well positioned to identify attractive businesses within the industrials sector that would benefit from access to the public markets and the skills of our management team. Our objective is to consummate our initial business combination and enhance shareholder value by helping to identify and recruit effective management, enhance existing business models and strategic planning, identify and complete follow-on acquisitions, implement operational improvements, and expand product offerings and geographic footprint. We expect to utilize our management team’s experience and network to achieve their objectives. We intend to focus on evaluating established companies with leading competitive positions, strong management teams, and long-term potential for growth and profitability.
OUR FOUNDERS, MANAGEMENT, AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We believe our management team has substantive experience across many different types of businesses, and a proven track record of working together to acquire and operate product, solution, and service-oriented businesses across the commercial, industrial, and residential end markets. We believe their robust skillsets and deep industry experience will allow them to apply their expertise and create shareholder value across a wide range of potential target companies.
Roger Fradin serves as the Chairman of our Board of Directors. Mr. Fradin has over 40 years of experience acquiring, building, and leading a diverse set of industrial businesses. Mr. Fradin began his career at Pittway Corporation where he held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including President and Chief Executive Officer of the Security and Fire Solutions segment, and helped lead an entrepreneurial team which transformed Pittway into a $2 billion world leader in electronic security and fire systems. In 2000, Pittway was acquired by Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON). Shortly thereafter, Mr. Fradin assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell ACS. In this role, Mr. Fradin transformed ACS from a business with $7 billion in sales in 2003 focused predominantly on the U.S. market to a $17 billion in sales (as of 2014) global business leader in the development and manufacture of environmental controls, life safety products, and building and process solutions. From 2000 to 2017, Mr. Fradin oversaw, directed, and integrated the acquisition of over 60 companies at Honeywell, aggregating billions of dollars in deal value. Mr. Fradin’s strategy and execution for ACS helped deliver more than $85 billion of value to Honeywell’s shareholders. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Fradin also served as Vice Chairman of Honeywell where he was responsible for acquisition strategy for all of Honeywell. Mr Fradin also was responsible for a large advanced research & technology organization that executed many classified programs, as well as inventing many core new technologies such as Honeywell’s quantum computer offering. After retiring from Honeywell, Mr. Fradin was named Chairman of Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), a leading provider of home comfort and security solutions. At Resideo, Mr. Fradin recruited the Chief Executive Officer, senior management team, and Board of Directors as well as installed all public company board processes and procedures. Mr. Fradin also currently serves as a director of
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Janus International Group, Inc. (NYSE: JBI), a position he has held since the consummation in June 2021 of Janus’ business combination with Juniper Industrial, where Mr. Fradin served as the Chairman of the board of directors of from August 2019 to June 2021 and as Chief Executive Officer from August 2019 to January 2020. In addition to Resideo and Janus, Mr. Fradin currently sits on the boards of L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX), Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT) and several of Carlyle’s, portfolio companies in his capacity as a Carlyle Operating Executive. He also previously served as a member of the board of directors for each of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE: MSM) and Pitney Bowes, Inc. (NYSE: PBI).
Murray Grainger serves as our Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Grainger has over 25 years of global industrial experience within general management, corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions and integrations, strategic planning, and technology investing. Mr. Grainger began his career at ITT Industries, where he held engineering, product management, investor relations and corporate development roles across Sweden, Australia and the United States. Mr. Grainger joined Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) in 2004 and over the course of his 17 year career held a number of leadership roles across Honeywell’s global businesses and functions. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Grainger served as Vice President of Investor Relations, where he led partnerships with external stakeholders including the buy- and sell-side analyst community and built strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including Mr. Fradin and other senior leaders, to develop expert knowledge of the company and serve as a trusted advisor to share the Wall Street perspective. Mr. Grainger also served Chief Financial Officer for Honeywell’s Specialty Products strategic business unit and General Manager for the Advanced Fibers and Composites businesses. Mr. Grainger was a member of Honeywell’s Global M&A team and subsequently Vice President of Business Development and M&A for Honeywell’s ACS segment, its largest business unit. In these roles, Mr. Grainger aided or led multiple buy- and sell-side transactions including Novar plc, Universal Oil Products (UOP) and Intelligrated, among others, and partnered directly with Mr. Fradin on several of these transactions in his capacity as President and CEO of ACS and Vice Chairman of Honeywell. Most recently, Mr. Grainger was the founding Managing Director and Global Head of Honeywell Ventures, based in Silicon Valley, where he built one of the leading corporate venture capital programs in the industrials sector, making more than 30 investments across emerging technology areas including robotics and advanced manufacturing, AI/ML, cybersecurity, urban air mobility, worker productivity and quantum computing.
Noah Kindler serves as our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Kindler has over 20 years of experience as a technology and strategy executive. He has deep experience identifying and working with early stage technology companies. Early in his career, he served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised Fortune 500 companies globally and won awards for innovation. He then joined Avira, a multinational security company where he was the President of the Americas and the VP of Technology/Operations where he focused on growing their market share in the US, where they would eventually be acquired by Symantec. He later joined Knotel in 2015, a property-technology leader, where he served until May 2018 as a general manager and drove substantial sales growth. From May 2018 to August 2019, Mr. Kindler was a member of the senior leadership of Canoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOEV), joining as one of its first employees, in charge of the Silicon Valley office and responsible for the internet enabled software within the vehicle while it grew to an eventual successful merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp IV. In August 2019, Mr. Kindler joined ConcertVDC, Inc. as a founding board member and where he is currently Chief Product Officer. He also serves as a long tenured advisor at the Stanford technology accelerator, StartX.
Mitchell Jacobson has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Jacobson began his career in 1976 at MSC, a premier distributor of MRO products and services to industrial customers throughout North America. In 1995, Mr. Jacobson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of MSC and served as President until 2003 and Chief Executive Officer until 2005. Mr. Jacobson became Chairman of the Board of MSC in 1998 and transitioned to Non-Executive Chairman in 2013, where he continues to serve today and remains active in ongoing growth initiatives. Mr. Jacobson has served as Director of Ambrosia Holdings, L.P. (the holding company of TriMark USA, the country’s largest provider of equipment, supplies, and design
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services to the foodservices industry) since 2017, and previously served as a Director of Juniper Industrial from November 2019 to June 2021 and as a member of the Board of Directors at HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDS) from 2007 to 2013.
Mark Levy has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Levy has over 20 years of experience within the industrials sector. Mr. Levy has deep expertise in building businesses, developing customer relationships, and executing lean manufacturing. From 2000 to 2014, Mr. Levy served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell Life Safety where he led the transformation of the business into a global leader in commercial fire alarm systems, gas detection, and industrial-grade personal protection equipment. During his tenure at Honeywell Life Safety, in which he worked very closely with Mr. Fradin, Mr. Levy executed over 10 acquisitions, a crucial factor to the segment’s growth. Mr. Levy currently serves as member of the Board of Directors at Quexco, Inc, Eco-Bat Technologies, Sciens Building Solutions and Laticrete International, and also currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors at Potter Electric Signal Co. Mr. Levy also previously served as a Director of Juniper Industrial from November 2019 to June 2021.
Andrew Teich has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Teich has over 35 years of experience in the industrial technology sector. In June 2017, after 33 years with the company, Mr. Teich retired as the President and Chief Executive Officer of FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR), a position he had held since 2013, FLIR is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of thermal imaging and stabilized airborne camera systems for a wide variety of applications in the commercial, industrial, and government markets. Mr. Teich joined FLIR in 1999 as Senior Vice President, Marketing, and held various positions within FLIR since that time, including President of Commercial Vision Systems and President of Commercial Systems. During Mr. Teich’s enure at FLIR, the market capitalization grew from approximately $60 million to more than $6 billion. Prior to joining FLIR, Mr. Teich held various positions at Inframetrics, Inc. (acquired by FLIR in 1999), including Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr.Teich served on the board of directors of FLIR from July 2013 until his retirement in June 2017. Throughout his career, Mr.Teich has been involved in more than 25 technology company acquisitions throughout his career and is listed as an inventor on more than 50 patents and became known in the industry as a principal innovator of commercial and military thermal imaging and successfully expanded into visible, radar, sonar, near infrared, and CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive) technologies and markets. Mr. Teich has served as a director of Sensata Technologies Holdings plc (NYSE: ST), a multinational automotive and industrial sensing company, since May 2014, and as the Chairman of the board since July 2019. In October 2018, he joined the board of directors of Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), where he is currently the lead independent director.
Experience with a Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle
Our management team has previous experience in the execution of a public acquisition vehicle. Mr. Fradin was appointed to the board of directors of GS Acquisition Holdings Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in connection with its initial public offering in June 2018. GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. consummated its initial business combination with Vertiv Holdings, LLC in February 2020. The Class A common stock of the combined company, Vertiv Holdings Co, is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “VRT.” Mr. Fradin continues to serve as a member of the board of directors Vertiv following the consummation of the business combination.
In addition, an affiliate of our sponsor formed and sponsored Juniper Industrial, a special purpose acquisition company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company that completed its initial public offering in November 2019. Each of Messrs. Fradin, Jacobson and Levy previously served on the board of directors of Juniper Industrial until the consummation of its initial business combination, with Mr. Fradin serving as Chairman and formerly as Juniper Industrial’s Chief Executive Officer. On December 21, 2020, Juniper Industrial entered into a business combination agreement with affiliates of Janus to acquire Janus, which business combination was consummated on June 7, 2021. Janus is the leading global manufacturer and supplier of turn-key self-storage, commercial and industrial building solutions, including: roll up and swing doors, hallway systems, re-locatable storage units, and facility and door automation technologies.
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Our directors and officers or their respective affiliates may in the future become affiliated with other public special purpose acquisition companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours, including potentially during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Our management team is not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating time among various business activities. See “Risk F actors— Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
The past performance of, or businesses associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of such parties as indicative of our future performance. See “Risk Factors—Past performance by, or business associated with, our management team, including Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc., is not indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” In addition, members of our management team may have conflicts of interest with other entities to which they owe fiduciary or contractual obligations with respect to initial business combination opportunities. For a list of our directors and executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such persons and the company, please refer to “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
OUR ADVISORS
Our experienced strategic advisors will assist our management team in search of suitable acquisition targets following the consummation of this offering. They are as follows:
Darius Adamczyk has agreed to serve as one of our advisors. Mr. Adamczyk is a proven business leader with significant experience in executive leadership positions. Mr. Adamczyk has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell since April 2018. Mr. Adamczyk was President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell from March 2017 to April 2018 and Chief Operating Officer of Honeywell from April 2016 to March 2017. From April 2014 to April 2016, Mr. Adamczyk served as President and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies (“PMT”). Prior to serving as President and CEO of PMT, Mr. Adamczyk served as President of Honeywell Process Solutions from 2012 to 2014 and as President of Honeywell Scanning and Mobility from 2008 to 2012. Mr. Adamczyk joined Honeywell in 2008 when Metrologic, Inc., where he was the Chief Executive Officer, was acquired by Honeywell. Prior to Metrologic, Mr. Adamczyk held several general management assignments at Ingersoll Rand, served as a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, and started his career as an electrical engineer at General Electric.
Bill Fradin has agreed to serve as one of our advisors. Mr. Fradin has over 15 years of experience as a finance and investment professional. Since November 2019, Mr. Fradin has served as Executive Vice President of Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:SFTW), which has entered into a business combination agreement with BlackSky Holdings, Inc., a leading real-time geospatial intelligence, imagery, and data analytics company. In addition, Mr. Fradin is a Managing Partner and Founder at Seal Rock Partners, a family-backed private equity firm, and a Managing Director and Co-Founder at HEPCO Capital Management, LLC, a multi-SPAC sponsor. Prior to founding Seal Rock Partners, Mr. Fradin was an investment professional at JLL Partners. Mr. Fradin is the son of Roger Fradin, our Chairman.
We currently expect our advisors to (i) provide guidance to us in the completion of this offering, (ii) assist us in sourcing and negotiating with potential business combination targets, (iii) provide business insights when we assess potential business combination targets and (iv) upon our request, provide business insights as we work to create additional value in the businesses that we acquire. In this regard, our advisors will fulfill some of the same functions as our board members. However, our advisors have no written advisory agreement with us, nor do they have any other employment arrangements with us. Moreover, our advisors will not be under any fiduciary obligation to us nor will they perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. Our advisors will not be required to devote any specific amount of time
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to our efforts or be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Accordingly, if our advisors become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the entities to which they have fiduciary or contractual obligations, they will honor their fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and will not be under any obligation or duty to present any such business combination opportunity to us. We may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may acquire.
COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS
We will seek to capitalize on the significant experience and network of Roger Fradin, our Chairman, Murray Grainger, our Chief Executive Officer, and Noah Kindler, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer, as well as the other members of our Board of Directors in consummating an initial business combination. Our competitive strengths and factors that we believe will contribute to our ability to execute a transaction include the following:
| • | Leading Operating Executives: Mr. Fradin has over 40 years of experience in operating industrial companies. Mr. Fradin served 17 years as a top executive at Honeywell, a Fortune 100 industrial technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions including aerospace products and services, control technologies for buildings and industry, and performance materials globally. Mr. Fradin has a highly successful track record of recruiting and building leadership teams, growing companies at above market rates, improving business operations, expanding margins, maximizing cash flow, and generating robust return on capital. Mr. Fradin was instrumental in co-creating the signature Honeywell Operating System, an integrated program built on Six Sigma principles to drive sustainable safety, quality, delivery, cost, and inventory improvement among Honeywell businesses. During Mr. Fradin’s time at Honeywell, he expanded the business into new markets, drove global expansion, built first-rate leadership teams and executed strategic M&A, including partnering with Mr. Grainger on numerous transactions, to enhance shareholder value. Following Honeywell’s acquisition of Intelligrated, Mr. Grainger was then selected to lead the integration of Intelligrated, where he spearheaded a global, multi-functional team that set the stage for more than 200% business growth under the first three years of Honeywell’s ownership. In addition to the valuable experience of Messrs. Fradin and Grainger, Mr. Kindler brings a wealth of broad and deep technology expertise in areas relevant to our initial business combination criteria and a history of working with emerging growth companies. We believe the notable expertise of Messrs. Fradin and Grainger within the industrials sector, as well as Mr. Kindler’s experience with emerging growth companies, will allow our management team to evaluate and prioritize potential opportunities relevant to Mr. Fradin’s background with growth potential. |
| • | Deep Deal Execution Experience: Mr. Fradin is both highly experienced in mergers and acquisitions across a wide variety of industrial sectors. He has successfully identified, executed and integrated highly synergistic transactions within a variety of product categories including, but not limited to, fire and security, gas detection, safety products, building and HVAC controls, building services, home automation, low voltage products and distribution, sensing and control products, data capture technologies, warehouse automation, supply chain software, process automation, automotive products, field instrumentation and metering. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Fradin was responsible for consummating over 60 discrete acquisitions at attractive net multiples that contributed billions in revenue and represented over $20 billion of capital deployed. Mr. Fradin was instrumental in the creation of several new verticals within Honeywell including Scanning & Mobility Technology, Life Safety/Gas Detection, and Warehouse Automation. In his various roles at Honeywell, Mr. Grainger aided or led multiple buy- and sell-side transactions, partnering directly with Mr. Fradin on numerous transactions in his capacity as President and CEO of ACS and Vice Chairman of Honeywell. We believe the extensive track records of executing deals possessed by Messrs. Fradin and Grainger, as well as their history of successful collaboration on deal execution, will allow our management team to execute an efficient and successful business combination. |
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| • | Highly Leverageable Network: We intend to source initial business combination opportunities through our management team’s extensive network of industrial sector business owners, public and private company executives and board members, investment bankers, private equity and debt investors, high net worth families and their advisors, commercial bankers, attorneys, management consultants, accountants and other transaction intermediaries. Additionally, Mr. Fradin holds the highest level of security clearance approved by the U.S. government, which broadens the scope of potential acquisition targets, especially in regard to companies that perform government, defense, and/or classified work. We believe leveraging this vast network, together with Mr. Kindler’s experience identifying and developing emerging growth companies and Messrs. Fradin’s and Grainger’s recognized track records of completing acquisitions across a variety of categories within the broader industrials sector, will provide meaningful opportunities to drive value creation for our shareholders. |
| • | Our Board of Directors: Our directors have experience with acquisitions, divestitures and corporate strategy and implementation, as well as the public markets, which we believe will significantly benefit us as we evaluate potential initial business combination candidates as well as, to the extent they remain on our board of directors, following the completion of our initial business combination. |
BUSINESS COMBINATION CRITERIA
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We expect to conduct a comprehensive due diligence review which will include, among other things, management and employee meetings, review of financial information, facility inspection, and an extensive review of all other material target company information. We intend to use these criteria as guidelines in evaluating potential acquisition opportunities, but an acquisition may be executed even if it does not meet our guidelines.
| • | Focus on companies within the industrials sector such as those within aerospace (including “clean” aviation), defense, automation, building products and construction, business services, capital goods, distribution, industrial services, industrial technology, packaging, safety and security, and supply chain / logistics, among others. We intend to evaluate emerging growth opportunities within the industrial sector and to seek businesses that are currently North American-centric with unrealized potential for global expansion. Additionally, we believe our management team’s deep industry experience and vast network will allow us to identify undervalued assets where we can accelerate operational improvements, organic revenue growth, and potential acquisition opportunities to drive shareholder value. |
| • | Identify market leaders within their particular industries that also have distinguished technologies or proprietary processes that differentiate them from their competitors. Our management team has a track record of identifying market leading technologies across the industrials spectrum and an affinity for businesses with strong brands, mission-critical offerings, and often times an electronic or software foundation. |
| • | Seek opportunities with an attractive financial profile that can be enhanced with the targeted expertise of our management team. While this may include businesses with sound histories of growth and profitability, we may also target underperforming businesses that we believe will benefit from new ownership and the implementation of enhanced operating efficiencies. |
| • | Seek “channel-based” businesses with end-user connections (i.e., businesses that sell through a dealer / installer network of end-users). Our management team has deep experience with this go-to-market approach. |
| • | Target platforms that can be expanded through bolt-on M&A and/or through targeted capital deployment, such as those within fragmented markets. |
| • | Focus on businesses that offer a degree of market strength or competitive advantages through regulation, strong brands, channel access, and/or superior technology. |
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| • | Seek target businesses that have a strong leadership team that may benefit from the additional industry expertise of our management team. |
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 the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.
OUR ACQUISITION PROCESS
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
We currently do not have any specific transaction under consideration with a target business with which to consummate our initial business combination.
Members of our management team will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at approximately $0.003 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public stockholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their shares of common stock (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). See “Risk Factors — Since our officers and directors will be eligible to share in a portion of any appreciation in founder shares purchased at approximately $0.003 per share, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.”
Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including duties pursuant to which such officer or director may be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended
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and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
Our executive officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including in connection with Mr. Fradin’s service as a director of Janus, a position he has held since the consummation in June 2021 of the business combination between Janus and Juniper Industrial, a special purpose acquisition company that, like us, was focused on the industrial sector. See “Risk Factors—Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The requirement that the target business or businesses together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and will continue to apply to us even if our securities are no longer listed on the NYSE. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
We believe our management team’s operating and transaction experience and network of relationships with investment banks, private equity firms, professional advisors and senior industrial executives will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams. Our management team is also highly experienced in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Management” for a more complete description of our management team’s experience.
STATUS AS A PUBLIC COMPANY
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe certain target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s 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.
FINANCIAL POSITION
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $223,875,000, after payment of $7,875,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $257,118,750 after payment of up to $9,056,250 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing access to the expertise of our management team, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
EFFECTING OUR INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination or used for redemptions of purchases of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We currently do not have any specific transaction under consideration with a target business with which to consummate our initial business combination. We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately 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.
SOURCES OF TARGET BUSINESSES
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants,
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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 many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary 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. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. 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 business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
SELECTION OF A TARGET BUSINESS AND STRUCTURING OF OUR INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. The requirement that the target business or businesses together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and will continue to apply
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to us even if our securities are no longer listed on the NYSE. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our business combination.
To the extent we effect our business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. By completing our business combination with only a single business, 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. |
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LIMITED ABILITY TO EVALUATE THE TARGET’S MANAGEMENT TEAM
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that those additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
STOCKHOLDERS MAY NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO APPROVE OUR INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, subject to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.
Type of Transaction | Whether Stockholder Approval is Required | |
Purchase of assets | No | |
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company | No | |
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company | No | |
Merger of the company with a target | Yes |
Under the NYSE’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| • | we issue (other than in a public offering) shares of Class A common stock that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then outstanding; |
| • | any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired and if the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of Class A common stock into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of Class A common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case |
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of any of our directors and officers or (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial stockholders; or |
| • | the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which stockholder approval is not required by law or applicable stock exchange rules 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 stockholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek stockholder 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 stockholder vote; |
| • | the risk that the stockholders 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 stockholders. |
PERMITTED PURCHASES OF OUR SECURITIES
In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will 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. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as such purchases will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount
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of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
REDEMPTION RIGHTS FOR PUBLIC STOCKHOLDERS UPON COMPLETION OF OUR INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.20 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. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors described above “—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination,” such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require
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stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:
| • | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| • | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:
| • | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| • | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company
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entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count toward this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,437,501, or 37.5%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination if We Seek Stockholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.
Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the
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date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The 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 stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering.
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Extension of Time to Complete Business Combination
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination for six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extension to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into by us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $2,250,000, or up to $2,587,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per unit in either case), on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan that will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our business combination within such applicable period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 18-month (or 24-month, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) time period.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 18-month (or 24-month, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) time period.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem
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their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $2,250,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay our franchise and income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver.
In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of
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the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.20 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.20 per public share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $2,250,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such
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stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination within the required time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 18th month (or 24th month, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay our franchise and income taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.20 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders.
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Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering or if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.
Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete our Business Combination
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering.
Redemptions in Connection | Other Permitted Purchases of | Redemptions if We Fail | ||||
Calculation of redemption price | Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions. | If we are unable to completed our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share) including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the |
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Redemptions in Connection | Other Permitted Purchases of | Redemptions if We Fail | ||||
| and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place, if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | number of then outstanding public shares. | |||||
Impact to remaining stockholders | The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and withdrawals from interest earned on the trust account to pay our franchise and income taxes. | If the permitted purchases described above are made there would be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. | The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions. | |||
COMPARISON OF THIS OFFERING TO THOSE OF BLANK CHECK COMPANIES SUBJECT TO RULE 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
Escrow of offering proceeds | $229,500,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, | Approximately $191,362,500 of the offering proceeds would be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank |
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | |||
Investment of net proceeds | $229,500,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. | Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. | ||
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds | Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any income or franchise taxes paid or payable and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. | Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination. | ||
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business | Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. | The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. | ||
Trading of securities issued | The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Morgan | No trading of the units or the underlying Class A common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. | ||
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, an additional Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. | ||||
| The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. | ||||
Exercise of the warrants | The warrants cannot be exercised until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. | The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account. | ||
Election to remain an investor | We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of the then | A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if it elects to remain a stockholder of the | ||
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. | company or require the return of its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. | |||
Business combination deadline | If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, we | If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. | ||
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. | ||||
Release of funds | Except for the withdrawal of interest income to pay our franchise and income taxes, the proceeds from this offering held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), or (b) with respect to any other | The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. | ||
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Terms of Our Offering | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |||
| provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock; and (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete a business combination within the required time frame (subject to the requirements of applicable law). |
COMPETITION
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
FACILITIES
Our executive offices are located at 3790 El Camino Real #818, Palo Alto, California 94306, and our telephone number is (650) 292-9660. Our executive offices are provided to us by an affiliate of our sponsor. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
EMPLOYEES
We currently have two officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination.
The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
PERIODIC REPORTING AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION
We will register our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.
We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target
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business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the PCAOB. 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 such requirements or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with such requirements. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal controls over financial reporting procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control over financial reporting procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls over financial reporting. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
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OFFICERS, DIRECTORS AND DIRECTOR NOMINEES
Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:
Name | Age | Position | ||||
Roger Fradin | 68 | Chairman | ||||
Murray Grainger | 49 | Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||||
Noah Kindler | 43 | Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer | ||||
Mitchell Jacobson | 70 | Director Nominee | ||||
Mark Levy | 73 | Director Nominee | ||||
Andrew Teich | 61 | Director Nominee | ||||
Roger Fradin serves as the Chairman of our Board of Directors. Mr. Fradin has over 40 years of experience acquiring, building, and leading a diverse set of industrial businesses. Mr. Fradin began his career at Pittway Corporation where he held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including President and Chief Executive Officer of the Security and Fire Solutions segment, and helped lead an entrepreneurial team which transformed Pittway into a $2 billion world leader in electronic security and fire systems. In 2000, Pittway was acquired by Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON). Shortly thereafter, Mr. Fradin assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell ACS. In this role, Mr. Fradin transformed ACS from a business with $7 billion in sales in 2003 focused predominantly on the U.S. market to a $17 billion in sales (as of 2014) global business leader in the development and manufacture of environmental controls, life safety products, and building and process solutions. From 2000 to 2017, Mr. Fradin oversaw, directed, and integrated the acquisition of over 60 companies at Honeywell, aggregating billions of dollars in deal value. Mr. Fradin’s strategy and execution for ACS helped deliver more than $85 billion of value to Honeywell’s shareholders. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Fradin also served as Vice Chairman of Honeywell where he was responsible for acquisition strategy for all of Honeywell. Mr Fradin also was responsible for a large advanced research & technology organization that executed many classified programs, as well as inventing many core new technologies such as Honeywell’s quantum computer offering. After retiring from Honeywell, Mr. Fradin was named Chairman of Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), a leading provider of home comfort and security solutions. At Resideo, Mr. Fradin recruited the Chief Executive Officer, senior management team, and Board of Directors as well as installed all public company board processes and procedures. Mr. Fradin also currently serves as a director of Janus International Group, Inc. (NYSE: JBI), a position he has held since consummation of in June 2021 of Janus’ business combination with Juniper Industrial, where Mr. Fradin served as the Chairman of the board of directors from August 2019 to June 2021 and as Chief Executive Officer from August 2019 to January 2020. In addition to Resideo and Janus, Mr. Fradin currently sits on the boards of L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX), Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT) and several of Carlyle’s portfolio companies in his capacity as a Carlyle Operating Executive. He also previously served as a member of the board of directors for each of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE: MSM) and Pitney Bowes, Inc. (NYSE: PBI). Mr. Fradin holds a B.S. and M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Mr. Fradin’s significant expertise in business strategy and corporate finance and management experience makes him well qualified to serve as a director.
Murray Grainger serves as our Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Grainger has over 25 years of global industrial experience within general management, corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions and integrations, strategic planning, and technology investing. Mr. Grainger began his career at ITT Industries, where he held engineering, product management, investor relations and corporate development roles across Sweden, Australia and the United States. Mr. Grainger joined Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) in 2004 and over the course of his 17 year career held a number of leadership roles across Honeywell’s global businesses and functions. During his tenure at Honeywell, Mr. Grainger served as Vice President of Investor Relations, where he led partnerships with external stakeholders including the buy- and sell-side analyst community and built strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including Mr. Fradin and other senior leaders, to develop expert knowledge of the company and serve as a trusted advisor to share the Wall
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Street perspective. Mr. Grainger also served Chief Financial Officer for Honeywell’s Specialty Products strategic business unit and General Manager for the Advanced Fibers and Composites businesses. Mr. Grainger was a member of Honeywell’s Global M&A team and subsequently Vice President of Business Development and M&A for Honeywell’s ACS segment, its largest business unit. In these roles, Mr. Grainger aided or led multiple buy- and sell-side transactions including Novar plc, Universal Oil Products (UOP) and Intelligrated, among others, and partnered directly with Mr. Fradin on several of these transactions in his capacity as President and CEO of ACS and Vice Chairman of Honeywell. Most recently, Mr. Grainger was the founding Managing Director and Global Head of Honeywell Ventures, based in Silicon Valley, where he built one of the leading corporate venture capital programs in the industrials sector, making more than 30 investments across emerging technology areas including robotics and advanced manufacturing, AI/ML, cybersecurity, urban air mobility, worker productivity and quantum computing. Mr. Grainger holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Sydney and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. We believe Mr. Grainger’s extensive background across emerging technology areas in the industrials sector and his significant experience in a variety of corporate leadership roles make him well qualified to serve as a director.
Noah Kindler serves as our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Kindler has over 20 years of experience as a technology and strategy executive. He has deep experience identifying and working with early stage technology companies. Early in his career, he served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised Fortune 500 companies globally and won awards for innovation. He then joined Avira, a multinational security company where he was the President of the Americas and the VP of Technology/Operations where he focused on growing their market share in the US, where they would eventually be acquired by Symantec. He later joined Knotel in 2015, a property-technology leader, where he served until May 2018 as a general manager and drove substantial sales growth. From May 2018 to August 2019, Mr. Kindler was a member of the senior leadership of Canoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOEV), joining as one of its first employees, in charge of the Silicon Valley office and responsible for the internet enabled software within the vehicle while it grew to an eventual successful merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp IV. In August 2019, Mr. Kindler joined ConcertVDC, Inc. as a founding board member and where he is currently Chief Product Officer. He also serves as a long tenured advisor at the Stanford technology accelerator, StartX. He has a BS degree in computer science from Stanford University and an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School. Mr. Kindler is the son-in-law of our Chairman, Roger Fradin.
Mitchell Jacobson has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Jacobson began his career in 1976 at MSC, a premier distributor of MRO products and services to industrial customers throughout North America. In 1995, Mr. Jacobson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of MSC and served as President until 2003 and Chief Executive Officer until 2005. Mr. Jacobson became Chairman of the Board of MSC in 1998 and transitioned to Non-Executive Chairman in 2013, where he continues to serve today and remains active in ongoing growth initiatives. Mr. Jacobson has served as Director of Ambrosia Holdings, L.P. (the holding company of TriMark USA, the country’s largest provider of equipment, supplies, and design services to the foodservices industry) since 2017, and previously served as a Director of Juniper Industrial from November 2019 to June 2021 and as a member of the Board of Directors at HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDS) from 2007 to 2013. Mr. Jacobson is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for New York Presbyterian Hospital, as well as the hospital’s Investment and Patient Experience committees. Mr. Jacobson also serves as a Trustee for New York University School of Law. Mr. Jacobson is a graduate of Brandeis University and the New York University School of Law. We believe Mr. Jacobson’s business strategy expertise makes him well qualified to serve as a director.
Mark Levy has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Levy has over 20 years of experience within the industrials sector and deep expertise in building businesses, developing customer relationships, and executing lean manufacturing. From 2000 to 2014, Mr. Levy served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell’s Life Safety division where he led the transformation of the business into a global leader in commercial fire alarm systems, gas detection, and industrial-grade personal protection equipment. Additionally, during his tenure, Mr. Levy spearheaded 26 acquisitions, growing sales from
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$350 million to $3.9 billion. Mr. Levy started his career at Fire-Lite Alarms, a fire alarm business in Connecticut, which he grew to $50 million before selling to Pittway Corporation, and then subsequently grew to $350 million before selling to Honeywell. Mr. Levy remained president of Fire-Lite Alarms and in 1987 was additionally named president of NOTIFIER, also acquired by Pittway. Mr. Levy previously served on the board of directors of the University of New Haven and as Chairman of the board of directors of Easter Seals/Goodwill Industries in Connecticut. Mr. Levy currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Quexco, Inc., Eco-Bat Technologies, Sciens Building Solutions and Laticrete International, and also currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors at Potter Electric Signal Co. Mr. Levy also previously served as a Director of Juniper Industrial from November 2019 to June 2021. Mr. Levy holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Denver and an honorary Doctor of Business from the University of New Haven. We believe Mr. Levy’s significant expertise in building businesses and corporate finance experience makes him well qualified to serve as a director.
Andrew Teich has agreed to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Teich has over 35 years of experience in the industrial technology sector. Mr. Teich served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR), a public multinational imaging and sensing company, from May 2013 until his retirement from the company in June 2017. Mr. Teich joined FLIR in 1999 as Senior Vice President, Marketing, and held various positions within FLIR since that time, including President of Commercial Vision Systems and President of Commercial Systems. He also served on the board of directors of FLIR from July 2013 until his retirement in June 2017. Prior to joining FLIR, Mr. Teich held various positions at Inframetrics, Inc. (acquired by FLIR in 1999), including Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr. Teich has been involved in more than 25 technology company acquisitions throughout his career and is listed as an inventor on more than 50 patents. He and became known in the industry as a principal innovator of commercial and military thermal imaging and successfully expanded into visible, radar, sonar, near infrared, and CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive) technologies and markets. Mr. Teich has served as a director of Sensata Technologies Holdings plc (NYSE: ST), a multinational automotive and industrial sensing company, since May 2014, and as the Chairman of the board since July 2019. In October 2018, he joined the board of directors of Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), where he is currently the lead independent director. Mr. Teich received his B.S. degree in marketing from Arizona State University and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. We believe Mr. Teich’s extensive background in the industrial technology sector and his experience in acquisitions and operational integration make him well qualified to serve as a director.
NUMBER AND TERMS OF OFFICE OF OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
We intend to have five directors upon completion of this offering. Our board of directors will be divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mitchell Jacobson, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mark Levy and Andrew Teich, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Roger Fradin and Murray Grainger, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.
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. 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.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our sponsor, upon consummation of an initial business combination will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors.
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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 bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a 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 NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person that, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Our board of directors has determined that Mitchell Jacobson, Mark Levy and Andrew Teich are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
Other than Roger Fradin and his son-in-law, Noah Kindler, there are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.
OFFICER AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
None of our officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board 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
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our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee; a nominating committee; and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the rules of the NYSE require that the nominating and compensation committees of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Mitchell Jacobson, Mark Levy and Andrew Teich will serve as members of our audit committee, and Mark Levy will serve as chairman of the audit committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Jacobson, Levy and Teich are independent.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mark Levy qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules, and will chair the audit committee.
We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| • | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| • | pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
| • | reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships they have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
| • | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| • | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| • | obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the independent registered public accounting firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
| • | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
| • | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with |
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regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Nominating Committee
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee will be Mitchell Jacobson, Mark Levy and Andrew Teich, and Mitchell Jacobson will serve as chairman of the nominating committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Jacobson, Levy and Teich are independent.
The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, stockholders, investment bankers and others.
Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which will be specified a charter to be adopted by us, generally provide that persons to be nominated:
| • | should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
| • | should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
| • | should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the stockholders. |
The nominating committee will consider 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. The nominating committee 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. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by stockholders and other persons.
Compensation Committee
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be Mitchell Jacobson, Mark Levy and Andrew Teich, and Andrew Teich will serve as chairman of the compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Jacobson, Levy and Teich are independent.
We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| • | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
| • | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation of all of our other officers; |
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| • | reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| • | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| • | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| • | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
| • | if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| • | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the $10,000 per month administrative fee payable to an affiliate of our sponsor and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of a business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other advisor and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such advisor. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other advisor, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such advisor, including the factors required by the NYSE 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 board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
CODE OF ETHICS
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including duties pursuant to which such officer or director may be required to present business combination opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, in the future, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers arising in the future would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination.
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Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| • | None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities. |
| • | Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our founders shares, Class A common stock and/or private placement warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at approximately $0.003 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public stockholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their shares of common stock (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
| • | In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. |
| • | Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable by our sponsor until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or saleable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
| • | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
| • | Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended |
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initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. |
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
| • | the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity; |
| • | the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and |
| • | it would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation. |
Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
Individual | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
Roger Fradin | Resideo Technologies, Inc. | HVAC and Security Technology | Chairman of the Board | |||
| L3Harris Technologies Inc. | Technology | Board Member | ||||
| Vertiv Holdings Co | Electrical Equipment | Board Member | ||||
| Janus International Group, Inc. | Industrial Equipment | Board Member | ||||
Noah Kindler | Concert VDC, Inc. | Software | Chief Product Officer | |||
Mitchell Jacobson | MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. | Industrial Equipment | Non-Executive Chairman of the Board | |||
| Trustees for New York Presbyterian Hospital | Healthcare | Board Member | ||||
| New York University School of Law | Education | Trustee | ||||
| Ambrosia Holdings, L.P. | Food Services | Board Member | ||||
Mark Levy | Quexco, Inc. | Smelting | Board Member | |||
| Eco-Bat Technologies | Recycling Technology | Board Member | ||||
| Sciens Building Solutions | Fire Protection Technology | Board Member | ||||
| Laticrete International | Chemicals | Board Member | ||||
| Potter Electric Signal Co. | Manufacturing | Co-Chairman of the Board | ||||
Andrew Teich | Sensata Technologies Holdings plc | Industrial Technology | Chairman of the Board | |||
| Resideo Technologies, Inc. | Smart Home Technology | Board Member |
Accordingly, if any of the above executive officers, directors or director nominees becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he or she has current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or
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officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
We have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination.
If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, whether as a result of conflicts of interest or otherwise, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, upon the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. Please see “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein.
LIMITATION ON LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION OF OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.
We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
| • | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock; |
| • | each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns shares of our common stock; and |
| • | all our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. In March and April 2021, our sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of our advisors. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. The following table presents the number of shares and percentage of our common stock owned by our initial stockholders before and after this offering. The post-offering numbers and percentages presented assume that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits 843,750 founder shares, and that there are 28,125,000 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | Before Offering | After Offering | ||||||||||||||
| Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) | Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Common Stock | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) | Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Common Stock | |||||||||||||
Juniper II Management, LLC(3) | 6,328,750 | 97.8 | % | 5,485,000 | 19.5 | % | ||||||||||
Roger Fradin(3) | 6,328,750 | 97.8 | % | 5,485,000 | 19.5 | % | ||||||||||
Murray Grainger | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Noah Kindler | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Mitchell Jacobson | 35,000 | * | 35,000 | * | ||||||||||||
Mark Levy | 35,000 | * | 35,000 | * | ||||||||||||
Andrew Teich | 35,000 | * | 35,000 | * | ||||||||||||
All executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group (six individuals) | 6,433,750 | 99.5 | % | 5,590,000 | 19.9 | % | ||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Juniper II Corp., 3790 El Camino Real #818, Palo Alto, California 94306. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. Such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities.” |
| (3) | Roger Fradin has voting and dispositive power over the securities held by Juniper II Management, LLC and therefore may be deemed to be a beneficial owner thereof. |
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Immediately after this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20% of the then-issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions, including approval of our initial business combination.
The holders of the founder shares have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.
Our sponsor and our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERS OF FOUNDER SHARES AND PRIVATE PLACEMENT WARRANTS
The founder shares and private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us to be entered into by our sponsor, officers and directors. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or saleable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or their affiliates, any affiliates of our sponsor, or any employees of such affiliates, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization, (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual, (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination, (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor, (h) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination or (i) in the event of our liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. In March and April 2021, our sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of our advisors. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 843,750 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Our sponsor will, pursuant to a written agreement, purchase 12,000,000 (or 13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per whole warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at between $12,000,000 and $13,350,000, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay our sponsor, a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by an additional six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination). In order to effectuate such extension, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the
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trust account $2,250,000, or up to $2,587,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per unit in either case), on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan that will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. We will only be able to effectuate one such extension and only for an additional six months. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We will enter into a registration rights and stockholder rights agreement pursuant to which our sponsor will be entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, and, upon consummation of our initial business combination, to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Registration and Stockholder Rights.”
RELATED PARTY POLICY
We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or
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the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. We also require each of our directors and executive officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, by us for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
| • | repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| • | payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support; |
| • | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| • | repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. |
Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
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Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be effective upon consummation of this offering, our authorized capital stock will consist of 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
UNITS
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one whole share of Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the closing of this offering unless Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC informs us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants.
In no event will the Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
COMMON STOCK
Upon the closing of this offering, 28,125,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 843,750 founder shares by our sponsor), consisting of:
| • | 22,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock underlying the units being offered in this offering; and |
| • | 5,625,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders. |
If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
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Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as described below or required by law or stock exchange rules. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Our board of directors will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws, unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL. 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. 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.
We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.20 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. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder
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approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares of common stock sold in this offering, which we refer to as the Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,437,501, or 37.5%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised). Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust
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account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
FOUNDER SHARES
The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination and (B) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within such time period, (iii) the founder shares are shares of our Class B common stock that will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein and (iv) are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A
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common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public 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 founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by a resolution passed by a majority of our Class B common stock. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
PREFERRED STOCK
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.
WARRANTS
Public Stockholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as discussed in the immediately succeeding paragraph. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue a share of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two
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immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the shares of Class A common stock underlying such unit.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement for this offering or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If a post-effective amendment to the registration statement for this offering or a new registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by 0.361. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
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We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described below; and |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
Beginning on the date the notice of redemption is given until the warrants are redeemed or exercised, holders may elect to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The numbers in the table below represent the number of shares of Class A common stock that a warrant holder will receive upon such cashless exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined for these purposes based on volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends.
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, references above to shares of Class A common stock shall include a security other than shares of Class A common stock into which the shares of Class A common stock have been converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination. The numbers in the table below will not be adjusted when determining the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued upon exercise of the warrants if we are not the surviving entity following our initial business combination.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant or the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below. If the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. The number of shares in the table below shall be
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adjusted in the same manner and at the same time as the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant. If the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted, (a) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the fifth paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” and the denominator of which is $10.00 and (b) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the second paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price less the decrease in the exercise price of a warrant pursuant to such exercise price adjustment.
Redemption Date | Fair Market Value of Class A Common Stock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| £ $10.00 | 11.00 | 12.00 | 13.00 | 14.00 | 15.00 | 16.00 | 17.00 | ³ 18.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 months | 0.261 | 0.281 | 0.297 | 0.311 | 0.324 | 0.337 | 0.348 | 0.358 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
57 months | 0.257 | 0.277 | 0.294 | 0.310 | 0.324 | 0.337 | 0.348 | 0.358 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
54 months | 0.252 | 0.272 | 0.291 | 0.307 | 0.322 | 0.335 | 0.347 | 0.357 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
51 months | 0.246 | 0.268 | 0.287 | 0.304 | 0.320 | 0.333 | 0.346 | 0.357 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 months | 0.241 | 0.263 | 0.283 | 0.301 | 0.317 | 0.332 | 0.344 | 0.356 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
45 months | 0.235 | 0.258 | 0.279 | 0.298 | 0.315 | 0.330 | 0.343 | 0.356 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
42 months | 0.228 | 0.252 | 0.274 | 0.294 | 0.312 | 0.328 | 0.342 | 0.355 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
39 months | 0.221 | 0.246 | 0.269 | 0.290 | 0.309 | 0.325 | 0.340 | 0.354 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 months | 0.213 | 0.239 | 0.263 | 0.285 | 0.305 | 0.323 | 0.339 | 0.353 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
33 months | 0.205 | 0.232 | 0.257 | 0.280 | 0.301 | 0.320 | 0.337 | 0.352 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
30 months | 0.196 | 0.224 | 0.250 | 0.274 | 0.297 | 0.316 | 0.335 | 0.351 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 months | 0.185 | 0.214 | 0.242 | 0.268 | 0.291 | 0.313 | 0.332 | 0.350 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 months | 0.173 | 0.204 | 0.233 | 0.260 | 0.285 | 0.308 | 0.329 | 0.348 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 months | 0.161 | 0.193 | 0.223 | 0.252 | 0.279 | 0.304 | 0.326 | 0.347 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 months | 0.146 | 0.179 | 0.211 | 0.242 | 0.271 | 0.298 | 0.322 | 0.345 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 months | 0.130 | 0.164 | 0.197 | 0.230 | 0.262 | 0.291 | 0.317 | 0.342 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 months | 0.111 | 0.146 | 0.181 | 0.216 | 0.250 | 0.282 | 0.312 | 0.339 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 months | 0.090 | 0.125 | 0.162 | 0.199 | 0.237 | 0.272 | 0.305 | 0.336 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 months | 0.065 | 0.099 | 0.137 | 0.178 | 0.219 | 0.259 | 0.296 | 0.331 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 months | 0.034 | 0.065 | 0.104 | 0.150 | 0.197 | 0.243 | 0.286 | 0.326 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 months | — | — | 0.042 | 0.115 | 0.179 | 0.233 | 0.281 | 0.323 | 0.361 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.298 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable on a cashless basis in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment). Finally, as reflected in the table above, if the warrants are out of the money and about to expire, they cannot be exercised on a cashless basis in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, since they will not be exercisable for any shares of Class A common stock.
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This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in some other blank check offerings, which only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A common stock exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A common stock is trading at or above $10.00 per public share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A common stock is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the date of this prospectus. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock is trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of Class A common stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of Class A common stock if and when the Class A common stock was trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the warrant agreement (for instance, if we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination), the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than the Class A common stock, the Company (or surviving company) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption Procedures. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering made to all or substantially all holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are
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convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) “historical fair market value” means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to all or substantially all of the holders of the Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Class A common stock during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any other adjustments and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock 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 within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of our Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of
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redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00” and “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of Class A common stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by stockholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the redemption of shares of Class A common stock by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the stockholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Class A common stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustment (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of shares of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of shares of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to
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which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on common stock as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the rights of the registered holders of public warrants. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.
We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors—Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us under all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
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If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported closing price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of any of these warrants) until the date that is 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except that, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants” made to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor.
DIVIDENDS
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
OUR TRANSFER AGENT AND WARRANT AGENT
The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.
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OUR AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
Provisions Related to This Offering
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of 50% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:
| • | if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law; |
| • | prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination; |
| • | although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view; |
| • | if a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act; |
| • | our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination; |
| • | if our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our business combination within 18 months (or 24 months, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not |
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previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and |
| • | we will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
| • | prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; |
| • | upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or |
| • | at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or certain other transactions resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of our voting stock.
Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction which results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions which stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the Sponsor and its affiliates, any of its direct or indirect transferees of at least 15% of our outstanding common stock and any group as to which such persons are party to, do not constitute “interested stockholders” for purposes of this provision.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.
Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
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Exclusive Forum for Certain Lawsuits
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Special Meeting of Stockholders
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman.
Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations
Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders, must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the open of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.
Action by Written Consent
Subsequent to the consummation of the offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our common stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our Class B common stock.
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Classified Board of Directors
Our board of directors will initially be divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with members of each class serving staggered three-year terms. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors. Subject to the terms of any preferred stock, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office.
Class B Common Stock Consent Right
For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision our certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.
SECURITIES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE
Immediately after the consummation of this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we will have 28,125,000 (or 32,343,750 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 22,500,000 shares (or 25,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 5,625,000 (or 6,468,750 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares and all 12,000,000 (or 13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the shares of Class B common stock and private placement warrants are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. These restricted securities will be subject to registration rights as more fully described below under “—Registration and Stockholder Rights.”
RULE 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the twelve months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
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Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
| • | 1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 281,250 shares immediately after this offering (or approximately 323,438 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or |
| • | the average weekly reported trading volume of the common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF RULE 144 BY SHELL COMPANIES OR FORMER SHELL COMPANIES
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
| • | the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| • | the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| • | the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and materials required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding twelve months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and |
| • | at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
As a result, our initial stockholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
REGISTRATION AND STOCKHOLDER RIGHTS
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights and stockholder agreement to be signed prior to the consummation of this offering, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration and stockholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations,
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recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
In addition, pursuant to the registration and stockholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors.
LISTING OF SECURITIES
We have applied to list our units, Class A common stock and warrants on the NYSE under the symbols “JUN.U,” “JUN” and “JUN WS,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on the NYSE.
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U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants (which we refer to collectively as our securities), to U.S. holders and Non-U.S. holders (each as defined below and collectively referred to as “holders”). Because the components of a unit are separable at the option of the holder once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant components of the unit, as the case may be. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of Class A common stock and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A common stock and warrants that comprise the units). This discussion applies only to our securities that are held as a capital asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.
This discussion does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors, such as:
| • | financial institutions; |
| • | insurance companies; |
| • | dealers or traders subject to a mark-to-market method of accounting with respect to the securities; |
| • | regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts; |
| • | persons holding the securities as part of a “straddle,” hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction; |
| • | U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar; |
| • | governments or agencies and their controlled entities or instrumentalities; |
| • | persons subject to anti-inversion rules; |
| • | persons required to accelerate the recognition of any item of gross income as a result of Section 451(b) of the Code; |
| • | our sponsor, directors or any of their respective affiliates; |
| • | former citizens or residents of the United States; |
| • | persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of the total combined voting power or value of our shares; |
| • | partnerships or other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities; and |
| • | tax-exempt entities. |
If you are a partnership (or an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of your partners will generally depend on the status of the partners and the partners’ activities. Holders of securities that are partnerships or partners in such partnerships are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the particular U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to them.
This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations and
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other applicable authorities as of the date hereof, changes to any of which or new interpretations thereof subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described herein. We have not sought any, nor do we intend to seek, a ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) with respect to the statements made and the conclusions reached in the following summary, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court will agree with our statements and conclusions or that a court would sustain any challenge by the IRS in the event of litigation. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non-U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).
You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction.
PERSONAL HOLDING COMPANY STATUS
We could be subject to an additional U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company (or “PHC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).
Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not be a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.
ALLOCATION OF PURCHASE PRICE AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A UNIT
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant to acquire one share of our Class A common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one share of Class A common stock and the one-half of one warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make his or her own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult his or her tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each share of Class A common stock and the one-half of one warrant should be the stockholder’s initial tax basis in such share or one-half of one warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A common stock and the one-half of one warrant based
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on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of shares of Class A common stock and warrants comprising units should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of the shares of Class A common stock and warrants and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. HOLDERS
This section applies to you if you are a “U.S. holder.” A U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of Class A common stock or warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
| • | an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; |
| • | a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; |
| • | an estate, the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or |
| • | a trust, if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary jurisdiction over its administration and one or more U.S. persons has the authority to control all of its substantial decisions, or (ii) a valid election is in place under applicable U.S. Treasury regulations to treat such trust as a domestic trust. |
Taxation of Distributions. If we pay distributions in cash or other property to U.S. holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “—U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below.
Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder generally will constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the maximum tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants. Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants which, in general, would include a redemption of Class A common stock or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities, as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period, a U.S. holder generally will recognize capital gain
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or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the Class A common stock or warrants. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. holder is an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock or the warrants based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrants generally will equal the U.S. holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock or one-half of one warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. holder’s initial basis for Class A common stock received upon exercise of warrants) less, in the case of a share of Class A common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. See “—Exercise or Lapse of a Warrant” below for a discussion regarding a U.S. holder’s tax basis in shares of Class A common stock acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant.
Redemption of Class A Common Stock. In the event that a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as described under “—U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “—U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions.” Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of Class A common stock generally will be treated as a sale of the Class A common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. holder. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. holder, as well as any stock the U.S. holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately following the redemption of Class A common stock must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately before the redemption. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed and the U.S. holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. holder does not constructively own any other stock. The
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redemption of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if the redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” A U.S. holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.
If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “— U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. holder in the redeemed Class A common stock will be added to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.
Exercise or Lapse of a Warrant. Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. holder generally will not recognize taxable gain or loss on the acquisition of common stock upon exercise of a warrant for cash. The U.S. holder’s tax basis in the share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price. The U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrants will begin on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrants and will not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, either because the exercise is not a gain realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either tax-free situation, a U.S. holder’s basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the holder’s basis in the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a gain realization event (and not a recapitalization), a U.S. holder’s holding period in the Class A common stock would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. holder could be deemed to have surrendered warrants equal to the number of shares of Class A common stock having a value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. The U.S. holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the Class A common stock represented by the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the sum of the fair market value of the Class A common stock represented by the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the warrants exercised. A U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrant.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
Redemption of Warrants. In the case of a redemption of a warrant for cash, a U.S. holder generally should recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S.
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holder’s adjusted tax basis in warrants as described above under “—U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.” However, if the redemption were to be characterized as a redemption of stock for U.S. federal income tax purposes (which we do not expect), then the redemption would instead be treated as described above under “—U.S. Holders—Redemption of Class A Common Stock.” In the case of a redemption of a warrant for Class A common stock, such redemption generally should be treated as a tax-deferred recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in which case a U.S. holder’s basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the holder’s basis in the warrant and the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant. We intend to treat the cashless exercise of a warrant in exchange for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined by reference to the table set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants,” occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for $0.10 as described thereunder, as if we redeemed such warrant for stock as described in this paragraph. However if the redemption were instead to be characterized for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an exercise of the warrant (which we do not expect), then the tax treatment would instead be treated as described above under “—U.S. Holders—Exercise or Lapse of a Warrant.”
Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events (including if we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price of less than $9.20 per share), as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment to the number of such shares or to such exercise price increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our Class A common stock, in each case which is taxable to the U.S. holders of such shares as a distribution described under “—U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest resulting from the adjustment. Generally, a U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrant would be increased to the extent any such constructive distribution is treated as a dividend.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants, unless the U.S. holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).
Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
NON-U.S. HOLDERS
This section applies to you if you are a “Non-U.S. holder.” A Non-U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units that is an individual, corporation, estate or trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and is not a U.S. holder.
Taxation of Distributions. In general, any distributions we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our Class A common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined
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under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E). In the case of any constructive dividend described below in “—Possible Constructive Distributions,” it is possible that this tax would be withheld from any amount owed to a Non-U.S. holder by the applicable withholding agent, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to such holder. Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our Class A common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock, which will be treated as described under “—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “U.S. real property holding corporation” (see “—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.
The withholding tax does not apply to dividends paid to a Non-U.S. holder who provides a Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident, subject to an applicable income tax treaty providing otherwise. A Non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).
Exercise of a Warrant. The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. holder’s exercise of a warrant, or the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. holder, generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise or lapse of a warrant by a U.S. holder, as described under “—U.S. holders—Exercise or Lapse of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described below in “—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”
Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants. A Non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within the required time period, or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:
| • | the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder); |
| • | the Non-U.S. holder is an individual present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and certain other conditions are met; or |
| • | we are or have been a “U.S. real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our Class A common stock, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively (including through ownership of warrants) more than 5% of our Class A common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock. There can be no |
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assurance that our Class A common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose. |
Unless an applicable treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate). Gain described in the second bullet point above will be subject to a 30% U.S. federal income tax rate.
If the third bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our Class A common stock or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a U.S. real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a U.S. real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “U.S. real property interests” equals or exceeds 50 percent of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Redemption of Class A Common Stock and Warrants. The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. holder’s Class A common stock or warrants pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Common Stock” or “Description of Securities—Warrants,” as applicable, generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of a redemption of a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock or warrants, as described under “U.S. Holders—Redemption of Class A Common Stock” or “U.S. Holders—Redemption of Warrants” above, as applicable, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. holder generally will be as described above under “—Taxation of Distributions” and “—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable.
Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of Class A shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events (including if we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price of less than $9.20 per share), as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” The character of such an adjustment generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such an adjustment described under “—U.S. Holders—Possible Constructive Distributions,” and the consequences of a taxable adjustment to a Non-U.S. holder generally will be as described above under “—Taxation of Distributions.”
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. Information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends and the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a U.S. person in order to avoid information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a treaty will satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
FATCA Withholding Taxes. Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance promulgated thereunder (commonly referred to as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” or “FATCA”) generally impose withholding at a rate of 30% on payments of dividends
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(including constructive dividends) on our Class A common stock or warrants, to “foreign financial institutions” (which is broadly defined for this purpose and in general includes investment vehicles) and certain other Non-U.S. entities unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied, or an exemption applies (typically certified as to by the delivery of a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN-E). The IRS has issued proposed regulations (on which taxpayers may rely until final regulations are issued) that would generally not apply these withholding requirements to gross proceeds from sales or other disposition proceeds from our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants. If FATCA withholding is imposed, a beneficial owner that is not a foreign financial institution generally will be entitled to a refund of any amounts withheld by filing a U.S. federal income tax return (which may entail significant administrative burden). Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the effects of FATCA on their investment in our securities.
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Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering and as representatives of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus, each underwriter named below has severally agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to that underwriter, the number of units set forth opposite the underwriter’s name.
Underwriter | Number of Units | |||
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | ||||
UBS Securities LLC | ||||
|
| |||
Total | 22,500,000 | |||
|
| |||
The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all of the units (other than those covered by the over-allotment option described below) if they purchase any of the units.
Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. Any units sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount from the initial public offering price not to exceed $ per unit. If all of the units are not sold at the initial offering price, the underwriters may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The underwriters have advised us that they do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts. The offering of the units by the underwriters are subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ rights to reject any order in whole or in part.
If the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 3,375,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. To the extent the option is exercised, the underwriters must purchase a number of additional units approximately proportionate to that underwriters’ initial purchase commitment. Any units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.
We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock, subject to certain exceptions. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC in their sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice, other than in the case of the officers and directors, which shall be with notice. Our sponsor, officers and directors are also subject to separate transfer restrictions on their founder shares and private placement warrants as described in the following paragraph.
Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar
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transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the underwriters. Among the factors considered in determining initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A common stock or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE under the symbol “JUN.U” We expect that our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed under the symbols “JUN” and “JUN WS,” respectively, once the Class A common stock and warrants begin separate trading. The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
| Payable by Juniper II Corp. | ||||||||
| No Exercise | Full Exercise | |||||||
Per Unit(1) | $ | 0.55 | $ | 0.55 | ||||
Total(1) | $ | 12,375,000 | $ | 14,231,250 | ||||
| (1) | Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,875,000 (or $9,056,250 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. |
If we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate, the trustee and the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account upon liquidation, and (ii) that the deferred discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses).
In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option and stabilizing purchases, in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
| • | Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriters of a greater number of units than they are required to purchase in the offering. |
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| • | “Covered” short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriters’ over-allotment option. |
| • | “Naked” short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriters’ over-allotment option. |
| • | Covering transactions involve purchases of units either pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option or in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions. |
| • | To close a naked short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. |
| • | To close a covered short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed or must exercise the over-allotment option. In determining the source of units to close the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option. |
| • | Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase units so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum. |
Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own account, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriters may conduct these transactions in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. If the underwriters commence any of these transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.
We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $750,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for all expenses and fees related to the review by FINRA, which will not exceed $15,000.
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, but we may do so at our discretion. However, the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses, provide financial advisory services to us in connection with a business combination or assist us in raising additional capital in the future, including by acting as a placement agent in a private offering or underwriting or arranging debt financing. If the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay the underwriters fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriters prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriting compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination. Any fees we may pay the underwriters or their affiliates for services rendered to us after this offering may be contingent on the completion of a business combination and may include non-cash compensation. The underwriters or their affiliates that provide these services to us may have a potential conflict of interest given that the underwriters are entitled to the deferred portion of their underwriting compensation for this offering only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified time frame.
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Neither the underwriters nor their affiliates are under any obligation to provide us services in the future, including with respect to our initial business combination. The underwriters and/or their respective affiliates engage in advisory, underwriting, lending and financing, principal investing, sales and trading, research and investment management activities with a variety of clients and counterparties, corporate, governmental, institutional and individual. Consequently, at the time of our initial business combination the underwriters may advise or provide financing or other services to the target business, the sellers of the target business or other entities competing with us to acquire the target business. In addition, the underwriters and/or their respective affiliates may compete with us in trying acquire a target business or have interests in the target business we acquire.
The underwriters and their respective affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their respective affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS IN AUSTRALIA
No prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), in relation to the offering. This document does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the “Corporations Act”), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act.
Any offer in Australia of the units may only be made to persons who are “sophisticated investors” (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), “professional investors” (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) or otherwise pursuant to one or more exemptions contained in section 708 of the Corporations Act so that it is lawful to offer the units without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act.
In addition, the shares of Class A common stock and warrants (including any shares issued on the exercise of the warrants) must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the respective date of issue, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under section 708 of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act. Any person acquiring the shares of Class A common stock and warrants (including any shares issued on the exercise of the warrants) must observe such Australian on-sale restrictions.
This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.
NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS IN CANADA
The units may be sold in Canada only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or
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subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.
NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA
In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area (each, a “Member State”), no offer of shares may be made to the public in that Member State other than:
| • | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Regulation; |
| • | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriters; or |
| • | in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, |
provided that no such offer of shares shall require us or any of our representatives to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation and each person who initially acquires any shares or to whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed to and with the underwriters and us that it is a “qualified investor” as defined in the Prospectus Regulation.
In the case of any shares being offered to a financial intermediary as that term is used in Article 5 of the Prospectus Regulation, each such financial intermediary will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that the shares acquired by it in the offer have not been acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in circumstances which may give rise to an offer of any shares to the public other than their offer or resale in a Member State to qualified investors as so defined or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the underwriters has been obtained to each such proposed offer or resale.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of shares to the public” in relation to any shares in any Member State means the communication in any form and by means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase shares, the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended).
NOTICE TO RESIDENTS OF HONG KONG
The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances
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which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.
NOTICE TO RESIDENTS OF JAPAN
The units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” shall mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.
NOTICE TO RESIDENTS OF SINGAPORE
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.
Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is (a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:
| • | to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than $200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA; |
| • | where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or |
| • | where the transfer is by operation of law. |
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NOTICE TO INVESTORS IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE)
Notice to persons in the onshore UAE
In accordance with the 2017 Promotion and Introduction Regulations (as emended) of the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), our shares may only be promoted and offered in the UAE (excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)) without the prior approval of the SCA where the promotion is directed to: (i) the UAE federal government and local governments, governmental institutions and authorities; (ii) companies fully owned by any of the aforementioned; (iii) international bodies and organizations; (iv) entities licensed by the SCA or equivalent regulatory authority; (v) a corporate person who meets, at the date of its last financial statements, at least two of the following requirements: (1) total assets of AED (75) million; (2) net annual revenues of AED (150) million; and (3) has net owner equity or paid-up capital of AED (7) million; or (vi) following a ‘reverse’ (i.e. unsolicited) enquiry by an investor. Further, this document does not constitute a public offer of our shares in the UAE (excluding the DIFC and the ADGM) and is not intended to be a public offer. The SCA has not verified this document or other documents in connection with out shares and the SCA may not be held liable for the accuracy or completeness of the information in this document. Our shares may be illiquid or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective investors should conduct their own due diligence on our shares. If you do not understand the contents of this document you should consult an authorized financial advisor.
Notice to persons in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the UAE
This offer document is an ‘Exempt Offer’, in accordance with the ‘Market Rules’ of the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. This ‘Exempt Offer’ document is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Market Rules. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any document in connection with ‘Exempt Offers’. The ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority has not approved this ‘Exempt Offer’ document nor taken steps to verify the information set out in it, and has no responsibility for it. The securities to which this Exempt Offer related may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the securities offered should conduct their own due diligence on the securities. If you do not understand the contents of this ‘Exempt Offer’ document you should consult an authorized financial advisor. For the purposes of this financial-promotion restriction in the Financial Services and Markets Regulation of the ADGM, this offer document constitutes an ‘Exempt Communication’ or is not otherwise subject to that restriction. Where applicable, it is intended for distribution only to person of a type specified in the relevant ‘Exempt Communication’. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person,
Notice to persons in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in the UAE
This document relates to an ‘Exempt Offer’, in accordance with the Market Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). This document is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Market Rules. It must not be delivered to, or relied on, by any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with ‘Exempt Offers’. The DFSA has not approved this document not taken steps to verify the information set out in it, and has no responsibility for it. Our shares may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their re-sale. Prospective purchasers of our shares should conduct their own due diligence on them. If you do not understand the contents of this document you should consult an authorized financial adviser. For the purposes of the financial-promotion restriction in the Regulatory Law 2004 (as amended) of the DIFC, this offer document constitutes an ‘Exempt Financial Promotion’ or is not otherwise subject to that restriction. Where applicable, it is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the relevant ‘Exempt Communication’. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person.
NOTICE TO INVESTORS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment
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professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as a “relevant person”). The units are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase or otherwise acquire such units will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.
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Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Houston, Texas, has passed upon the validity of the securities offered hereby on behalf of us. Certain legal matters will be passed upon on behalf of the underwriters by Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, New York.
The financial statements of Juniper II Corp. as of September 30, 2021 and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 appearing in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Juniper II Corp. to continue as a going concern, as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
Juniper II Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Juniper II Corp (the “Company”) as of March 31, 2021, the related statements of operations, stockholder’s deficit and cash flows for the three months ended March 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 March 31, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the three months ended March 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’s business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company has a working capital deficiency as of March 31, 2021, and lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable amount of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans with regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ MarcumLLP
MarcumLLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
New York, NY
June 2, 2021, except for paragraph 3 of Note 1, paragraph 16 of Note 2, paragraph 1 of Note 3, paragraph 1 of Note 4, paragraph 1 and 3 of Note 5, paragraph 2 and 3 of Note 6, paragraph 3 of Note 7, paragraph 9 of Note 8, and paragraph 3 of Note 9, which are dated July 22, 2021
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JUNIPER II CORP.
| September 30, 2021 | March 31, 2021 | |||||||
| (unaudited) | (audited) | |||||||
Assets: | ||||||||
Current assets: | ||||||||
Cash | $ | 40 | $ | 12,110,602 | ||||
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Total current assets | 40 | 12,110,602 | ||||||
Deferred offering costs associated with the proposed public offering | 630,751 | 396,596 | ||||||
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Total assets | $ | 630,791 | $ | 12,507,198 | ||||
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Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable | $ | 20,939 | $ | 13,882 | ||||
Accrued expenses | 333,518 | 225,481 | ||||||
Franchise tax payable | 48,817 | 48,817 | ||||||
Due to related parties | 253,275 | 12,244,717 | ||||||
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Total current liabilities | 656,549 | 12,532,897 | ||||||
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Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||
Stockholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | — | — | ||||||
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | — | — | ||||||
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 6,468,750 shares issued and outstanding(1) | 647 | 647 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 24,353 | 24,353 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit | (50,758 | ) | (50,699 | ) | ||||
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Total stockholders’ deficit | (25,758 | ) | (25,699 | ) | ||||
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Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit | $ | 630,791 | $ | 12,507,198 | ||||
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| (1) | This number includes up to 843,750 Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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JUNIPER II CORP.
| For The Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021 | For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 | |||||||
| (unaudited) | (audited) | |||||||
General and administrative expenses | $ | 1,941 | $ | 1,882 | ||||
Franchise tax expenses | 48,817 | 48,817 | ||||||
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Net loss | $ | (50,758 | ) | $ | (50,699 | ) | ||
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Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1) | 5,625,000 | 5,625,000 | ||||||
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Basic and diluted net loss per share | $ | (0.01 | ) | $ | (0.01 | ) | ||
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| (1) | This number excludes an aggregate of up to 843,750 Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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JUNIPER II CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
| Common Stock | Total Stockholders’ Deficit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Additional Paid-In Capital | Accumulated Deficit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance—December 30, 2020 (inception) | — | $ | — | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||||||||||
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor(1) | — | — | 6,468,750 | 647 | 24,353 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | — | — | — | — | — | (50,699 | ) | (50,699 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Balance—March 31, 2021 | — | $ | — | 6,468,750 | $ | 647 | $ | 24,353 | $ | (50,699 | ) | $ | (25,699 | ) | ||||||||||||||
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Net loss | — | — | — | — | — | (59 | ) | (59 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Balance—September 30, 2021 (unaudited) | — | $ | — | 6,468,750 | $ | 647 | $ | 24,353 | $ | (50,758 | ) | $ | (25,758 | ) | ||||||||||||||
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| (1) | This number includes up to 843,750 Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
JUNIPER II CORP.
| For The Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021 | For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 | |||||||
| (unaudited) | (audited) | |||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net loss | $ | (50,758 | ) | $ | (50,699 | ) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
General and administrative expenses advanced by related parties | 1,642 | — | ||||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable | 339 | 1,882 | ||||||
Franchise tax payable | 48,817 | 48,817 | ||||||
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Net cash used in operating activities | 40 | — | ||||||
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Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from advances from related parties | 12,351,103 | 12,244,717 | ||||||
Repayment of advances from related parties | (12,216,988 | ) | — | |||||
Offering costs paid | (134,115 | ) | (134,115 | ) | ||||
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Net cash provided by financing activities | — | 12,110,602 | ||||||
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Net change in cash | 40 | 12,110,602 | ||||||
Cash—beginning of the period | — | — | ||||||
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Cash—end of the period | $ | 40 | $ | 12,110,602 | ||||
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Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities: | ||||||||
Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B common stock | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs included in accounts payable | $ | 20,600 | $ | 12,000 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs included in accrued expenses | $ | 333,518 | $ | 225,481 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs advanced by related parties | $ | 117,518 | $ | — | ||||
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
JUNIPER II CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1—Description of Organization and Business Operations
Juniper II Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on December 30, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of September 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. The Company had no activity for the period from December 30, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. All activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Public Offering of 22,500,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 25,875,000 Units if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 12,000,000 warrants (or 13,350,000 warrants if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to Juniper II Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”) that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete a Business Combination with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into a Business Combination. 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 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management will agree that an amount equal to at least $10.20 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account, as described below.
The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) 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 stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means
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of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Stockholders 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 earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriter (as discussed in Note 6). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination 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 liquidation, if there is a stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with the initial Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”). In accordance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and its guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require common stock subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the Public Shares will be issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants), the initial carrying value of Class A common stock classified as temporary equity will be the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. The Class A common stock is 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. The accretion or remeasurement will be treated as a deemed dividend (i.e., a reduction to retained earnings, or in absence of retained earnings, additional paid-in capital). While redemptions cannot cause the Company’s net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, the Public Shares are redeemable and will be classified as such on the balance sheet until such date that a redemption event takes place. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors will agree to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
If the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a Public Stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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 Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Sponsor will agree (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation 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 Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
The Company will have 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering to consummate an initial Business Combination. However, if the Company anticipates that it may not be able to consummate the initial Business Combination within 18 months, the Company may extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination for six months (for a total of 24 months to complete a Business Combination) without submitting such proposed extension to the stockholders for approval or offering the Public Stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith. In order to extend the time available for the Company to consummate
F-8
the initial Business Combination for an additional six months, the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the Trust Account an amount of $0.10 per Public Share, or approximately $2.3 million in the aggregate (or up to approximately $2.6 million in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) on or prior to 18-month anniversary of the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (or 24 months, if extended) to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The Sponsor will agree to waive its liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor or any of its affiliates acquire Public Shares after the Proposed Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriter will agree to waive its right 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 assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Proposed Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor will agree to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.20 per Public Share or (ii) such lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriter of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern Consideration
As of September 30, 2021, the Company had $40 in cash and a working capital deficiency of approximately $657,000. The Company’s liquidity needs to date have been satisfied through a payment of $25,000 from
F-9
Sponsor to cover for certain offering costs in exchange for the issuance of the Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5), advances from related parties of approximately $12.2 million to cover for certain offering costs and prepayment for Private Placement Warrants (see Note 4), which was fully repaid on April 7, 2021, and the loan amount of approximately $253,000 under the Promissory Note (as defined in Note 5).
Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the Proposed Public Offering. The Company cannot assure that its plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial Business Combination will be successful. In addition, management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and its effect on the Company’s financial position, results its operations and/or search for a target company.
These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for one year following the issuance of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from its inability to consummate the Proposed Public Offering or its inability to continue as a going concern.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 global 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, close of the Proposed Public Offering and/or 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.
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
The accompanying unaudited financial statements as of September 30, 2021 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 have been prepared in accordance with United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal accruals) considered for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the period ending December 31, 2021, or for any future period.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company”, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not
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had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liabilities. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Deferred Offering Costs associated with the Proposed Public Offering
Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering. Upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering, offering costs will be allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Proposed Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs allocated to the derivative warrant liabilities will be charged to operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A common stock will be charged against the carrying value of Class A common stock upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes”. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties
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as of September 30, 2021 and March 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. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
The provision for income taxes was deemed to be immaterial for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Net Loss Per Share
Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 843,750 shares of Class B common stock that are subject to forfeiture if the option to purchase additional units is not exercised by the underwriter (see Note 7). As of September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the periods presented.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. As of September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, the Company has not experienced losses on this account 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 ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| • | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
| • | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| • | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
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Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period. In accordance with ASC 825-10 “Financial Instruments”, offering costs attributable to the issuance of the derivative warrant liabilities have been allocated based on their relative fair value of total proceeds and are recognized in the statement of operations as incurred.
The 11,250,000 warrants to be issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and the 12,000,000 Private Placement Warrants will be recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. Accordingly, the Company will recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities will be subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value will be recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. Derivative warrant liabilities will be classified as non-current liabilities as their liquidation will not be reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Recent Adopted Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2020-06, “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity”, which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company early adopted the ASU on January 1, 2021 using a modified retrospective method for transition. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
Note 3—Proposed Public Offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 22,500,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Note 4—Private Placement
The Sponsor will agree to purchase an aggregate of 12,000,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 13,350,000 Private Placement Warrants if the option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $12.0 million, or approximately $13.4 million if the option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering.
Each Private Placement Warrant will be exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the
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proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Placement Warrants.
Note 5—Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On January 21, 2021, the Sponsor paid $25,000 on behalf of the Company to cover certain offering costs in exchange for issuance of 8,625,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”). On February 4, 2021, the Company effected a forward stock split that increased the number of Founder Shares held by the Sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. On July 12, 2021, the Sponsor surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 Founder Shares, which the Company canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,468,750 Founder Shares outstanding. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Company’s initial Stockholders will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Proposed Public Offering). If the Company increases or decreases the size of the offering, the Company will effect a stock dividend, stock split or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering in such amount as to maintain the initial stockholders’ ownership of at 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering.
In March and April 2021, the Sponsor transferred 35,000 Founder Shares to each of the Company’s independent directors and to Darius Adamczyk, one of the advisors. The transfer of the Founder Shares is in the scope of FASB ASC Topic 718, “Compensation-Stock Compensation” (“ASC 718”). Under ASC 718, stock-based compensation associated with equity-classified awards is measured at fair value upon the grant date. The Founders Shares were granted subject to a performance condition (i.e., the occurrence of a Business Combination). Compensation expense related to the Founders Shares is recognized only when the performance condition is probable of occurrence under the applicable accounting literature in this circumstance. As of September 30, 2021, the Company determined that a Business Combination is not considered probable, and, therefore, no stock-based compensation expense has been recognized. Stock-based compensation would be recognized at the date a Business Combination is considered probable (i.e., upon consummation of a Business Combination) in an amount equal to the number of Founders Shares that ultimately vest multiplied times the grant date fair value per share (unless subsequently modified).
The Sponsor will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Related Party Loans
Promissory Note and Advances
The Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note dated January 21, 2021, which was later amended on
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September 30, 2021 (the “Promissory Note”). The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. As of September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, the Company borrowed approximately $253,000 and $0 under the Promissory Note, respectively. In addition, the Company received additional advances from related parties of approximately $12.2 million to cover for certain offering costs and pre-payment for Private Placement Warrants, which was fully repaid on April 7, 2021.
Working Capital Loans
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 warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
Extension Loans
If the Company anticipates that it may not be able to consummate the initial Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, the Company may, but are not obligated to, extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination by an additional six months (for a total of 24 months to complete an initial Business Combination), as described in Note 1. In connection with such extension, the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees may loan the Company the required funds to deposit into the Trust Account an amount of $0.10 per Public Share, or approximately $2.3 million in the aggregate (or up to approximately $2.6 million in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan (the “Extension Loans”). The loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of the initial Business Combination. If the Company completes its initial Business Combination, the Company would be obligated to repay such loaned amounts.
Administrative Support Agreement
The Company will agree, commencing on the effective date of the Proposed Public Offering through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support.
Note 6—Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of Proposed Public Offering, requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to Class A common stock). The holders of the majority of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form
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demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company will grant the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 3,375,000 additional Units at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriter will be entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4.5 million in the aggregate (or approximately $5.2 million in the aggregate if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional Units is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, the underwriter will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or approximately $7.9 million in the aggregate (or approximately $9.1 million in the aggregate if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full). 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.
Note 7—Stockholder’s Deficit
Preferred Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.
Class A Common Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.
Class B Common Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, there were 6,468,750 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, which amounts have been adjusted to reflect the share surrender as discussed in Note 5. Of the 6,468,750 shares of Class B common stock outstanding, up to 843,750 shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s option to purchase additional Units is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Company’s initial stockholders will own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Proposed Public Offering).
Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, except as required by law or stock exchange rules; provided that only holders of the Class B common stock have the right to vote on the appointment of the Company’s directors prior to the initial Business Combination.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Proposed Public Offering and related to the closing of the initial Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common
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stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the Business Combination). Holders of Founder Shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.
Note 8—Derivative Warrant Liabilities
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. The Company will agree that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days, after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file, and within 60 business days following a Business Combination to have declared effective, a post-effective amendment to the registration statement for this offering or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will be required to use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
The exercise price and number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share capitalization, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of
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the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00” and “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described under “—Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Redemptions of Warrants When the Price Per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00—Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder (the “30-day redemption period”); and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sales price (the “closing price”) of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, it may exercise its redemption right even if the Company is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00—Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at $0.10 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per Public Share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; |
provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of Class A common stock.
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The “fair market value” of the Class A common stock shall mean the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. 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.
The Company will account for the 23,250,000 warrants to be issued in connection with the Proposed Public Offering (including the 11,250,000 Public Warrants included in the Units and the 12,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability due to the existence of provisions whereby adjustments to the exercise price of the warrants is based on a variable that is not an input to the fair value of a “fixed-for-fixed” option and the existence of the potential for net cash settlement for the warrantholders (but not all shareholders) in the event of a tender offer.
The accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments requires that the Company record a derivative liability upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value and the warrants will be allocated a portion of the proceeds from the issuance of the Units equal to its fair value determined by the Monte Carlo simulation. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance 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 will reassess the classification at each balance sheet date. If the classification changes as a result of events during the period, the warrants will be reclassified as of the date of the event that causes the reclassification.
Note 9—Subsequent Events
The Company has evaluated subsequent events that occurred after the balance sheet date up to October 25, 2021, the date the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
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22,500,000 Units
Juniper II Corp.
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
, 2021
Morgan Stanley
UBS Investment Bank
Until , 2021 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade shares of our Class A common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
| ITEM 13. | OTHER EXPENSES OF ISSUANCE AND DISTRIBUTION. |
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
Legal fees and expenses | $ | 325,000 | ||
Accounting fees and expenses | 40,000 | |||
SEC expenses | 37,779 | |||
FINRA filing fee | 61,630 | |||
Travel and road show | 10,000 | |||
NYSE listing and filing fees | 85,000 | |||
Printing and engraving expenses | 50,000 | |||
Miscellaneous expenses | 140,591 | |||
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Total offering expenses | $ | 750,000 | ||
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| ITEM 14. | INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS. |
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”).
Section 145 of the DGCL concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.
Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.
| (a) | A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful. |
| (b) | A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the |
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| corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper. |
| (c) | To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith. |
| (d) | Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders. |
| (e) | Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate. |
| (f) | The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred. |
| (g) | A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section. |
| (h) | For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued. |
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| (i) | For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section. |
| (j) | The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person. |
| (k) | The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees). |
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL unless they violated their duty of loyalty to the Company or its stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived improper personal benefit from their actions as directors. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.
If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as
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those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.
The right to indemnification conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.
The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.
Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our bylaws include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.
Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.
We will enter into indemnity agreements with each of our officers and directors, a form of which is to be filed as an exhibit to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.
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Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement to be filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriters and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.
| ITEM 15. | RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES. |
On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. On February 4, 2021, we effected a forward stock split that increased the number of founder shares held by our sponsor from 8,625,000 to 11,500,000. On July 12, 2021, our sponsor surrendered for no consideration, an aggregate of 5,031,250 founder shares, which we canceled, resulting in an aggregate of 6,328,750 founder shares held by our sponsor (up to 843,750 of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares outstanding. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act.
In addition, our sponsor will, pursuant to a written agreement, purchase from us 12,000,000 (or 13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at $1.00 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $12,000,000 (or $13,350,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)). These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of this offering. These issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
| ITEM 16. | EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES. |
| (a) | Exhibits. The list of exhibits preceding the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (b) | Financial Statements. See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement. |
| ITEM 17. | UNDERTAKINGS. |
| (a) | The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriters at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriters to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser. |
| (b) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
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| (c) | The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that: |
| (1) | For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective. |
| (2) | For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
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EXHIBIT INDEX
| * | Previously filed. |
| ** | Filed herewith. |
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Palo Alto, State of California, on the 25th day of October, 2021.
| JUNIPER II CORP. | ||
| By: | /s/ Murray Grainger | |
| Murray Grainger | ||
| Chief Executive Officer | ||
Name | Position | Date | ||
/s/ Murray Grainger Murray Grainger | Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | October 25, 2021 | ||
* Noah Kindler | Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | October 25, 2021 | ||
* Roger Fradin | Chairman of the Board | October 25, 2021 | ||
| *By: | /s/ Murray Grainger | |
| Murray Grainger | ||
| Attorney-in-Fact |
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