Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor to cover for certain expenses on our behalf in exchange for the issuance of the 8,625,000 founder shares, and the Loan with our Sponsor of $3,315,000.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we utilized $1,312,957 in operating activities, which was largely driven by an increase of $5,869,231 in accounts payable and accrued expenses, $476,279 in Prepaid and other as well as a $8,556,750 change in fair value of our warrant liabilities, offset by $8,638,982 in interest earned on our marketable securities held in the Trust Account.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we were provided $159,156,370 from our investing activities, which was primarily driven by $161,606,370 redemptions as a result of our extraordinary shareholder meeting offset by $2,450,000 in Extension Contributions.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we utilized $158,291,370 in our financing activities, which was the result of the $161,606,370 payout of redemptions by our shareholders offset by $3,315,000 in proceeds from our promissory note.
The net proceeds from the sale of the units in our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $16,700,000, after deducting offering expenses of $1,103,227 and underwriting commissions of $6,900,000 (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $12,075,000), was $351,900,000, which is held in the Trust Account and includes the deferred underwriting commissions described above. The proceeds held in the Trust Account is invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The remaining $31,052 is not held in the Trust Account.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions) net of any redemptions, to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account. 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, as of September 30, 2023, we have available to us approximately $31,052 of proceeds held outside the Trust Account, as well as any funds from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team. We will use these funds to primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
If our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account.
On March 7, 2023, we entered into a non-interest bearing convertible unsecured loan (the “Loan”) in the principal amount of up to $2,000,000 from one of our Sponsor’s affiliates to provide us with additional working capital and to fund the initial Contributions described below. The portion of the Loan used to provide us with additional working capital will not be deposited into our Trust Account. If we do not consummate an initial business combination by December 17, 2023 the Loan will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account or will be forfeited, eliminated or otherwise forgiven. The Loan is convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants
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