UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023
OR
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from_________ to___________
Commission file number: 001-41012
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORP.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Cayman Islands | | N/A |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
The White House, 20 Genesis Close, George Town | | |
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | | KY1 1208 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | | (Zip Code) |
+86 131-2230-7009
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Not Applicable
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:
Title of each class | | Trading Symbol (s) | | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and three-quarters of one Warrant | | FNVTU | | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share | | FNVT | | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Redeemable warrants, each warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 | | FNVTW | | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large Accelerated Filer | ☐ | Accelerated Filer | ☐ |
Non-Accelerated Filer | ☒ | Smaller Reporting Company | ☒ |
| | Emerging Growth Company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes ☒ No ☐
The registrant had 9,085,831 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1 Class B ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding at May 22, 2023.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1. CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORP.
CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
AS OF MARCH 31, 2023 (UNAUDITED) AND DECEMBER 31, 2022
| | March 31, 2023 (Unaudited) | | | December 31, 2022 | |
| | As of | |
| | March 31, 2023 (Unaudited) | | | December 31, 2022 | |
Assets | | | | | | | | |
Current Assets | | | | | | | | |
Cash | | $ | 94,114 | | | $ | 244,179 | |
Prepaid expenses | | | 278,938 | | | | 314,502 | |
Total Current Assets | | | 373,052 | | | | 558,681 | |
Investments held in Trust Account | | | 180,439,940 | | | | 178,531,059 | |
Total Assets | | $ | 180,812,992 | | | $ | 179,089,740 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | | | | | | | | |
Current Liabilities | | | | | | | | |
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | | $ | 629,019 | | | $ | 522,801 | |
Working capital loan – related party | | | 449,765 | | | | 449,765 | |
Due to related party | | | 50,464 | | | | 41,464 | |
Total Liabilities | | | 1,129,248 | | | | 1,014,030 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Commitments and Contingencies | | | - | | | | - | |
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 17,250,000 shares at redemption value at March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 | | | 180,439,940 | | | | 178,531,059 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Shareholders’ Deficit | | | | | | | | |
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | | | - | | | | - | |
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 150,000 issued and outstanding (excluding 17,250,000 shares subject to possible redemption) at March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 | | | 15 | | | | 15 | |
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 4,312,500 issued and outstanding at March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 | | | 431 | | | | 431 | |
Ordinary shares value | | | 431 | | | | 431 | |
Accumulated deficit | | | (756,642 | ) | | | (455,795 | ) |
Total Shareholders’ Deficit | | | (756,196 | ) | | | (455,349 | ) |
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit | | $ | 180,812,992 | | | $ | 179,089,740 | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed financial statements.
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORP.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023 AND FOR
THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2022
(UNAUDITED)
| | March 31, 2023 | | | March 31, 2022 | |
| | For the Three Months Ended | |
| | March 31, 2023 | | | March 31, 2022 | |
Formation, general and administrative expenses | | $ | 302,264 | | | $ | 175,090 | |
Loss from Operations | | | (302,264 | ) | | | (175,090 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
Other Income | | | | | | | | |
Interest earned on Investment held in Trust Account | | | 1,908,881 | | | | 14,360 | |
Interest earned on Bank Account | | | 1,417 | | | | - | |
Total Other Income | | | 1,910,298 | | | | 14,360 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Net Income (Loss) | | $ | 1,608,034 | | | $ | (160,730 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares | | | 17,400,000 | | | | 17,400,000 | |
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per redeemable ordinary share | | $ | 0.07 | | | $ | (0.01 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class B ordinary shares | | | 4,312,500 | | | | 4,312,500 | |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding | | | 4,312,500 | | | | 4,312,500 | |
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per non-redeemable ordinary share | | $ | 0.07 | | | $ | (0.01 | ) |
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share | | $ | 0.07 | | | $ | (0.01 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed financial statements.
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORP.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023 AND MARCH 31, 2022
(UNAUDITED)
| | Shares | | | Amount | | | Shares | | | Amount | | | Capital | | | Deficit | | | Deficit | |
| | Ordinary Shares | | | Additional | | | | | | Total | |
| | Class A | | | Class B | | | Paid-in | | | Accumulated | | | Shareholders’ | |
| | Shares | | | Amount | | | Shares | | | Amount | | | Capital | | | Deficit | | | Deficit | |
Balance – December 31, 2022 | | | 150,000 | | | $ | 15 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | $ | 431 | | | $ | - | | | $ | (455,795 | ) | | $ | (455,349 | ) |
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares to redemption value | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (1,908,881 | ) | | | (1,908,881 | ) |
Net Income | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | 1,608,034 | | | | 1,608,034 | |
Balance - March 31, 2023 | | | 150,000 | | | $ | 15 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | $ | 431 | | | | - | | | $ | (756,642 | ) | | $ | (756,196 | ) |
| | Ordinary Shares | | | Additional | | | | | | Total | |
| | Class A | | | Class B | | | paid-in | | | Accumulated | | | Shareholder’s | |
| | Shares | | | Amount | | | Shares | | | Amount | | | capital | | | deficit | | | Equity | |
Balance - December 31, 2021 | | | 150,000 | | | $ | 15 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | $ | 431 | | | $ | 1,654,188 | | | $ | (639,546 | ) | | $ | 1,015,088 | |
Beginning balance | | | 150,000 | | | | 15 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | | 431 | | | | 1,654,188 | | | | (639,546 | ) | | | 1,015,088 | |
Net loss | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (160,730 | ) | | | (160,730 | ) |
Net income (loss) | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | (160,730 | ) | | | (160,730 | ) |
Balance - March 31, 2022 | | | 150,000 | | | $ | 15 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | $ | 431 | | | $ | 1,654,188 | | | $ | (800,276 | ) | | $ | 854,358 | |
Ending balance | | | 150,000 | | | | 15 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | | 431 | | | | 1,654,188 | | | | (800,276 | ) | | | 854,358 | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed financial statements.
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORP.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023 AND FOR THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2022
(UNAUDITED)
| | For the three months ended March 31, 2023 | | | For the three months ended March 31, 2022 | |
Cash flows from operating activities: | | | | | | | | |
Net income (loss) | | $ | 1,608,034 | | | $ | (160,730 | ) |
Interest earned on Investment held in Trust Account | | | (1,908,881 | ) | | | (14,360 | ) |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | | | | | | |
Prepaid expenses | | | 35,564 | | | | 47,427 | |
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | | | 106,218 | | | | (88,377 | ) |
Accrued offering expenses | | | — | | | | (46,894 | ) |
Due to related party | | | 9,000 | | | | 11,689 | |
Net cash used by operating activities | | $ | (150,065 | ) | | $ | (251,245 | ) |
| | | | | | | | |
Net change in cash | | $ | (150,065 | ) | | | (251,245 | ) |
Cash at beginning of period | | | 244,179 | | | | 1,011,771 | |
Cash at end of period | | $ | 94,114 | | | $ | 760,526 | |
| | | | | | | | |
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: | | | | | | | | |
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares to redemption value | | $ | 1,908,881 | | | $ | — | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited condensed financial statements.
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(UNAUDITED)
NOTE 1 – ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Organization and General
Finnovate Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on March 15, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (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 March 31, 2023, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 15, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2023 relates to the Company’s formation and its initial public offering (the “IPO”) described below, and, since the IPO, the search for a target for its Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
IPO
On November 8, 2021, the Company completed the sale of 15,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit. On November 12, 2021, the Company closed on the full over-allotment resulting in the sale of an additional 2,250,000 Units. The IPO and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment generated gross proceeds of $172,500,000, which is described in Note 3. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A ordinary shares and three-quarters of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”).
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company completed the sale of 7,900,000 private placement warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to Finnovate Sponsor, L.P. (the “Sponsor”) as well as to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. (“EarlyBirdCapital”). On November 12, 2021, pursuant to the full exercise of the over-allotment option, the Sponsor purchased an additional 900,000 Private Placement Warrants. The IPO and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment generated gross proceeds of $8,800,000 from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants.
Following the closing of the IPO on November 8, 2021 and the subsequent exercise of the over-allotment option, $175,950,000 ($10.20 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a Trust Account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States at a nationally recognized financial institution, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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 will not be permitted to invest in other securities or assets. The Trust Account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of the Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Business Combination or to redeem the public shares if the Company does not complete the initial Business Combination by May 8, 2024 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-Business Combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of all of the public shares if the Company is unable to complete the Business Combination by May 8, 2024, subject to applicable law. If the Company does not invest the proceeds as discussed above, the Company may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act.
Initial Business Combination
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement 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 operating businesses or assets that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account as defined below (excluding the underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the Company’s signing a definitive agreement in connection with its 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 an interest in the target business or assets sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
The Company will provide its public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of the Business Combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay taxes (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, subject to the limitations described herein.
The amount in the Trust Account is $10.20 per public share. The per-share amount the Company will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriter. 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 the Business Combination with respect to the warrants. The Company’s initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to the 4,312,500 shares of Class B ordinary shares purchased in March 2021 (the “Founder Shares”, described in more detail in Note 5) and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of the Business Combination.
The Company will only proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 either prior to or upon such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks shareholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange rules and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Articles of Association (the “Amended and Restated Articles of Association”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares, and any Public Shares purchased during or after the IPO, in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or do not vote at all.
Notwithstanding the above, if the Company seeks shareholder 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 shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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 has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to its 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 (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders rights or pre-Business Combination activity, unless the Company provides the public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
The Company will have until May 8, 2024 to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”) See Note 9- Subsequent Events. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 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 shareholders rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. 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 has agreed 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 acquires Public Shares in or after the IPO, 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 has agreed to waive it right to its underwriting commission (see Note 8) 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 IPO price per Unit ($10.00).
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a 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 (1) $10.20 per Public Share or (2) such lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay franchise and income taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to 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 IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and 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.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
As of March 31, 2023, the Company had $94,114 in its operating bank account and working capital deficit of $756,196. The Company’s liquidity needs up to March 31, 2023 had been satisfied by payment from the Sponsor for the Founder Shares, a loan under an unsecured promissory note from the Sponsor of up to $250,000 (the “Promissory Note”) and drawdowns against the available working capital loan (the “Working Capital Loan”). The Promissory Note was fully repaid as of November 8, 2021.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s 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 with funds as may be required (Working Capital Loans, described in more detail in Note 5). As of March 31, 2023, the Company had $449,765 outstanding under the Working Capital Loan.
If the Company is not able to consummate a Business Combination before May 8, 2024, the Company will commence an automatic winding up, dissolution and liquidation. Management has determined that the automatic liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution also raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. While management intends to complete a business combination on or before May 8, 2024, it is uncertain whether the Company will be able to do so. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after May 8, 2024.
These conditions, involving liquidity concerns and mandatory liquidation, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. There is no assurance that the Company’s plan to consummate a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Risks and Uncertainties
Our results of operations and our ability to complete an initial business combination may be adversely affected by various factors that could cause economic uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets, many of which are beyond our control. Our business could be impacted by, among other things, downturns in the financial markets or in economic conditions, increases in oil prices, inflation, increases in interest rates, supply chain disruptions, declines in consumer confidence and spending, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including resurgences and the emergence of new variants, and geopolitical instability, such as the military conflict in the Ukraine. We cannot at this time fully predict the likelihood of one or more of the above events, their duration or magnitude or the extent to which they may negatively impact our business and our ability to complete an initial business combination.
Management is currently evaluating the impact of such risks and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that they could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations, close of the IPO 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 unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the SEC. Certain information or footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, operating results and cash flows for the periods presented.
The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 as filed with the SEC on April 13, 2023. The interim results for the three months ended March 31, 2023 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2022 or for any future periods.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of 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 shareholder 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 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 US 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 period.
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. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had cash of $94,114 and $244,179 as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.
Investment Held in Trust Account
As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the assets held in the Trust Account consisted of cash equivalents in the amount of $180,439,940 and $178,531,059, respectively. The Company’s portfolio of investments is comprised of investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities and generally have a readily determinable fair value. The investments in money market funds are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of these securities is included in income on investments held in the Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
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 March 31, 2023, the Company has not experienced losses on this account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A — “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to the IPO. Offering costs were charged to Shareholders’ Equity upon the completion of the IPO and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment. Accordingly, offering costs totaling $4,171,912 (consisting of $3,450,000 of underwriting fee, and $721,912 of other offering costs) were charged to Shareholders’ Equity following the IPO on November 8, 2021 and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment on November 12, 2021.
Fair Value Measurements
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 accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level 1 — | Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment. |
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Level 2 — | Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets or liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means. |
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Level 3 — | Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. |
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid-in capital and accumulated deficit.
As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption reflected in the balance sheet is reconciled in the following table:
SCHEDULE OF POSSIBLE REDEMPTION
| | March 31, 2023 | | | December 31, 2022 | |
As of beginning of the period | | $ | 178,531,059 | | | $ | 175,950,000 | |
Plus: | | | | | | | | |
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value | | | 1,908,881 | | | | 2,581,059 | |
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | | $ | 180,439,940 | | | $ | 178,531,059 | |
Warrants
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in FASB ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815. The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own ordinary shares and whether the warrant holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.
For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. The Company accounts for its outstanding warrants as equity-classified instruments.
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 as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022. 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.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has two classes of shares, redeemable ordinary shares and non-redeemable ordinary shares. The Company’s redeemable ordinary shares are comprised of Class A shares sold in the IPO. The Company’s non-redeemable shares are comprised of Class A shares held by EarlyBirdCapital and Class B shares purchased by the Sponsor. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. The Company’s condensed statement of operations applies the two-class method in calculating net income (loss) per share. Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share for redeemable ordinary shares and non-redeemable ordinary shares is calculated by dividing net income (loss), allocated proportionally to each class of ordinary shares, attributable to the Company by the weighted average number of shares of redeemable and non-redeemable ordinary shares outstanding.
The calculation of diluted income (loss) per ordinary share does not consider the effect of the rights issued in connection with the IPO since exercise of the rights is contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such rights would be anti-dilutive. Accretion of the carrying value of Class A ordinary shares to redemption value is excluded from net income (loss) per redeemable share because the redemption value approximates fair value. As a result, diluted income (loss) per share is the same as basic income (loss) per share for the period presented.
Accordingly, basic and diluted income per ordinary share for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022 is calculated as follows:
SCHEDULE OF BASIC AND DILUTED LOSS PER ORDINARY SHARE
| | Class A Ordinary Shares | | | Class B Ordinary Shares | | | Class A Ordinary Shares | | | Class B Ordinary Shares | |
| | For the three months ended March 31, 2023 | | | For the three months ended March 31, 2022 | |
| | Class A Ordinary Shares | | | Class B Ordinary Shares | | | Class A Ordinary Shares | | | Class B Ordinary Shares | |
Basic and diluted net income per share | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Numerator: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Allocation of net income | | $ | 1,288,649 | | | $ | 319,385 | | | $ | (128,806 | ) | | $ | (31,924 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Denominator: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Weighted-average shares outstanding | | | 17,400,000 | | | | 4,312,500 | | | | 17,400,000 | | | | 4,312,500 | |
Basic and diluted net income per share | | $ | 0.07 | | | $ | 0.07 | | | $ | (0.01 | ) | | $ | (0.01 | ) |
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. The update simplifies the accounting for convertible instruments by removing certain separation models in Subtopic 470-20, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options for convertible instruments and introducing other changes. As a result of ASU No. 2020-06, more convertible debt instruments will be accounted for as a single liability measured at its amortized cost and more convertible preference shares will be accounted for as a single equity instrument measured at its historical cost, as long as no features require bifurcation and recognition as derivatives. The amendments are effective for smaller reporting companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently assessing what impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, ASC Subtopic 820 “Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions”. The ASU amends ASC 820 to clarify that a contractual sales restriction is not considered in measuring an equity security at fair value and to introduce new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value. The ASU applies to both holders and issuers of equity and equity-linked securities measured at fair value. The amendments in this ASU are effective for the Company in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for both interim and annual financial statements that have not yet been issued or made available for issuance. The Company is currently assessing what impact, if any, that ASU 2022-03 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
NOTE 3 – INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
On November 8, 2021, the Company completed its IPO of 15,000,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. The Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of the IPO to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments (“Over-Allotment Units” as defined in Note 4), if any, at the IPO price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On November 12, 2021, the Company closed on the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option which resulted in the sale of an additional 2,250,000 Units. The IPO and subsequent over-allotment exercise generated gross proceeds of $172,500,000.
Each Unit consists of one share of Class A ordinary shares and three-quarters of one redeemable Public Warrant. Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Following the closing of the IPO on November 8, 2021, and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment an aggregate of $175,950,000 ($10.20 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants in the IPO and over-allotment exercise was deposited into the Trust Account. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust Account are invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company.
NOTE 4 – PRIVATE PLACEMENT WARRANTS
The Sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital agreed to purchase an aggregate of 7,900,000 Private Placement Warrants ( bought by the Sponsor, and 500,000 bought by EarlyBirdCapital) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of the IPO. Simultaneously with the closing of the sale of the Over-Allotment Units on November 12, 2021, the Company completed an additional private sale of an aggregate of 900,000 warrants (the “Additional Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor, which purchased 843,038 such warrants, and the underwriter, which purchased 56,962 such warrants. As a result of the IPO and subsequent over-allotment exercise, an aggregate of 8,800,000 Private Placement Warrants were sold (8,243,038 to the Sponsor and 556,962 to EarlyBirdCapital) for gross proceeds of $8,800,000.
Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor have been added to the proceeds from the IPO to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account 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.
NOTE 5 – RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
In March 2021, the Sponsor paid $25,000 (approximately $0.006 per share) in consideration for 4,312,500 shares of Class B ordinary shares with par value of $0.0001. Up to 562,500 of these Founder Shares were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor if the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised, so that the number of Founder Shares would collectively represent approximately 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the IPO. On November 12, 2021 the underwriter fully exercised the over-allotment option which resulted in the 562,500 shares no longer being subject to forfeiture.
The Sponsor and the Company’s directors and executive officers have agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share 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, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
EarlyBirdCapital Founder Shares
In March 2021, the Company issued to EarlyBirdCapital (“EBC”) and its designees an aggregate of 150,000 Class A ordinary shares (“EBC Founder Shares”) at a price of $0.0001 per share. The Company estimated the fair value of the EBC Founder Shares to be $870 based upon the price of the Founder Shares issued to the Sponsor. The holders of the EBC Founder Shares have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any such shares until the completion of a Business Combination. In addition, the holders have agreed (i) to waive their conversion rights (or right to participate in any tender offer) with respect to such shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The EBC Founder Shares have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statement related to the IPO pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1). Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1), these securities will not be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statements related to the IPO, nor may they be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statements related to the IPO except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the IPO and their officers or partners, associated persons or affiliates.
Director Shares
In October 2021, the Sponsor transferred 75,000 Founder Shares to the independent directors of the Company (“Director Shares”) at a price of $0.0001 per share. The Company estimated the fair value of the Director Shares to be $450,676 based upon the price of the Founder Shares issued to the Sponsor.
Related Party Loans
In March 2021, the Sponsor issued an unsecured Promissory Note to the Company, pursuant to which the Company was permitted to borrow an aggregate principal amount of $250,000. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing, and the Promissory Note was fully repaid as of November 8, 2021, upon the closing of the IPO.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor may, but is not obligated to, provide the Company with Working Capital Loans. Any such loans would be on an interest-free basis. If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. 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. At the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 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. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company had $449,765 of outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Loan.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date that the Company’s securities are first listed on a U.S. national securities exchange, the Company has committed to pay a total of $3,000 per month to the Sponsor for office space, utilities and administrative support services. This administrative service arrangement will terminate upon completion of the Business Combination or liquidation of the Company. As of March 31, 2023, the Company has accrued $45,000 under the agreement in Due to Related Party and expensed $9,000 in Formation, general and administrative expenses.
NOTE 6 —INVESTMENT HELD IN TRUST ACCOUNT
As of March 31, 2023, investment in the Company’s Trust Account consisted $180,439,940 in a money market fund. The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at March 31, 2023:
SCHEDULE OF ASSETS MEASURED AT FAIR VALUE ON RECURRING BASIS
| | March 30, 2023 | | | Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | | | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | | | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 3) | |
Money market fund | | $ | 180,439,940 | | | $ | 180,439,940 | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
| | $ | 180,439,940 | | | $ | 180,439,940 | | | $ | - | | | $ | - | |
NOTE 7 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Registration Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants (and any shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on the effective date of the IPO, requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A ordinary shares). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders will 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. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of the IPO to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the IPO price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriter fully exercised this option which closed subsequent to the IPO.
EarlyBirdCapital earned an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $3,450,000 in the aggregate, upon the closing of the IPO and subsequent exercise of the full over-allotment option.
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The Company has engaged EarlyBirdCapital as an advisor in connection with the Business Combination to assist in holding meetings with shareholders to discuss the potential Business Combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to potential investors that are interested in purchasing securities in connection with the Business Combination, assist in obtaining shareholder approval for the Business Combination and assist with press releases and public filings in connection with the Business Combination. The Company will pay EarlyBirdCapital a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of the Business Combination in an amount equal to 1.75%, or $3,018,750) of the gross proceeds of the Public Offering (exclusive of any applicable finders’ fees which might become payable). See Note 9 – Subsequent Events
Placement Agent Agreement
In August 2022, the Company entered into an agreement with EarlyBirdCapital to serve as an exclusive capital markets advisor and placement agent for the Company in connection with a proposed private placement of the Company’s equity or equity-linked, preferred, debt or debt-like, securities. The Placement Agent will receive a placement fee of 2.5% of the aggregate purchase price paid by purchasers of the securities. This fee shall be paid at the closing of the Business Combination from the gross proceeds of the Securities sold. Additionally, the Company has agreed to reimburse the Placement Agent up to $30,000 in reasonable expenses in the case of a Business Combination not closing and up to $100,000 if a Business Combination does close. A $10,000 expense advance is payable upon execution of the agreement. As of March 31, 2023, the Company has recorded the $10,000 nonrefundable expense advance. The Company has not recorded any amounts related to the placement fee of 2.5% as of December 31, 2022 as it is contingent upon the closing of the Business Combination.
Consulting Agreement
The Company has engaged a third-party consultant to provide the Company with assistance in various aspects of any potential Business Combination. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the Company has agreed to pay a contingent fee of at least $3,500,000 if the Company consummates a Business Combination. Nothing has been included in the financial statements related to this agreement. As of May 8, 2023, this agreement was terminated.
NOTE 8 – SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Preference Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 preference shares, 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 March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Class A Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were 150,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding (excluding 17,250,000 shares subject to possible redemption).
Class B Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were 4,312,500 shares of Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of shareholders except as required by law. Under the terms of the Investment, the Class B ordinary shares were converted to Class A ordinary shares although the Sponsor will retain at least one Class B ordinary share. See Note 9-Subsequent Event.
Any shares of Class B ordinary shares (Founder Shares) outstanding at the time of the Business Combination will automatically convert into shares of Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the IPO and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B ordinary shares shall convert into shares of Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of the IPO plus all shares of Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination).
Warrants — 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 on the later of (a) 12 months from the closing of the IPO and (b) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable, and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares of Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of a warrant unless the share of Class A ordinary shares 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 has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if the Class A ordinary shares is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy 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 it will use its commercially reasonably efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company 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 the Company will use its commercially reasonably efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of warrants. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public 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; and |
| | |
| ● | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
If and when the Public 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.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the Business Combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (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 Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the 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 greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the Newly Issued Price.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the IPO.
NOTE 9 — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Investment Agreement
On April 27, 2023, the Company entered into an agreement (the “Investment Agreement”) with the Sponsor and Sunorange Limited (the “Investor”), pursuant to which Investor and its designees shall acquire partnership interests in the Sponsor and Class B ordinary shares directly held by certain Company directors, which combined interests will entitle Investor to receive, in the aggregate, 3,557,813 Class B ordinary shares and 6,160,000 private placement warrants (collectively, the “Insider Securities”), and the Company shall introduce a change in management and the board as follows: (i) Calvin Kung shall replace David Gershon as Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) and Chief Executive Officer and Wang (Tommy) Chiu Wong shall replace Ron Golan as Chief Financial Officer and director of the Board, effective upon closing of the Investment (as defined below); (ii) Jonathan Ophir and Uri Chaitchik shall tender their resignations as Chief Investment Officer and Senior Consultant, respectively, effective upon closing of the Investment; and (iii) Mitch Garber, Gustavo Schwed and Nadav Zohar shall tender their resignations as directors, to be effective upon expiration of all applicable waiting periods under Section 14(f) of the Exchange Act, and Rule 14f-1 thereunder (such period of time being referred to as the “Waiting Period”), and whose vacancies shall be filled by individuals to be designated by the Investor and effective upon expiration of the Waiting Period (such new officers and directors collectively referred to as the “New Management”). Investor’s acquisition of interests in the Insider Securities, the change to New Management, and other transactions contemplated by the Investment Agreement are hereinafter referred to as the “Investment.”
On May 8, 2023, the Company completed the closing of the Investment (the “Closing”) after the Company’s shareholders approved of certain proposals discussed below, and after certain closing conditions were met, including but not limited to: (i) a minimum of $30 million remaining in the Trust Account after accounting for all redemptions in connection with the Extension Meeting (as defined below); (ii) the Company obtaining or extending a D&O insurance policy on terms satisfactory to the parties, (iii) the conversion of Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares as needed to retain shareholders and meet continued listing requirements of Nasdaq in the event that the Articles Extension Proposal is approved; (iv) the amendment of the Sponsor’s existing limited partnership agreement; (v) the transfer of 61,875 Class B ordinary shares from certain Company directors to the Investor or its designees; and (vi) the cancellation of an outstanding $550,000 Working Capital Loan from the Sponsor and the reduction of certain advisory fees to be due upon the closing of an initial Business Combination.
In connection with the Closing, on May 8, 2023, the Investor caused $300,000 to be deposited into the Trust Account to support the first three months of the extension from May 9, 2023 through August 8, 2023. The Investor has agreed to deposit into the Trust Account an additional $100,000 for each successive month, or portion thereof, that is needed by the Company to complete an initial Business Combination, until May 8, 2024.
Extension Meeting
On May 8, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Extension Meeting”) to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Charter Amendment”) to: (i) extend the date by which the Company has to consummate a Business Combination from May 8, 2023 to May 8, 2024 (the “Articles Extension Proposal”) and (ii) amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association entitle holders of Class B Ordinary Shares to convert such shares into Class A Ordinary Shares prior to the closing of a Business Combination at the election of the holder (the “Conversion Amendment Proposal”).
There were 21,712,500 ordinary shares of the Company issued and outstanding on April 14, 2023, the record date for the Extension Meeting. At the Extension Meeting, there were 14,402,264 ordinary shares present in person or by proxy, representing approximately 66.33% of the total ordinary shares outstanding as of the record date, which constituted a quorum.
Shareholders holding 12,626,668 Class A Ordinary Shares exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Company’s Trust Account. These shares were redeemed for approximately $10.50 per share for a total redemption value paid from the Trust Account of approximately $132,616,922.
In connection with the Extension Meeting and pursuant to the Investment Agreement, the Investor will contribute to the Company loans (the “Loans”) of the lesser of (x) $100,000 or (y) $0.033 for each public share that is not redeemed (such amount, the “Monthly Amount”) for each calendar month (commencing on May 8, 2023 and ending on the 8th day of each subsequent month), or portion thereof, that is needed by the Company to complete an initial Business Combination, until May 8, 2024.
Conversion
On May 8, 2023, the Company issued an aggregate of 4,237,499 (the “Sponsor Shares”) of the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares to the Sponsor upon the conversion of an equal number of shares of Class B Ordinary Shares (the “Sponsor Conversion”).
On May 8, 2023, the Company issued an aggregate of 75,000 Class A Ordinary Shares (together with the Sponsor Shares, the “Converted Class A Ordinary Shares”) to Mitch Garber, Nadav Zohar and Gustavo Schwed (collectively, the “Directors”) and the holders of the Company’s 75,000 Class B Ordinary Shares upon the conversion of an equal number of shares of Class B Ordinary Shares (together with the Sponsor Conversion, the “Conversion”). On the same day, in connection with the closing of the Investment, the Converted Class A Ordinary Shares held by the Directors were transferred to designees of the Investor.
The Converted Class A Ordinary Shares issued in connection with the Conversion are subject to the same restrictions as applied to the Class B Ordinary Shares before the Conversion, including, among other things, certain transfer restrictions, waiver of redemption rights and the obligation to vote in favor of an initial Business combination as described in the prospectus for our initial public offering. Following the Conversion, there are 9,085,831 Class A Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding and one Class B Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding. As a result of the Conversion, the Sponsor and certain designees of the Investor hold, in the aggregate, approximately 47.4% of the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares that are outstanding.
EBC Side Letter
On May 8, 2023, the Company and EBC entered in a letter agreement, pursuant to which the fee that EBC will receive upon the closing of a Business Combination in connection with the Business Combination Marketing Agreement will be reduced by 50%, to an amount equal to an aggregate of $3,018,750. The fee shall be payable at the closing of a Business Combination, which payment shall be made in cash, convertible note or a combination of both.
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report including, without limitation, statements under “Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this Quarterly Report, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on March 15, 2021 and formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (our “initial business combination”).
We consummated our initial public offering on November 8, 2021 (the “IPO”) and are currently in the process of locating suitable targets for our initial business combination.
The issuance of additional shares in an initial business combination:
| ■ | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the initial public offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in our Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of our Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of our Class B ordinary shares; |
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| ■ | may subordinate the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares if shares of preferred shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
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| ■ | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our Class A ordinary shares 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; |
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| ■ | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and |
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| ■ | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt securities, or otherwise incur significant debt, 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; |
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| ■ | 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 such covenants; |
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| ■ | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
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| ■ | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
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| ■ | our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary or preferred shares; |
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| ■ | 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 ordinary shares if declared and our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions and fund other general corporate purposes; |
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| ■ | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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| ■ | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
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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 for other purposes, and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
We completed the sale of 15,000,000 units (the “public units” and, with respect to the ordinary shares included in the public units being offered, the “public shares”) at $10.00 per public unit on November 8, 2021. Simultaneous with the closing of the initial public offering, we completed the sale of 7,900,000 private placement warrants (the “private warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per private warrant in a private placement to Finnovate Sponsor, L.P. (our “sponsor”) as well as to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., or EarlyBirdCapital, generating gross proceeds of $7,900,000 from the sale of the private warrants.
On November 12, 2021, we closed on the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, which resulted in the sale of an additional 2,250,000 public units for additional gross proceeds to us of $22,500,000 and aggregate initial public offering and over-allotment gross proceeds of $172,500,000. Simultaneously with the exercise of the over-allotment, the sponsor purchased an additional 900,000 private warrants, which resulted in additional gross proceeds of $900,000 and aggregate private placement proceeds from the initial public offering and over-allotment of $8,800,000.
Following the closing of the initial public offering on November 8, 2021 and the subsequent exercise of the over-allotment option, $175,950,000 ($10.20 per public unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the public units in the IPO and the sale of the private warrants was placed in a trust account, located in the United States at a nationally recognized financial institution, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee (the “trust account”), and invested only in 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 will not be permitted to invest in other securities or assets.
Recent Developments
Investment Agreement
On April 27, 2023, the Company entered into an agreement (the “Investment Agreement”) with the Sponsor and Sunorange Limited (the “Investor”), pursuant to which Investor and its designees shall acquire partnership interests in the Sponsor and Class B ordinary shares directly held by certain Company directors, which combined interests will entitle Investor to receive, in the aggregate, 3,557,813 Class B ordinary shares and 6,160,000 private placement warrants (collectively, the “Insider Securities”), and the Company shall introduce a change in management and the board as follows: (i) Calvin Kung shall replace David Gershon as Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) and Chief Executive Officer and Wang (Tommy) Chiu Wong shall replace Ron Golan as Chief Financial Officer and director of the Board, effective upon closing of the Investment (as defined below); (ii) Jonathan Ophir and Uri Chaitchik shall tender their resignations as Chief Investment Officer and Senior Consultant, respectively, effective upon closing of the Investment; and (iii) Mitch Garber, Gustavo Schwed and Nadav Zohar shall tender their resignations as directors, to be effective upon expiration of all applicable waiting periods under Section 14(f) of the Exchange Act, and Rule 14f-1 thereunder (such period of time being referred to as the “Waiting Period”), and whose vacancies shall be filled by individuals to be designated by the Investor and effective upon expiration of the Waiting Period (such new officers and directors collectively referred to as the “New Management”). Investor’s acquisition of interests in the Insider Securities, the change to New Management, and other transactions contemplated by the Investment Agreement are hereinafter referred to as the “Investment.”
On May 8, 2023, the Company completed the closing of the Investment (the “Closing”) after the Company’s shareholders approved of certain proposals discussed below, and after certain closing conditions were met, including but not limited to: (i) a minimum of $30 million remaining in the Trust Account after accounting for all redemptions in connection with the Extension Meeting (as defined below); (ii) the Company obtaining or extending a D&O insurance policy on terms satisfactory to the parties, (iii) the conversion of Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares as needed to retain shareholders and meet continued listing requirements of Nasdaq in the event that the Articles Extension Proposal is approved; (iv) the amendment of the Sponsor’s existing limited partnership agreement; (v) the transfer of 61,875 Class B ordinary shares from certain Company directors to the Investor or its designees; and (vi) the cancellation of an outstanding $550,000 loan from the Sponsor and the reduction of certain advisory fees to be due upon the closing of an initial business combination.
In connection with the Closing, on May 8, 2023, the Investor caused $300,000 to be deposited into the Trust Account to support the first three months of the extension from May 9, 2023 through August 8, 2023. The Investor has agreed to deposit into the Trust Account an additional $100,000 for each successive month, or portion thereof, that is needed by the Company to complete an initial business combination until May 8, 2024.
Extension Meeting
On May 8, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Extension Meeting”) to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Charter Amendment”) to: (i) extend the date by which the Company has to consummate a Business Combination from May 8, 2023 to May 8, 2024 (the “Articles Extension Proposal”) and (ii) amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association entitle holders of Class B Ordinary Shares to convert such shares into Class A Ordinary Shares prior to the closing of a business combination at the election of the holder (the “Conversion Amendment Proposal”).
There were 21,712,500 ordinary shares of the Company issued and outstanding on April 14, 2023, the record date for the Extension Meeting. At the Extension Meeting, there were 14,402,264 ordinary shares present in person or by proxy, representing approximately 66.33% of the total ordinary shares outstanding as of the record date, which constituted a quorum.
Shareholders holding 12,626,668 Class A Ordinary Shares exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Company’s Trust Account. These shares were redeemed for approximately $10.50 per share for a total redemption value paid from the Trust Account of approximately $132,616,922.
In connection with the Extension Meeting and pursuant to the Investment Agreement, the Investor will contribute to the Company loans (the “Loans”) of the lesser of (x) $100,000 or (y) $0.033 for each public share that is not redeemed (such amount, the “Monthly Amount”) for each calendar month (commencing on May 8, 2023 and ending on the 8th day of each subsequent month), or portion thereof, that is needed by the Company to complete an initial business combination until May 8, 2024.
Conversion
On May 8, 2023, the Company issued an aggregate of 4,237,499 (the “Sponsor Shares”) of the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares to the Sponsor upon the conversion of an equal number of shares of Class B Ordinary Shares (the “Sponsor Conversion”).
On May 8, 2023, the Company issued an aggregate of 75,000 Class A Ordinary Shares (together with the Sponsor Shares, the “Converted Class A Ordinary Shares”) to Mitch Garber, Nadav Zohar and Gustavo Schwed (collectively, the “Directors”) and the holders of the Company’s 75,000 Class B Ordinary Shares upon the conversion of an equal number of shares of Class B Ordinary Shares (together with the Sponsor Conversion, the “Conversion”). On the same day, in connection with the closing of the Investment, the Converted Class A Ordinary Shares held by the Directors were transferred to designees of the Investor.
The Converted Class A Ordinary Shares issued in connection with the Conversion are subject to the same restrictions as applied to the Class B Ordinary Shares before the Conversion, including, among other things, certain transfer restrictions, waiver of redemption rights and the obligation to vote in favor of an initial business combination as described in the prospectus for our initial public offering. Following the Conversion, there are 9,085,831 Class A Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding and one Class B Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding. As a result of the Conversion, the Sponsor and certain designees of the Investor hold, in the aggregate, approximately 47.4% of the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares that are outstanding.
Results of Operations
As of March 31, 2023, we have not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 15, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2023, relates to our formation and initial public offering that occurred on November 8, 2021, and, since the completion of the initial public offering, searching for a target to consummate an initial business combination. We will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of an initial business combination, at the earliest. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the initial public offering and placed in the trust account. 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, December 31, 2022.
For the three months ended March 31, 2023, we had net income of $1,608,034, consisting of $302,264 in formation, general and administrative expenses offset by $1,910,298 in interest gained on the Bank Account and the Investment held in Trust Account.
For the three months ended March 31, 2022, we had a net loss of $160,730 consisting of $175,090 in formation, general and administrative expenses offset by $14,360 in interest gained on investment held in Trust Account.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
As of March 31, 2023, we had cash outside our trust account of $94,114 available for working capital needs. All remaining cash was held in the trust account and is generally unavailable for our use prior to our initial business combination.
As noted above, pursuant to our initial public offering on November 8, 2021 and the full exercise of the over-allotment option on November 12, 2021, we sold 17,250,000 public units at a price of $10.00 per public unit, generating gross proceeds to us of $172,500,000. These funds as well as a portion of the $8,800,000 in proceeds from the sale of private warrants were placed in the trust account such that the trust account held an aggregate of $175,900,000, or $10.20 per public unit, as of November 12, 2021. These funds are invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company. As of March 31, 2023, $180,439,940 of the initial public offering proceeds, and interest earned thereon, were held in the trust account.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our initial shareholders or their affiliates 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 (subject to the conversion rights described below). 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 at the option of the lender determined at the time of the loan be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant of the post initial business combination entity. The warrants would be identical to the private warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period of the underlying warrants. As of March 31, 2023, we had $449,765 of outstanding borrowings under the working capital loan.
On May 8, 2023, in connection with the Investment, the Working Capital Loan and all amounts outstanding thereunder was canceled in full.
We could use a portion of the funds not being placed in the trust account 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 or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial 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 initial 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.
As agreed by the shareholders at the Extension Meeting, the Company has until May 8, 2024 to complete a Business Combination.
If the Company is not able to consummate a Business Combination before May 8, 2024, the Company will commence an automatic winding up, dissolution and liquidation. Management has determined that the automatic liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution also raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. While management intends to complete a business combination on or before May 8, 2024, it is uncertain whether the Company will be able to do so. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after May 8, 2024.
These conditions, involving liquidity concerns and mandatory liquidation, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. There is no assurance that the Company’s plan to consummate a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
We did not have any off-balance sheet arrangement as of March 31, 2023 as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Contractual Obligations
As of March 31, 2023, we did not have any long-term debt, capital or operating lease obligations.
We have entered into an administrative services agreement pursuant to which we are paying our sponsor for office space, utilities and administrative support services, in an amount of up to $3,000 per month.
We have engaged EarlyBirdCapital as an advisor in connection with our initial business combination to assist us in holding meetings with our shareholders to discuss the potential initial business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce us to potential investors that are interested in purchasing our securities in connection with our initial business combination, assist us in obtaining shareholder approval for the initial business combination and assist us with our press releases and public filings in connection with the initial business combination. We will pay EarlyBirdCapital a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of our initial business combination in an amount equal to 1.75% of the gross proceeds of our initial public offering (exclusive of any applicable finders’ fees which might become payable).
We have engaged a third-party consultant to provide us with assistance in various aspects of our potential Business Combination. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, we have agreed to pay a contingent fee of at least $3,500,000 if we consummate a Business Combination. Nothing has been included in the financial statements related to this agreement. As of May 8, 2023, this agreement was terminated.
Critical Accounting Policies
Management’s discussion and analysis of our results of operations and liquidity and capital resources are based on our audited financial information. We describe our significant accounting policies in Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Financial Statements included in this Annual Report, with those considered critical outlined below. Our audited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Certain of our accounting policies require that management apply significant judgments in defining the appropriate assumptions integral to financial estimates. On an ongoing basis, management reviews the accounting policies, assumptions, estimates and judgments to ensure that our financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Judgments are based on historical experience, terms of existing contracts, industry trends and information available from outside sources, as appropriate. However, by their nature, judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty, and, therefore, actual results could differ from our estimates.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the balance sheet.
Immediately upon the closing of the initial public offering, we recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid-in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net Loss Per Ordinary Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. We have two classes of shares, redeemable ordinary shares and non-redeemable ordinary shares. Our redeemable ordinary shares are comprised of Class A shares sold in the initial public offering. Our non-redeemable shares are comprised of Class A shares held by EarlyBirdCapital and Class B shares purchased by the sponsor. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Our statement of operations applies the two-class method in calculating net loss per share. Basic and diluted net loss per share for redeemable ordinary shares and non-redeemable ordinary shares is calculated by dividing net loss, allocated proportionally to each class of ordinary shares, attributable to us by the weighted average number of shares of redeemable and non-redeemable ordinary shares outstanding.
The calculation of diluted loss per ordinary share does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering since exercise of the warrants is contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such rights would be anti-dilutive. Accretion of the carrying value of Class A ordinary shares to redemption value is excluded from net loss per redeemable share because the redemption value approximates fair value. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. The update simplifies the accounting for convertible instruments by removing certain separation models in Subtopic 470-20, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options for convertible instruments and introducing other changes. As a result of ASU No. 2020-06, more convertible debt instruments will be accounted for as a single liability measured at its amortized cost and more convertible preference shares will be accounted for as a single equity instrument measured at its historical cost, as long as no features require bifurcation and recognition as derivatives. The amendments are effective for smaller reporting companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently assessing what impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, ASC Subtopic 820 “Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions”. The ASU amends ASC 820 to clarify that a contractual sales restriction is not considered in measuring an equity security at fair value and to introduce new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value. The ASU applies to both holders and issuers of equity and equity-linked securities measured at fair value. The amendments in this ASU are effective for the Company in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for both interim and annual financial statements that have not yet been issued or made available for issuance. The Company is currently assessing what impact, if any, that ASU 2022-03 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
We do not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act and are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an independent registered public accounting firm’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 independent registered public accounting firm’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Factors That May Adversely Affect Our Results of Operations
Our results of operations and our ability to complete an initial business combination may be adversely affected by various factors that could cause economic uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets, many of which are beyond our control. Our business could be impacted by, among other things, downturns in the financial markets or in economic conditions, increases in oil prices, inflation, increases in interest rates, supply chain disruptions, declines in consumer confidence and spending, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including resurgences and the emergence of new variants, and geopolitical instability, such as the military conflict in the Ukraine. We cannot at this time fully predict the likelihood of one or more of the above events, their duration or magnitude or the extent to which they may negatively impact our business and our ability to complete an initial business combination.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
As of March 31, 2023, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. Following the consummation of our IPO, the net proceeds of the IPO and the private placement, including amounts in the trust account, were invested 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. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there was no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception. We do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures
In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2023, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of March 31, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting of complex financial instruments and recognition of unbilled professional fees as further described below.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, we concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex features of the over-allotment option that was granted to our underwriters in the IPO as well as the controls around recognition of unbilled professional fees was not effectively designed or maintained. The over-allotment option has been fully exercised and as such that complex financial instrument is no longer included in our financial statements. We determined that the material weakness resulted in an immaterial impact to our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 and unaudited condensed financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Our management performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q were prepared in accordance with generally accepted in the United States of America. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q present fairly, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the periods presented.
Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management team, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2023 covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that has materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
In light of the material weakness described above, our management team has performed additional accounting and financial analyses and other post-closing procedures including consulting with subject matter experts related to the accounting for certain complex features of the over-allotment option in our IPO. We have enhanced, and will continue to enhance, internal controls and procedures, including access to accounting literature, identification and consideration of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and implementing additional layers of reviews in the financial close process. While we have processes to properly identify and evaluate the appropriate accounting technical pronouncements and other literature for all significant or unusual transactions, we plan to continue to improve these processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions are effectively evaluated in the context of the increasingly complex accounting standards.
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
None.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
As a smaller reporting company under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, as of the date of this Report, other than as set forth below, there have been no material changes with respect to those risk factors previously disclosed in our (i) Registration Statement on Form S-1 initially filed with the SEC on October 15, 2021, as amended, and declared effective on November 3, 2021 (the Registration Statement”) and (ii) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the SEC on April 13, 2022. Any of these factors could result in a significant or material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Additional risks could arise that may also affect our business or ability to consummate an initial Business Combination. We may disclose changes to such risk factors or disclose additional risk factors from time to time in our future filings with the SEC.
If our initial Business Combination involves a company organized under the laws of a state of the United States, it is possible a 1% U.S. federal excise tax will be imposed on us in connection with redemptions of our common stock after or in connection with such initial Business Combination.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 became law in the United States, which, among other things, imposes a 1% excise tax on the fair market value of certain repurchases (including certain redemptions) of stock by publicly traded domestic (i.e., United States) corporations (and certain non-U.S. corporations treated as “surrogate foreign corporations”). The excise tax will apply to stock repurchases occurring in 2023 and beyond. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares of stock repurchased at the time of the repurchase. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury Department”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of, the excise tax; however, only limited guidance has been issued to date.
As an entity incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company, the 1% excise tax is not expected to apply to redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares (absent any regulations and other additional guidance that may be issued in the future with retroactive effect).
However, in connection with an initial Business Combination involving a company organized under the laws of the United States, it is possible that we domesticate and continue as a Delaware corporation prior to certain redemptions and, because our securities are trading on Exchange, it is possible that we will be subject to the excise tax with respect to any subsequent redemptions, including redemptions in connection with the initial Business Combination, that are treated as repurchases for this purpose (other than, pursuant to recently issued guidance from the Treasury Department, redemptions in complete liquidation of the company). In all cases, the extent of the excise tax that may be incurred will depend on a number of factors, including the fair market value of our stock redeemed, the extent such redemptions could be treated as dividends and not repurchases, and the content of any regulations and other additional guidance from the Treasury Department that may be issued and applicable to the redemptions. Issuances of stock by a repurchasing corporation in a year in which such corporation repurchases stock may reduce the amount of excise tax imposed with respect to such repurchase. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not the stockholders from which stock is repurchased. The imposition of the excise tax as a result of redemptions in connection with the initial Business Combination could, however, reduce the amount of cash available to pay redemptions or reduce the cash contribution to the target business in connection with our initial Business Combination, which could cause the other shareholders of the combined company to economically bear the impact of such excise tax.
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, including events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or non-performance by financial institutions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, or our prospects.
The funds in our operating account and our trust account are held in banks or other financial institutions. Our funds held in non-interest bearing and interest-bearing accounts would exceed any applicable Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance limits. Should events, including limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments occur with respect to the banks or other financial institutions that hold our funds, or that affect financial institutions or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, our liquidity may be adversely affected. For example, on March 10, 2023, the FDIC announced that Silicon Valley Bank had been closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Although we did not have any funds in Silicon Valley Bank or other institutions that have been closed, we cannot guarantee that the banks or other financial institutions that hold our funds will not experience similar issues.
In addition, investor concerns regarding the U.S. or international financial systems could result in less favorable commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby making it more difficult for us to acquire financing on terms favorable to us in connection with a potential business combination, or at all, and could have material adverse impacts on our liquidity, our business, financial condition or results of operations, and our prospects. Our business may be adversely impacted by these developments in ways that we cannot predict at this time, there may be additional risks that we have not yet identified, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to avoid negative consequences directly or indirectly from any failure of one or more banks or other financial institutions.
Market conditions, economic uncertainty or downturns could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and our ability to consummate a Business Combination.
In recent years, the United States and other markets have experienced cyclical or episodic downturns, and worldwide economic conditions remain uncertain, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, instability in the U.S. and global banking systems, rising fuel prices, increasing interest rates or foreign exchange rates and high inflation and the possibility of a recession. A significant downturn in economic conditions may make it more difficult for us to consummate a Business Combination.
We cannot predict the timing, strength, or duration of any future economic slowdown or any subsequent recovery generally, or in any industry. If the conditions in the general economy and the markets in which we operate worsen from present levels, our business, financial condition, operating results and our ability to consummate a Business Combination could be adversely affected. For example, in January 2023, the outstanding national debt of the U.S. government reached its statutory limit. The Treasury Department has announced that, since then, it has been using extraordinary measures to prevent the U.S. government’s default on its payment obligations, and to extend the time that the U.S. government has to raise its statutory debt limit or otherwise resolve its funding situation. The failure by Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling could have severe repercussions within the U.S. and to global credit and financial markets. If Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. government could default on its payment obligations, or experience delays in making payments when due. A payment default or delay by the U.S. government, or continued uncertainty surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling, could result in a variety of adverse effects for financial markets, market participants and U.S. and global economic conditions. In addition, U.S. debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns have increased the possibility a downgrade in the credit rating of the U.S. government and could result in economic slowdowns or a recession in the U.S. Although U.S. lawmakers have passed legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling on multiple occasions, ratings agencies have lowered or threatened to lower the long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States as a result of disputes over the debt ceiling. The impact of a potential downgrade to the U.S. government’s sovereign credit rating or its perceived creditworthiness could adversely affect economic conditions, as well as our business, financial condition, operating results and our ability to consummate a Business Combination.
Changes to laws or regulations or in how such laws or regulations are interpreted or applied, or a failure to comply with any laws, regulations, interpretations or applications, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination.
We are subject to the laws and regulations, and interpretations and applications of such laws and regulations, of national, regional, state and local governments and, potentially, non-U.S. jurisdictions. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and potentially other legal and regulatory requirements, and our consummation of an initial Business Combination may be contingent upon our ability to comply with certain laws, regulations, interpretations and applications and any post-Business Combination company may be subject to additional laws, regulations, interpretations and applications. Compliance with, and monitoring of, the foregoing 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, including our ability to negotiate and complete an initial Business Combination. A failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete an initial Business Combination.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”) relating, among other items, to disclosures in SEC filings in connection with Business Combination transactions involving special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) and private operating companies; the financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving shell companies; the use of projections in SEC filings in connection with proposed Business Combination transactions; the potential liability of certain participants in proposed Business Combination transactions; and the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, including a proposed rule that would provide SPACs a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential Business Combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with the SPAC Rule Proposals, as proposed or as adopted, or pursuant to the SEC’s views expressed in the SPAC Rule Proposals, may increase the costs and time of negotiating and completing an initial Business Combination, and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial Business Combination.
The SEC issued proposed rules relating to certain activities of SPACs). Certain of the procedures that we, a potential Business Combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with such proposals may increase our costs and the time needed to complete our initial Business Combination and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial Business Combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust account or liquidate the Company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued the SPAC Rule Proposals relating, among other items, to disclosures in Business Combination transactions between SPACS such as us and private operating companies; the condensed financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving shell companies; the use of projections by SPACs in SEC filings in connection with proposed Business Combination transactions; the potential liability of certain participants in proposed Business Combination transactions; and the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including a proposed rule that would provide SPACs a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. The SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted, and may be adopted in the proposed form or in a different form that could impose additional regulatory requirements on SPACs. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential Business Combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with the SPAC Rule Proposals, or pursuant to the SEC’s views expressed in the SPAC Rule Proposals, may increase the costs and time of negotiating and completing an initial Business Combination, and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial Business Combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust Account or liquidate the Company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.
If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we would be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities would be severely restricted. As a result, in such circumstances, unless we are able to modify our activities so that we would not be deemed an investment company, we would expect to abandon our efforts to complete an initial Business Combination and instead to liquidate the Company.
As described further above, the SPAC Rule Proposals relate, among other matters, to the circumstances in which SPACs such as the Company could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a SPAC satisfies certain criteria, including a limited time period to announce and complete a de-SPAC transaction. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a company to file a report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for a Business Combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of its registration statement for its initial public offering (the “IPO Registration Statement”). The company would then be required to complete its initial Business Combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement.
Because the SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted, there is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a SPAC, including a company like ours, that does not complete its Business Combination within 24 months after the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement. We have not entered into a definitive Business Combination agreement within 18 months after the effective date of our Registration Statement and do not expect to complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months of such date. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities would be severely restricted. In addition, we would be subject to burdensome compliance requirements. We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to regulation as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. However, if we are deemed to be an investment company and subject to compliance with and regulation under the Investment Company Act, we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and expenses for which we have not allotted funds. As a result, unless we are able to modify our activities so that we would not be deemed an investment company, we would expect to abandon our efforts to complete an initial Business Combination and instead to liquidate the Company.
Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial Business Combination.
Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere may lead to increased price volatility for publicly traded securities, including ours, and may lead to other national, regional and international economic disruptions, any of which could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial Business Combination.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
For a description of the use of proceeds generated in our initial public offering and private placement, see Part II, Item 2 of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2022, as filed with the SEC on November 10, 2022. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our initial public offering and private placement as described in the Registration Statement. The specific investments in our trust account may change from time to time.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information
None.
Item 6. Exhibits
INDEX TO EXHIBITS
* | Filed herewith. |
** | Furnished herewith. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
FINNOVATE ACQUISITION CORPORATION
SIGNATURE | | TITLE | | DATE |
| | | | |
/s/ Calvin Kung | | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | | May 22, 2023 |
Calvin Kung | | (principal executive officer) | | |
| | | | |
/s/ Wang Chiu Wong | | Chief Financial Officer | | May 22, 2023 |
Wang Chiu Wong | | (principal financial and accounting officer) | | |