As filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on November 8, 2021
Registration No. 333-260431
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 2
TO
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
GENERATION ASIA I ACQUISITION LIMITED
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Cayman Islands | 6770 | 98-1588665 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
Boundary Hall
Cricket Square
Grand Cayman, KY1-1102
Cayman Islands
Tel: (345) 814-5880
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrants principal executive offices)
Maples Fiduciary Services (Delaware) Inc.
4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302
Wilmington, Delaware 19807
Tel: (302) 338-9130
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
Jin Hyuk Park, Esq. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP ICBC Tower 35th Floor 3 Garden Road, Central Hong Kong, China Tel: +852 2514-7665 |
Mark A. Brod, Esq. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP 425 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10017 Tel: (212) 455-2163 |
Z. Julie Gao, Esq. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP c/o 42/F, Edinburgh Tower, The Landmark 15 Queens Road Central Hong Kong Tel: +852 3740-4700 |
Peter X. Huang, Esq. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP 30/F, Tower 2, China World Trade Center No. 1 Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue Beijing, China 100004 Tel: (86-10) 6535-5500 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the 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 to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
| ||||||||
Title of Each Class of Securities To Be Registered |
Amount To Be Registered |
Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Security(1) |
Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) |
Amount of Registration Fee | ||||
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, and one-half of one redeemable warrant(2) |
23,000,000 Units | $10.00 | $230,000,000 | $21,321.00 | ||||
Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units(3) |
23,000,000 Shares | | | (4) | ||||
Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3) |
11,500,000 Warrants | | | (4) | ||||
Total |
$230,000,000 | $21,321.00 | ||||||
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(1) | Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. |
(2) | Includes 3,000,000 units, consisting of 3,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 1,500,000 redeemable warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriter to cover over-allotments, if any. |
(3) | Pursuant to Rule 416, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from share sub-divisions, share dividends or similar transactions. |
(4) | No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g). |
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED NOVEMBER 8, 2021
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
Generation Asia I Acquisition Limited
$200,000,000
20,000,000 Units
Generation Asia I Acquisition Limited is a newly incorporated blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. A significant number of our management and investment team, directors and advisors are located in or have significant ties to China or Hong Kong, and we may seek to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. Because of such ties to China or Hong Kong, we may be subjected to the laws, rules and regulations of the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC). There are uncertainties surrounding how such laws, rules and regulations will be interpreted and enforced on us. The PRC government may also have significant authority to exert influence on the ability of us or a company we may acquire that is based in China or Hong Kong or has substantial operations in China to conduct its business. These risks could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities or could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause such securities to significantly decline or be worthless. Particularly, recent statements and regulatory actions by the PRC government, such as those related to variable interest entities, data security or anti-monopoly concerns, may have a negative impact on our ability to conduct business in China, accept foreign investments, or list on a U.S. or other foreign exchanges. Furthermore, if we enter into a business combination with a company based in China or Hong Kong, we or such company may be subject to the PRC governments regulations relating to foreign exchange, which may limit our ability to make loans to or inject capital into these subsidiaries, limit these subsidiaries ability to increase their registered capital or distribute earnings to the company we entered into a business combination with or us, or may otherwise adversely affect us. We or the company we enter into a business combination with may rely on dividends and other distributions on equity paid by our or its Chinese subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements we or it may have.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and twelve months from the closing of this offering, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or our liquidation, as described herein. We have also granted the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then-outstanding Class A ordinary shares that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to herein collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or (i) up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account, (ii) up to 21 months from the closing of this offering, if we have entered into a definitive agreement during the first 18 months from the closing of this offering, without our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account and, if needed, up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account, or (iii) during any shareholder approved extension period, as described in more detail in this prospectus), we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.
Our sponsor, Generation Asia LLC, has committed to purchase an aggregate of 6,800,000 warrants (or 7,700,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $6,800,000 in the aggregate (or $7,700,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the private placement warrants.
Our initial shareholders, which include our sponsor, currently own an aggregate of 7,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (which we refer to as founder shares as further described herein), up to 750,000 of which may be surrendered to us for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised and including 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements described below. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to the adjustments described herein. Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote for the election of, and to remove, directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, which directors will be proposed by the Companys board of directors following a nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee. On any other matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, holders of the Class B ordinary shares and holders of the Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, except as required by law.
Funds managed by Carnegie Park Capital LLC (which we refer to as sponsor investor as further described herein) have purchased membership interests in our sponsor entitling them to an economic interest in certain of the founder shares owned by our sponsor and in certain of the placement units to be purchased by our sponsor. Pursuant to its subscription agreement with our sponsor, the sponsor investor will not be granted any material additional stockholder or other rights, and will only be issued membership interests in our sponsor with no right to control our sponsor or vote or dispose of any founder shares, placement units or underlying securities owned by our sponsor (which will continue to be held by our sponsor until following our initial business combination).
Certain qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors who are not affiliated with our sponsor or any member of our management, which we refer to collectively as the forward purchasers, entered into forward purchase agreements with us that provide for the purchase by the forward purchasers of an aggregate of 8,000,000 forward purchase units, with each forward purchase unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-quarter of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $80,000,000, or $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to close concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The forward purchasers may purchase less than 8,000,000 forward purchase units in accordance with the terms of the Forward Purchase Agreements. In addition, the forward purchasers commitment under the forward purchase agreements will be subject to their rights to terminate their commitment at any time before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination. Accordingly, if any forward purchasers exercise their rights to terminate their commitment, such forward purchaser will not be obligated to purchase any forward purchase securities, and we will not receive any of the amounts committed under such forward purchase agreement. We issued 2,000,000 additional Class B ordinary shares to our sponsor, which represents the adjustment to the ratio applicable to the conversion of its Class B ordinary shares that our sponsor would have been entitled to at the closing of our initial business combination as a result of the issuance of 8,000,000 additional Class A ordinary shares under the forward purchase agreements. As a result, the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares at the closing of our initial business combination will not trigger a further adjustment to this ratio. Further, prior to this offering, our sponsor transferred an aggregate of 1,200,000 Class B ordinary shares to the forward purchasers for no cash consideration, which represent 17.14% of the Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding immediately after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option). As a result of the foregoing, our sponsor currently owns 6,550,000 Class B ordinary shares, up to 750,000 of which will be surrendered to us by our sponsor for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. The total number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters over-allotment option, which includes the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, will equal 20% of the sum of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time plus the 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements.
Certain qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors who are not affiliated with our sponsor or any member of our management, which we refer to as the anchor investors, have each expressed to us an interest to purchase up to 9.9%, 7.425% or 4.95%, or 1,980,000, 1,485,000 or 990,000 of the units in this offering, respectively (excluding any units sold if the underwriter exercises the over-allotment option), representing in the aggregate up to approximately 101.475% or 20,295,000 of the units in this offering (or 88.24% of the units in this offering if the underwriter exercises the over-allotment option in full), and we have agreed to direct the underwriter to sell to each of the anchor investors such number of units. For a discussion of certain additional arrangements with our anchor investors, see SummaryThe OfferingExpressions of Interest.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants. We intend to apply to list our units on The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol GAQ.U on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on NYSE.
We expect the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or the immediately following business day if such 52nd day is not a business day) unless Nomura Securities International, Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions as described further herein. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NYSE under the symbols GAQ and GAQWS, respectively.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See Risk Factors beginning on page 51 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
No offer or invitation to subscribe for securities may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands.
Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Per Unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 200,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)(2) |
$ | 0.55 | $ | 11,000,000 | ||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
$ | 9.45 | $ | 189,000,000 |
(1) | $0.20 per unit is payable upon the closing of this offering. Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate (or up to $8,050,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States and released to the underwriter only upon the completion of an initial business combination. See also Underwriting for a description of compensation payable to the underwriter. |
(2) | To the extent certain anchor investors purchase units for which they have indicated an interest in purchasing, the underwriter will not receive any upfront underwriting discounts or commissions received from sales of securities to such anchor investors upon the closing of the offering, and the underwriter shall not be entitled to the deferred underwriting commissions on gross proceeds received from the sales of securities to the sponsor, its controlled affiliates and the directors, officers, team members and investment entities of the sponsor and its controlled affiliates. |
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $202,000,000, or $232,300,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $2,020,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $2,620,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $930,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. Such proceeds will only be released from such trust account as described herein. The underwriter is offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriter expects to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about , 2021.
Sole Book-Running Manager
Nomura
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, 2021
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19 | ||||
46 | ||||
50 | ||||
51 | ||||
112 | ||||
113 | ||||
119 | ||||
120 | ||||
123 | ||||
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
125 | |||
130 | ||||
169 | ||||
181 | ||||
186 | ||||
189 | ||||
214 | ||||
224 | ||||
233 | ||||
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235 |
We have not, and the underwriter has not, authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different from or inconsistent with that contained in this prospectus. We are not, and the underwriter is not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under Risk Factors and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| amended and restated memorandum and articles of association are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that the company will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering; |
| anchor investors are to Atalaya Capital Management LP, P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LP, and Apollo Capital Management, L.P., each on behalf of one or more investment funds, separate accounts, and other entities owned (in whole or in part), controlled, managed, and/or advised by it or its affiliates, and certain other qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors, each of which has expressed to us an interest to purchase up to 9.9%, 7.425% or 4.95% of the units in this offering as further described herein; |
| we, us, the Company, our company or Generation Asia I Acquisition are to Generation Asia I Acquisition Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company; |
| China or the PRC are to the Peoples Republic of China, excluding, for the purposes of this prospectus only, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan; |
| Companies Act is to the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| directors are to our current directors and director nominees (if any); |
| forward purchasers are to Atalaya Capital Management LP, P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LP, Apollo Capital Management, L.P., and Carnegie Park Capital LLC, each on behalf of one or more investment funds, separate accounts, and other entities owned (in whole or in part), controlled, managed, and/or advised by it or its affiliates, and with each of whom we have entered into a forward purchase agreement; |
| forward purchase agreements are to the agreements providing for the sale of forward purchase shares and forward purchase warrants to the forward purchasers in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination and the transfer of 1,200,000 founder shares by our sponsor to the forward purchasers prior to this offering; |
| forward purchase securities are to the forward purchase shares and forward purchase warrants; |
| forward purchase shares are to the Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the forward purchasers pursuant to the forward purchase agreements; |
| forward purchase warrants are to the warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the forward purchasers pursuant to the forward purchase agreements; |
| founder shares are to Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and share capitalization prior to this offering and which are currently held by our sponsor and our forward purchasers (which shares may be transferred to permitted transferees from time to time) and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described herein; |
| initial shareholders are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering (including 1,200,000 founder shares that our sponsor transferred to the forward purchasers pursuant to the forward purchase agreements); |
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| management or our management team are to our officers and directors; |
| ordinary resolution is to a resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by the holders of the issued ordinary shares present in person or represented by proxy at a general meeting of the Company and entitled to vote on such matter or a resolution approved in writing by all of the holders of the issued shares entitled to vote on such matter; |
| ordinary shares are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
| private placement warrants are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement to close simultaneous with the closing of this offering; |
| public shares are to Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| public shareholders are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial shareholders and management team to the extent our initial shareholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares; provided that each initial shareholders and member of our management teams status as a public shareholder will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
| public warrants are to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| SEC is to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; |
| special resolution is to a resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a two-thirds (2/3) majority (or such higher threshold as specified in the Companys amended and restated articles of association) of the votes cast by the holders of the issued ordinary shares present in person or represented by proxy at a general meeting of the Company and entitled to vote on such matter or a resolution approved in writing by all of the holders of the issued shares entitled to vote on such matter; |
| sponsor is to Generation Asia LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company; |
| sponsor investor is to funds managed by Carnegie Park Capital LLC; and |
| warrants are to our public warrants and private placement warrants. |
Any conversion of the Class B ordinary shares described in this prospectus will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and a subsequent issuance of Class A ordinary shares or as otherwise permitted by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any forfeiture of shares, and all references to forfeiture of shares, described in this prospectus shall take effect as a surrender of shares for no consideration as a matter of Cayman Islands law. Any share dividend described in this prospectus will take effect as a share capitalization as a matter of Cayman Islands law.
Unless stated otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriter will not exercise its over-allotment option.
Our Company
Introduction
We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.
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While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geography, we intend to focus our search on a target that is at least partially owned by a financial sponsor(s) with operations or prospective operations in the technology, media & telecommunications (TMT), business services, or consumer sectors, which we refer to as the Target Sectors, across Asia, in particular North Asia and Southeast Asia. We believe there is a large universe of growth companies and/or companies with stable growth and cash flows that could benefit from a public listing, and that we will be able to offer a differentiated and compelling value proposition to them.
Our management and investment team is comprised of 17 veteran investors and operators with over 80 years of combined investment experience, and has had significant success sourcing, acquiring, growing and monetizing these types of companies. Moreover, our directors and advisors have over 140 years of combined operating experience. Given our proven track record, we believe our team has the required investment, transactional and operational expertise to effect a business combination with an attractive target and to position it for long-term success in the public markets.
Our Market Opportunity
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geography, we intend to focus our search on a target owned by a financial sponsor(s) with operations or prospective operations in our Target Sectors across Asia. These could include growth companies and/or companies with stable growth with cash flows. North Asia (including Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and Southeast Asia (including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) have strong synergies with our deal flows, network, and operating and technical expertise.
We believe that there is substantial pent-up demand for private equity exits in this region, which will result in opportunities for attractive risk-adjusted returns from our initial business combination. According to the Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2020 by Bain & Company, there is a growing number of unrealized private equity investments in Asia and these unrealized investments have reached a new high of $806 billion as of June 2019. While there are several macroeconomic drivers that have contributed to private equity exits declining to a 10-year low, we believe that it is also attributable to certain systemic factors which we outline in the following paragraphs. For each factor, we also discuss why a US listing via a combination with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) may be a possible solution and provides a superior alternative.
| Long Listing Process: Traditional public listings on Asia stock exchanges are lengthy and cumbersome. Depending on the local stock exchange, each listing process is often subjective and could take as long as two years from start to finish and sometimes requires extensive discussions with and multiple approvals from local authorities. Moreover, additional restrictions in the form of minimum quantitative thresholds (e.g., revenue and profit) and operating record would also be imposed for listing candidates. In contrast, a US listing via a combination with a SPAC is conducted under a highly condensed timeline and can be completed as quickly as within four to six months with lesser listing requirements. We believe this reduces a major barrier to exit via public markets, as listing via combination with a SPAC will allow financial sponsors with public market-ready portfolio companies to benefit from shorter execution windows and time their exits to maximize investment returns. |
| Valuation Gap: There is a persistent valuation gap between Asia-listed companies and US-listed companies. According to data from Bloomberg as of March 12, 2021, over the past year, the average forward price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P500 is 23.9x, higher than other Asia markets such as MSCI Japan at 19.4x, MSCI China at 19.6x, and MSCI ASEAN at 17.9x. The US has the largest equities market in the world supported by a large and highly sophisticated international investor base with deep understanding across all sectors. Additionally, a US listing via a combination with a SPAC allows for a more open sharing of future expectations, which may also positively impact valuation. We believe that |
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this makes a US listing, in particular via a combination with a SPAC, a more attractive option for financial sponsors with public market-ready portfolio companies to achieve higher valuations at exit. |
| Low Liquidity: Asian markets have relatively lower liquidity than the US market. The US has undisputedly one of the most active markets globally. According to data from Bloomberg, trading liquidity, measured by the trading turnover for the three months ended March 14, 2021 as a percentage of total market capitalization, is highest in the US (59%), which is more than double than that of Japan (24%) and more than triple than that of Southeast Asia (16%). Higher trading liquidity better facilitates price discovery and results in share prices that more accurately reflect the intrinsic value of businesses. Post-listing, higher trading liquidity also provides financial sponsors with greater flexibility for subsequent sell-downs of their stakes in portfolio companies without incurring excessive friction costs or adversely impacting share price. |
We believe that the value created in private markets is a leading indicator of future investment opportunities for the public markets. Many growth companies and/or companies with stable growth and cash flows owned by financial sponsors have remained private for the aforementioned reasons. However, financial sponsors could be incentivized to explore a public listing of their portfolio companies in the US, in particular via a combination with a SPAC, since it could present a more efficient option to exit their positions and monetize their investments at more attractive valuation levels.
Our People
Our objective is to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns and create value for our shareholders. To achieve this, we have assembled a group of seasoned investors and industry veterans with deep experience and relationships in private equity and an established track record of identifying, investing, operating, and advising leading businesses. Our approach is underpinned by deep investment fundamentals combined with an intense focus on sectors and geographies where we have differentiated insights. Our team is led by Roy Kuan (Chief Executive Officer), Norimitsu Niwa (Chief Operating Offer), Catherine Kwok (Chief Financial Officer) and Tim Li (Senior Investment Advisor) who collectively have over 60 years of investment experience, deploying $5.8 billion in 38 investments, and effecting 14 IPOs. We will also leverage the complementary experiences and networks of our directors and advisors to deliver unique and actionable investment opportunities.
Management and Investment Team
Roy Kuan serves as our Chief Executive Officer and has 25 years of private equity experience in Asia. Mr. Kuan currently is a private investor across a variety of asset classes and serves on the boards or advisory boards of several private and public companies across the TMT, consumer, and industrial sectors in Asia. Mr. Kuan previously served as a Managing Partner at CVC Capital Partners (CVC), a global private equity firm from 1999 to 2020. He was a Co-Founder of CVCs Asian private equity business, served on the firms Asian Investment and Portfolio Committees, and was also a member of CVCs Board of Directors. Prior to CVC, Mr. Kuan was an Investment Director at Citigroups Asian private equity investment division from 1996 to 1999. During his private equity career, Mr. Kuan participated in 23 investments across the Target Sectors, with a total equity investment amount of $3.1 billion and achieved $7.9 billion in total realized value. Mr. Kuan has also been involved in 10 IPOs in the region. Mr. Kuans selected investments in the Target Sectors include TechnoPro Holdings (R&D staffing, Japan), Hong Kong Broadband Network (broadband services, Hong Kong), Arteria Networks (enterprise data communications, Japan), Infastech (technology components, Asia), Haitai Confectionery (snack products, South Korea), CJ CGV (cinemas, South Korea) and 39 Home Shopping (media commerce, Korea). Mr. Kuan currently serves as a director or advisory board member of several other companies in the Target Sectors, including eBroker (online wealth management, China), Food Union Enterprises (dairy products, Asia and Europe) and Point Avenue (education technology, Southeast Asia). Mr. Kuan received his
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MBA degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. degree from Georgetown University, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar. Mr. Kuan is based in Hong Kong.
Norimitsu Niwa serves as our Chief Operating Officer and has 19 years of private equity and principal investments experience. Previously, Mr. Niwa was the Head of Strategic Investments at Prored Partners from 2019 to 2020, where he founded and developed the principal investment arm of a TSE-listed consulting firm. Prior to Prored Partners, Mr. Niwa was a Senior Managing Director at CVC in Japan from 2007 to 2017. During the course of his investment career, he has completed 6 investments with a total equity investment amount of $1.6 billion and 5 add-on acquisitions. Mr. Niwa was also involved in 3 IPOs in Japan. Mr. Niwa was a deal team member in the following deals in the Target Sectors in Japan, including BellSystem24 (contact centers), Nikko Asset Management (financial services), Genesis Technology (semiconductor testing) TechnoPro Holdings, Arteria Networks and HITOWA Holdings (senior care, nursery and household cleaning services). Mr. Niwa received an MBA with Distinction from London Business School and a B.A. from Hitotsubashi University. Mr. Niwa is based in Japan.
Catherine Kwok serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Kwok previously worked in Maples Fund Services (Asia) and Sovereign Trust (Hong Kong) as Finance Manager and Finance Director, respectively. Prior to these companies, she worked in KPMG in their audit practice. Ms. Kwok received a BBA in Accountancy from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. Ms. Kwok is based in Hong Kong.
Tim Li serves as our Senior Investment Advisor and has 17 years of investment and transactional experience across technology, healthcare, financial services, logistics, and consumer sectors in Asia. Mr. Li is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Inspiration Capital Partners, a middle market private equity investment firm in China. Previously, Mr. Li was a Partner at Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2018. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Li was an investment banker in the Health Care Group and Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank from 2002 to 2005. During the course of his career, Mr. Li has completed 11 investments with a total equity investment amount of $1.6 billion. Mr. Li was also involved in 3 IPOs in the region. Mr. Li has served as a board member or was an investment team member in numerous China investments including Anhui Kouzi (spirits), Henan Songhe (wines), Ascletis Pharma (antiviral drugs), Venus MedTech (cardiovascular devices), Taikang Insurance Group (insurance), Qingdao Gooday Logistics (logistics services). Mr. Li received a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Li is based in Hong Kong and China.
Difei Cheng serves as our Investment Advisor and has 15 years of investment and transactional experience in Asia. Ms. Cheng was most recently a Director at CVC in China from 2011 to 2021. During the course of her career, Ms. Cheng has completed 5 investments with a total equity investment amount of $1.0 billion. Ms. Cheng was also involved in 2 IPOs in the region. Ms. Cheng was a deal team member in the following deals in the Target Sectors across North Asia, including Nien Made (window coverings products, Taiwan), DaNiang Dumplings (fast food restaurants, China), EIC Education (educational counselling services, China), RKE International (expressway operator, China) and Sheshido (skincare, Japan). Nien Made was a CVC portfolio company that realized a 2.4x multiple on invested capital return (MOIC). Ms. Cheng worked at General Electric and Macquarie before joining CVC. Ms. Cheng received a B.A. from Yale University. Ms. Cheng is based in China.
Yonghi Li serves as our Investment Advisor and has 14 years of investment and strategy consulting experience in Asia. Mr. Li is currently Chief Strategy Officer at LILI SG, a technology company focusing on local womens fashion in Southeast Asia. Prior to this, Mr. Li was a Director at CVC in Korea and Singapore from 2011 to 2020. During the course of his career, Mr. Li has completed 3 investments with a total equity investment amount of $0.7 billion. Mr. Li was also involved in 2 IPOs in the region. Mr. Li was a deal team member in the following deals in the Target Sectors across Korea and Southeast Asia, including SPi Global
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(business process outsourcing, the Philippines), Siloam International (hospitals, Indonesia), and Matahari (department stores, Indonesia). Mr. Li worked at McKinsey and Credit Suisse before joining CVC. Mr. Li received a B.A. from Seoul National University. Mr. Li is based in Singapore.
Edward Chen serves as our SPAC Advisor and has 13 years of investment experience in the SPAC market. Mr. Chen is the Founder and Managing Partner of Carnegie Park Capital LLC, a firm whose team has invested in SPACs since 2008. Previously, Mr. Chen was a Portfolio Manager at Water Island Capital LLC from 2013 to 2021. Prior to joining Water Island Capital, Mr. Chen was at Jefferies & Company, where in his last role as Managing Director within the firms Global Event Driven Strategies group, he was responsible for conducting research due diligence of announced mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, tenders and bankruptcy exits while managing a proprietary portfolio of event-driven investments. Mr. Chen worked at Citigroup Global Markets before joining Jefferies. Mr. Chen received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chen is based in the United States.
Chia Min Lee serves as an Investment Analyst. Mr. Lee received a BSc in Global Economics and Finance from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Leo Chan serves as an Investment Analyst. Mr. Chan received a BSc in Risk Management & Business Intelligence from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.
Independent Directors
Gary Chan serves as one of our independent directors. Mr. Chan is an Asian financial markets veteran and brings an exceptional track record of originating proprietary transactions. He is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sangyo Sosei Advisory, a TMT-focused independent boutique investment bank in Japan. Sangyo Sosei Advisory was the merger & acquisition advisor to CVC on its investment in Arteria Networks. Prior to co-founding Sangyo Sosei Advisory in 2009, Mr. Chan was a Managing Director at UBS Japan from 1995 to 2009, where he held various leadership roles including the Head of Japan Telecommunications Investment Banking, Head of Japan Financial Sponsors Coverage, and Head of Japan General Industry Group. Prior to investment banking, he was an Institutional Investors-ranked research analyst and served as the Head of Asia Telecommunications Research as well as the Head of Hong Kong and China Research. Mr. Chan received a B.A. from UC Berkeley. Mr. Chan is based in Japan.
Goodwin Gaw serves as one of our independent directors. Mr. Gaw is a renowned property investor with over 20 years of real estate investment and management experience across the United States and Asia. He is presently the Co-Founder and Chairman of Gaw Capital, a global real estate private equity firm. Mr. Gaw is also the Vice Chairman of Pioneer Global Group, a property investment company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 1994. Additionally, he is also the Founder and President of Downtown Property Holdings, a private real estate investment company with interest in commercial properties in the United States. Mr. Gaw received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. from Stanford University. Mr. Gaw is based in Hong Kong.
Operating Advisors
We have formed a group of highly experienced and reputable operating advisors who will assist our management team following the consummation of this offering in sourcing suitable business combination targets, assessing their viability, and subsequently driving value creation in the business that we acquire. Our operating advisors are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Max He has 8 years of operating experience, particularly as an entrepreneur in the financial technology sector in Asia. Mr. He is currently the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of eBroker since 2015, an online
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marketplace for China consumers to access overseas insurance and financial products. Prior to founding eBroker, he was a private banker at Morgan Stanley from 2012 to 2013. Mr. He received a B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. He is based in China.
Danny Hwang has 12 years of operating experience, primarily as an entrepreneur in the education sector. Mr. Hwang is currently the Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Point Avenue since 2018, a private education technology company offering K-12 educational services in Southeast Asia. Prior to co-founding Point Avenue, Mr. Hwang was a Managing Director at EIC Education from 2014 to 2017, a leading provider of overseas educational services in China. EIC Education was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.0x and an internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 33%1. Mr. Hwang was the Co-Founder and COO of New Pathway Education & Technology Group, an education company in China from 2009 to 2014. Mr. Hwang received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Hwang is based in Vietnam.
Samuel Hwang has 12 years of operating experience, primarily as an entrepreneur in the education technology sector. Mr. Hwang is currently the Co-Founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Point Avenue since 2018. Prior to co-founding Point Avenue, Mr. Hwang was the Chief Technology Officer of EIC Education from 2014 to 2017, a leading provider of overseas educational counselling services in China. EIC Education was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.0x and an IRR of approximately 33%2. Mr. Hwang co-founded New Pathway Education & Technology Group and was the Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2014. Mr. Hwang received a B.S. and an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Hwang is based in South Korea.
Jun Kawakami has 33 years of operating experience, particularly in the technology and healthcare sectors. Mr. Kawakami is currently a Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Group. Prior to that, Mr. Kawakami served as the CEO and President of Arteria Networks from 2017 to 2020. Arteria Networks was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.4x and an IRR of approximately 28%3. He also formerly served as CEO and President of General Electric Healthcare Japan from 2011 to 2016. He also held other senior management roles during his time at General Electric. Prior to that, Mr. Kawakami was also previously a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. Mr. Kawakami received a B.A. from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Mr. Kawakami is based in Japan.
Maulik Parekh has 25 years of operating experience, particularly as a senior executive in the technology sector. Mr. Parekh is currently an Advisor to Inspiro, an outsourcing specialist based in the Philippines, and previously was CEO from 2016 to 2020. Prior to Inspiro, Mr. Parekh served as a board member of SPi Global Holdings from 2016 to 2017, a leading provider of content outsourcing services based in the Philippines, and held the role of CEO and President from 2009 to 2016. SPi Global was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.6x and an IRR of approximately 36%4. Mr. Parekh was also Executive Vice President of TeleTech from 2006 to 2009, and Director of Outsourcing and Offshoring Customer Service at Dish Network from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Parekh received an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Mr. Parekh is based in Singapore and the Philippines.
Randy Teo has 23 years of operating experience, primarily in investments and strategy. Mr. Teo is currently the Managing Partner at T3each Global Ventures, a family office focusing on impact investing within the health and education sectors. Prior to this, Mr. Teo was the Co-Head of Platinum Equitys team in Singapore from 2013 to 2017 where he was responsible for establishing the firms Asia practice, sourcing and executing private equity
1 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
2 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
3 | MOIC and IRR of Arteria Networks are calculated in Japanese Yen. |
4 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
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investments. Mr. Teo also has a wealth of operating and business development experience and previously held numerous senior executive roles at Stanley Black & Decker (President of Global Industrial), Infastech (CEO and President), Acument Global Technologies (President of Asia Pacific) and Textron Asia (President of Asia Pacific). Infastech was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.8x and an IRR of approximately 47%5. Mr. Teo received an MBA from the University of Hull. Mr. Teo is based in Singapore.
William Yeung has 30 years of operating experience, particularly as a senior executive in the telecommunications and technology sector. Mr. Yeung currently serves as Executive Vice-Chairman of Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN), a Hong Kong-based telecommunication and enterprise IT services company since 2018. HKBN was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 3.6x and an IRR of approximately 63%6. Mr. Yeung joined HKBN in 2005 as COO and became the CEO in 2008. In addition, he also serves as Executive Chairman of Home+, a Hong Kong-based e-commerce platform launched by HKBN in 2020. Prior to HKBN, he served as a Director of SmarTone from 1996 to 2005. Mr. Yeung received a B.A. from Hong Kong Baptist University, an M.S. from The University of Hong Kong and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde. Mr. Yeung is based in Hong Kong.
The past performance of our directors, executive officers and advisors is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute an initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of management as indicative of future performance. Additionally, certain individuals amongst our directors, officers and advisors presently have, and in the future are expected to have, additional fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may combine with.
Our Business Strategy and Competitive Advantages
Our business strategy is to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, further accelerate the growth of the company in the public markets. We intend to focus on growth companies and/or companies with stable growth and cash flows that we believe can benefit from our relationships, knowledge and experience as catalysts to transforming and augmenting their business performance. Our selection process will leverage our teams broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Specifically, we believe the following competitive advantages will enable us to identify a suitable business combination target and consummate a successful transaction:
| Deep Expertise in our Target Industries and Geographies: We have a multi-decade history of investing in our target industries and geographies, enabling us to build deep domain expertise and to develop a long-term view on industry cycles. Our team combines global industry knowledge with deep on-the-ground presence in our target markets. We maintain a database of potential business combination targets, which is continuously updated and refined. We believe that many of these targets could be actionable after the completion of this offering. |
| Strong Investment Track Record of Outsized Returns: Over the last 25 years, our management and investment team has invested in 38 companies across a broad range of sectors, deploying around $5.8 billion across Asia. We believe that our teams investment track record will aid us in identifying, closing, and monitoring an attractive target for our initial business combination. |
5 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
6 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
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| Proprietary Sourcing Network and Leading Industry Relationships: Our team has a rich and long track record as investors and operators, and has developed a large and deep network across Asia, including strong relationships with many leading founders, executives and investors. Additionally, we will tap into an extensive pool of well-established external relationships with agents, consultants and investment banks. We believe this approach will provide us with a robust pipeline of attractive and actionable business combination opportunities that would be difficult for other investors to replicate. |
| Proven Operating Capabilities to Drive Value Creation: Our team has historically worked closely with, or as members of, management teams and boards to drive value creation. Together with our directors and advisors, we are adept at working with companies to develop organic growth strategies, implement cost and working capital efficiencies, build stronger businesses through acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and/or selective divestments, and identify and recruit exceptional management teams. |
| Deep Knowledge in Execution and Structuring: We believe that our teams expertise and long track record in effecting complex transactions will allow us to successfully source and structure transactions with certain attributes that are otherwise challenging for other investors to execute. These types of transactions require creativity, deep industry knowledge, rigorous due diligence, and extensive negotiations. We believe that these unique and complex opportunities often have more attractive risk-reward profiles. Following the business combination, we also have substantial experience in executing transactions across expansionary and recessionary market cycles utilizing a variety of transaction structures that we believe will help us to minimize risk and to position the company for long-term success. |
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have defined the following criteria and guidelines in evaluating prospective targets for our potential business combination. By applying a systematic target filtering process to identify and partner with high-quality companies in Asia, we estimate there may be around 50 companies out of over 460 companies backed by private equity firms in target sectors and geographies that potentially fit our criteria and guidelines. Although we expect to adhere to these criteria and guidelines when evaluating business combination opportunities, we may decide to enter into a business combination with a target that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to focus on businesses with the following characteristics:
| Suitable for an NYSE listing and U.S. Investor Base: We seek to merge or acquire companies that can benefit from the global branding opportunity brought by NYSE listing to facilitate international growth plans after public listing. In order to secure long-term capital partners, we intend to target companies that have identifiable trading peers with similar business or revenue model among the US listed securities and are situated in industries where international investors have strong sector expertise in. |
| Large Addressable Markets: We intend to invest in companies that address a large and growing market, which creates opportunities for attractive long-term growth either in core markets or by expanding into high potential adjacent categories that have not been substantially penetrated to date. |
| Established Market Leadership: We seek to merge or acquire companies that have a leading presence across an industry or segment and have built a unique product or service and offer long-term sustainable competitive differentiation. These could include superior branding, market-leading product or service offering, and/or proprietary technologies. |
| Strong Management and Culture: We seek to partner with leading executives who have strategic vision, are results-driven and aligned with our goal to drive meaningful shareholder value. We will evaluate a companys leadership through their track record of growth, ability to build a defensible |
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competitive advantage, quality of strategic decision-making, and establishment of a corporate culture anchored in strong values. |
| Attractive Growth Prospects: We seek to identify companies that have concrete and visible opportunities to execute organic growth initiatives. In addition, we intend to target companies that can serve as a broader platform for future accretive acquisitions and can benefit from the public currency and improved access to capital markets afforded by being a listed company. |
| Superior Unit Economics: We seek to merge or acquire companies with a demonstrated ability to be profitable or headed towards a clear path to profitability. We intend to spend significant time evaluating a companys unit economics and capability in generating consistent and high levels of cash flow over time as the business grows, even if it chooses to use that cash to re-invest back into the business in the near term. |
| Benefit from our Sponsorship: We intend to merge or acquire companies that operate within our fields of expertise which we believe will benefit from our strategic, operating, and financial value-add. This could be in the form of, but not limited to, capital structure solutions, creative and complex transaction structuring, and connectivity to our wide and global professional network to drive operational and financial efficiency improvements. |
| Attractive Risk-adjusted Return to our Shareholders: We have a deep understanding of various valuation methodologies and frameworks across various industries, and will aim to negotiate commercial terms that will provide significant upside potential while limiting downside risk. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we find an opportunity that has characteristics more compelling to us than the characteristics described above, we may pursue such opportunity.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience.
Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes and value creation methods are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
We believe that the operational and transactional experience of our management team, board of directors and advisors, and the relationships they have developed as a result of such experience, will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. We have at least one member of our team present in each of our target markets and these individuals and entities have developed a broad network of contacts and
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corporate relationships around the world and particularly in Asia. This network has grown through sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses and maintaining relationships with potential sellers, financing sources and target management teams. We have significant experience in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. We believe that these networks of relationships and this experience will provide us with important sources of investment opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest noncore assets or divisions.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our officers, directors, or advisors (or their respective affiliates or related entities) or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our officers, directors or advisors (or their respective affiliates or related entities). In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our officers or directors (or their respective affiliates or related entities), we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. As more fully discussed in ManagementConflicts of Interest, if any of our officers, directors or advisors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our officers, directors, and advisors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Other Acquisition Considerations
In addition to our sponsor, members of our management team, directors, and advisors may directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers, directors, and advisors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers, directors, and advisors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers, directors, and advisors presently has, and in the future any of our officers, directors, and advisors may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer, director, or advisor is or will be required to present acquisition opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, if any of our officers, directors, or advisors becomes aware of an acquisition opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such acquisition opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, no officer, director, or advisor shall be disqualified or prevented from contracting with the company nor shall any contract or transaction entered into by or on behalf of the company in which he or she shall have an interest be liable to be avoided. A director shall be at liberty to vote in respect of any contract or transaction in which he is interested provided that the nature of such interest shall be disclosed at or prior to its consideration or any vote thereon by the board of directors. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers, directors, or advisors would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination. Our officers, directors, and advisors may become an officer, director, or advisor of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the
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Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act even before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Additionally, pursuant to NYSE rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to six times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. In connection with any such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination for an additional month, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), up to an aggregate of $4,000,000, or $0.20 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. We will issue a press release announcing each extension at least three days prior to the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the time available for us by three additional months (for a total of 21 months to consummate such business combination) without any additional deposit into the trust account. In connection with such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. We will issue a press release announcing such extension at least three days prior to the commencement of such extension. If we cannot consummate a business combination within 21 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to three times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor or its affiliates or designees depositing into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), or up to an aggregate of $2,000,000, or $0.10 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. In addition to the foregoing arrangements, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the business judgment of our board of directors, which will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of the target or targets, and different methods of valuation may vary greatly in outcome from one another. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares and/or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. If our securities are not listed on the NYSE after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on the NYSE at the time of our initial business combination.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information made available to us. Additionally, members of our management team, board of directors and advisors have significant executive
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management and public company experience, and accordingly have developed a deep network of contacts and relationships that will provide us with an important source of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that opportunities will be brought to our attention by various unaffiliated sources, including investment banks, private equity groups, consultants, accounting firms and other investment market participants.
Initial Business Combination with a Company Based in China or Hong Kong
We may seek to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. The approval and/or other requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the CSRC) or other governmental authorities of the PRC may be required in connection with our initial business combination with a PRC company under PRC rules, regulations or policies, and, if required, we cannot predict whether we will be able to or for how long it will take to obtain such approval. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining the requisite governmental approval for our initial business combination, or a rescission of such approval, would subject us to sanctions imposed by the relevant PRC regulatory authority. In addition, if we successfully acquire a PRC company, we may conduct operations in China through a series of contractual arrangements with a variable interest entity in China (the VIE) due to restrictions imposed by the PRC laws and regulations on foreign ownership of companies involved in certain industries. Such contractual arrangements by and among PRC subsidiaries, the VIE, and the VIEs shareholders may include (i) certain power of attorney agreements, a share pledge agreement and certain loan agreements, which will provide us effective control over the VIE; (ii) an exclusive business cooperation agreement which allows us to receive substantially all of the economic benefits from the VIE; and (iii) certain exclusive option agreements and certain spouse consent letters which provide us with an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in and/or assets of the VIE when and to the extent permitted by PRC laws. Through contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders, we may become the primary beneficiary of the VIE, and, therefore, may consolidate the financial results of the VIE in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP or IFRS.
These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIE. If the VIE or its shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under these contractual arrangements, our recourse to the assets held by the VIE may be indirect and we may have to incur substantial costs and expend significant resources to enforce such arrangements in reliance on legal remedies under PRC law. These remedies may not always be effective, particularly in light of uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of the relevant laws and regulations. Furthermore, in connection with litigation, arbitration or other judicial or dispute resolution proceedings, assets under the name of any of record holder of equity interest in the VIE, including such equity interest of such record holder, may be put under court custody. As a consequence, we cannot be certain that the equity interest will be disposed pursuant to the contractual arrangement or that the ownership by the record holder of such equity interest will be unchallenged. See Risk FactorsWe may depend on contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders to operate our business in China, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control and otherwise have a material adverse effect as to our business. In addition, if we acquire a target company that operates its business in the PRC through contractual arrangements, investors in our ordinary shares following a business combination would not hold equity interests in the VIE domiciled in China that is under our control and would instead hold equity interests in a Cayman Islands holding company. You may never directly hold equity interests in PRC operating companies.
All of these contractual arrangements may be governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and disputes arising from these contractual arrangements may be resolved in court or through arbitration in China. As a result, uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements.
In addition, the PRC government also has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of a company with substantial operations in China to conduct its business and control over securities offerings conducted
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overseas and/or foreign investments at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities. In particular, there have been recent statements by the PRC government indicating an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China-based companies with substantial operations in China. Any such regulatory oversight or control could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless. The uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations would apply to us if we were to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong regardless of whether we have a VIE structure or direct ownership structure post-business combination. See Risk FactorsChinas economic, political and social conditions, as well as changes in any government policies, laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business. and Risk FactorsThere are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations.
The PRC government also has significant authority to exert restrictions on foreign exchange and our ability to transfer cash between entities, across borders, and to U.S. investors that may apply if we acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. We will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments as current regulations in China would permit our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends to us only out of its accumulated distributable profits, if any, determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. In addition, our PRC subsidiary will be required to set aside at least 10% (up to an aggregate amount equal to half of its registered capital) of its accumulated profits each year. See Risk FactorsAfter we consummate a business combination, our PRC subsidiary will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments.
In addition, we will be permitted under PRC laws and regulations to provide funding to the PRC subsidiaries only through loans or capital contributions, and to the VIE only through loans, and only if we satisfy the applicable government registration and approval requirements. See Risk FactorsIf we were to acquire a PRC company, the PRC regulation on loans to, and direct investment in, our PRC subsidiary by offshore holding companies and governmental control in currency conversion may restrict our ability to make loans to or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.
In addition, we may be subject to restrictions on currency exchange as the PRC government may limit or eliminate our ability to utilize cash generated in Renminbi to fund our business activities outside of the PRC or pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our securities, and may limit our ability to obtain foreign currency through debt or equity financing. See Risk FactorsWe are subject to restrictions on currency exchange and Risk FactorsGovernmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our net revenue effectively and affect the value of your investment.
These restrictions will restrict our ability to distribute earnings from our businesses, including subsidiaries and/or consolidated VIEs, to the parent company and U.S. investors as well as the ability to settle amounts owed under the VIE agreements. In addition, fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses to us and may reduce the value of, and amount in U.S. Dollar of dividends payable on, our shares in foreign currency terms.
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The following illustrative table shows the post-business combination funds flow of our company to the extent that our company acquires a company based in PRC with contractual arrangements.
Note:
(1) | We may transfer funds to the Target (PRC based shell company) through an increase in the registered capital of or a shareholder loan to the Target (PRC based shell company). The company based in the PRC may in turn make distributions or pay dividends to us. |
(2) | The Target (PRC based shell company) will provide the Consolidated VIE (PRC-based operations company) with services, including technical development, technical support, management consultation, marketing and promotional services and other related services on an exclusive basis, as the case may be. The Consolidated VIE (PRC-based operations company) will pay specified service fees to the Target (PRC based shell company) as consideration for the services provided. |
In contrast, the following illustrative table shows the post-business combination funds flow of the Company to the extent that the Company will acquire a company based in the PRC through direct equity investment.
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Note:
(1) | We may transfer funds to the Target (PRC-based operations company) through an increase in the registered capital of or a shareholder loan to the Target (PRC-based operations company). The Target (PRC-based operations company) may in turn make distributions or pay dividends to us. |
Furthermore, trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act) if the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor for three consecutive years beginning in 2021. If the PCAOB makes such determination, the NYSE would delist our securities, including our units, Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants being offered in this offering, and the SEC shall prohibit them from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would amend the HFCA Act and reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two years. If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC and if our new auditor is located in China, with operations in and who performs audit operations of registrants in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, the work of our new auditor as it relates to those operations may not be inspected by the PCAOB which currently is the case. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China may make it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firms audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in the audit procedures of our auditor and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements. See Risk FactorsTrading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor. In that case, the NYSE would delist our securities. The delisting of our securities, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections may deprive our investors with the benefits of such inspections.
Prior to our initial business combination, we are currently not required to obtain from Chinese authorities any permission to issue our securities to foreign investors and to operate our company. However, given the uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement and the quick changes of PRC laws, rules and regulations, the relevant PRC government agencies could reach a different conclusion and may subject us to a stringent approval process in connection with this offering or our operation. If we are or were required to but are unable to obtain such required permission from the PRC governmental authorities, we may face adverse actions or sanctions by the relevant PRC governmental authorities, which could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer securities to our investors and to operate our company.
Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman Islands and Suite 3102, Two Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong, China, and our telephone numbers are (345) 814-5580 and +852 2131-8900, respectively. We plan to maintain a corporate website at www.gen-mgmt.com. The information that may be contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not incorporated by reference in, or otherwise a part of, this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.
We are an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from
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complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and obtained a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the JOBS Act). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the Market Value (as defined below) of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to emerging growth company will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates does not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100.0 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled Risk Factors.
Securities offered |
20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of: |
| one Class A ordinary share; and |
| one-half of one redeemable warrant. |
NYSE symbols |
Units: GAQ.U |
Class A Ordinary Shares: GAQ |
Warrants: GAQWS |
Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants |
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or the immediately following business day if such 52nd day is not a business day) unless Nomura Securities International, Inc. informs us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. |
Separate trading of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K |
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet of the Company reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly, and |
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no later than four business days, after the closing of this offering. If the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option. |
Units: Number outstanding before this offering |
0 |
Number outstanding after this offering |
20,000,000(1) |
Ordinary shares: Number outstanding before this offering |
7,750,000(2) |
Number outstanding after this offering |
27,000,000(1)(3) |
Warrants: Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering |
6,800,000(1) |
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement |
16,800,000(1)(4) |
Exercisability |
Each whole warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No |
(1) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option and the surrender of 750,000 founder shares to us for no consideration. |
(2) | Includes up to 750,000 founder shares that may be surrendered to us for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. Except as otherwise specified, the rest of this prospectus has been drafted to give effect to the full forfeiture of these 750,000 founder shares. Also includes 2,000,000 founder shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements we entered into prior to this offering, which represents the adjustment to the ratio applicable to the conversion of its Class B ordinary shares that our sponsor would have been entitled to at closing of the business combination as a result of the issuance of 8,000,000 additional Class A ordinary shares under the forward purchase agreements. As a result, the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the forward purchase agreements at closing of the business combination will not trigger a further adjustment to this ratio. |
(3) | Comprised of 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units to be sold in this offering and 7,000,000 Class B ordinary shares (or founder shares), including 2,000,000 founder shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements we entered into prior to this offering. Founder shares are currently classified as Class B ordinary shares, which shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights. |
(4) | Comprised of 10,000,000 public warrants included in the units to be sold in this offering and 6,800,000 private placement warrants to be sold in the private placement. |
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fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. We structured each unit to contain one-half of one warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, as compared to units issued by some other similar special purpose acquisition companies, which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination as compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. |
Except as described below, the private placement warrants and forward purchase warrants will be exercisable on the same terms as the warrants offered as part of the units. |
Exercise price |
$11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance by our sponsor in connection with such issuance) (the Newly Issued Price), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the VWAP (as defined below under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase Warrants) of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10-trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the Market Value) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described below under Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 and Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. |
Exercise period |
The warrants will become exercisable on the later of: |
| 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; and |
| twelve months from the closing of this offering; |
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provided, in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, forward purchase warrants or private placement warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement registering the sale, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, forward purchase warrants and private placement warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the transfer of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 90th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are 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, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain an effective registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify for sale the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. |
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
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Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 |
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
| in whole and not in part; |
| at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and |
| if, and only if, the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase WarrantsAnti-dilution Adjustments) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on and including the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the Reference Value). |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants. |
The forward purchase warrants will be redeemable on the same terms as the warrants offered as part of the units. Except as set forth below, none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. |
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 |
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
| in whole and not in part; |
| for cash at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption; provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive the number of shares determined by reference to the table set forth under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase Warrants based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below); and |
| if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class A |
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ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00) equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase WarrantsAnti-dilution Adjustments). |
The fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares shall mean the VWAP (as defined below under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase Warrants) of our Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the 10-day trading period described above ends. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). |
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase Warrants for additional information. |
The forward purchase warrants will be redeemable on the same terms as the warrants offered as part of the units. |
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, references above to Class A ordinary shares will be deemed to refer to any security (other than Class A ordinary shares) into which the Class A ordinary shares are converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination. |
Expressions of interest |
Our anchor investors have each expressed to us an interest to purchase up to 9.9%, 7.425% or 4.95%, representing in the aggregate up to approximately 101.475%, of the units in this offering (or up to approximately 88.24% of the units in this offering if the underwriter exercises the over-allotment option in full) at the offering price and we have agreed to direct the underwriter to sell to the anchor investors such amount of units. At the closing of this offering, two anchor investors will be entitled to purchase from our sponsor a number of founder shares equal to 10% of the units each anchor investor is purchasing in this offering at a purchase price of approximately $0.01 per share. However, each such anchor investor has agreed that if such anchor investor owns less than the number of Class A ordinary shares it owns immediately after this offering (i) at the time of any shareholder vote with respect to our initial business combination or (ii) on the business day immediately prior to the |
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consummation of our initial business combination, it will sell back to our sponsor at approximately $0.01 per share the pro rata portion of the founder shares it purchased from our sponsor. However, each such anchor investor will be entitled to keep 50% of the founder shares it originally purchased from our sponsor in any event. In contrast to the foregoing arrangement, ten of the anchor investors will be entitled to purchase from our sponsor a number of founder shares equal to 6.31% of the units such anchor investor is purchasing in this offering, at a purchase price of approximately $0.01 per share. Such founder shares purchased by such anchor investors will not be subject to any requirements to sell them back to our sponsor. |
There can be no assurances that any of the anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the anchor investors will retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. In the event that the anchor investors purchase such units (either in this offering or after) and vote them in favor of our initial business combination, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. The anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination or to grant voting proxy to our sponsor to vote any founder shares held by them on their behalves. However, because our anchor investors are not obligated to continue owning any public shares following the closing and are not obligated to vote any public shares in favor of our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that any of these anchor investors will be stockholders at the time our stockholders vote on our initial business combination, and, if they are stockholders, we cannot assure you as to how such anchor investors will vote on any business combination. |
Forward purchase agreements |
Prior to this offering, we entered into forward purchase agreements pursuant to which the forward purchasers agreed to subscribe for an aggregate of 8,000,000 forward purchase units, with each forward purchase unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-quarter of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $80,000,000, or $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to close concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The forward purchasers may purchase less than 8,000,000 forward purchase units in accordance with the terms of the Forward Purchase Agreements. In addition, the forward purchasers commitment under the forward purchase agreements will be subject to their rights to terminate their commitment at any time before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination. Accordingly, if any forward purchasers exercise their rights to terminate their commitment, such forward purchaser will not be obligated to purchase any forward purchase securities, and we will not receive any of the amounts committed under such forward purchase agreement. We issued 2,000,000 additional Class B ordinary shares to our |
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sponsor, which represents the adjustment to the ratio applicable to the conversion of its Class B ordinary shares that our sponsor would have been entitled to at the closing of our initial business combination as a result of the issuance of 8,000,000 additional Class A ordinary shares under the forward purchase agreements. As a result, the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares at the closing of our initial business combination will not trigger a further adjustment to this ratio. Further, prior to this offering our sponsor transferred to the forward purchasers an aggregate of 1,200,000 founder shares for no cash consideration. Subject to certain exceptions to forfeiture and transfer provisions, the founder shares transferred in connection with these agreements are subject to similar contractual conditions and restrictions as the founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with this offering. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as our public warrants. Under the terms of the forward purchase agreements, if the forward purchasers fail to close on their obligations to purchase forward purchase securities or purchase less than 8,000,000 forward purchase units at the time of the initial business combination, the forward purchasers will be contractually required to forfeit all or pro rata portion of the founder shares transferred to them, and our sponsor has agreed to forfeit the incremental 2,000,000 founder shares to the same extent as the 1,200,000 founder shares transferred to the forward purchasers to maintain the 20% ratio of the Class B ordinary shares (prior to giving effect to their conversion at closing of the initial business combination) against the total number of ordinary shares outstanding. |
The forward purchase agreements provide that the forward purchasers are entitled to a right of first offer with respect to new equity securities we may offer in connection with or prior to the closing of the initial business combination. Each forward purchaser may purchase all or a portion of its pro rata share of the new equity securities being offered, based on the number of Class A ordinary shares each forward purchaser has agreed to purchase pursuant to its forward purchase agreement out of the total number of Class A ordinary shares all forward purchasers have agreed to purchase. Each forward purchaser shall have five business days to accept the offer. If a forward purchaser does not accept the offer, we will be free to sell or enter into an agreement within the 90 day period thereafter to sell such forward purchasers pro rata portion of the new securities to any third party on terms and conditions not more favorable to the third party than those offered to the forward purchaser. If we do not sell or enter into an agreement to sell such new securities within the 90 day period, the right of first offer shall be deemed to be revived and the new securities shall not be offered to any third party unless first re-offered to the forward purchaser. |
The forward purchase agreements provide that the forward purchasers are entitled to registration rights with respect to the forward purchase securities and Class A ordinary shares underlying the forward |
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purchase warrants and founder shares. Please see Description of SecuritiesRegistration Rights for additional information. |
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase shares may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-business combination company. These purchases are intended to provide us with a minimum funding level for our initial business combination. The forward purchasers will not have the ability to approve the initial business combination prior to the signing of a material definitive agreement and, if we seek shareholder approval, have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of the initial business combination. The forward purchase securities will be issued only in connection with the closing of the initial business combination. |
Sponsor Investment |
The sponsor investor has purchased membership interests in our sponsor entitling it to an economic interest in certain of the founder shares owned by our sponsor and in certain of the placement units to be purchased by our sponsor. Pursuant to its subscription agreement with our sponsor, the sponsor investor will not be granted any material additional stockholder or other rights, and will only be issued membership interests in our sponsor with no right to control our sponsor or vote or dispose of any founder shares, placement units or underlying securities owned by our sponsor (which will continue to be held by our sponsor until following our initial business combination). |
Founder Shares |
On March 5, 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in exchange for 7,187,500 founder shares, par value $0.0001. On August 16, 2021, pursuant to a downsize of this offering, our sponsor surrendered an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, which were cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the surrender. On August 23, 2021, in connection with entering into forward purchase agreements, our sponsor transferred to forward purchasers an aggregate of 825,000 founder shares for no cash consideration. On August 23, 2021, in connection with entering into forward purchase agreements, the Company issued 1,375,000 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor, resulting in an aggregate of 7,125,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On October 21, 2021, in connection with entering into an additional forward purchase agreement, the Company issued 625,000 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor, resulting in an aggregate of 7,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. Up to 750,000 of the founder shares will be subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised in full. |
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Prior to the initial investment in the Company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the Company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per-share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the Company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding, which includes the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full and 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Under the terms of the forward purchase agreements, if the forward purchasers fail to close on their obligations to purchase forward purchase securities or purchase less than 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial business combination, the forward purchasers will be contractually required to forfeit all or pro rata portion of founder shares transferred to it, and our sponsor has agreed to forfeit the incremental 2,000,000 founder shares to the same extent as the 1,200,000 founder shares transferred to the forward purchasers to maintain the 20% ratio of the Class B ordinary shares (prior to giving effect to their conversion at closing of the initial business combination) against the total number of ordinary shares outstanding. Up to 750,000 of the founder shares may be surrendered by our sponsor for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share sub-division, share dividend or share contribution back to capital, reorganization, recapitalization or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering, which includes the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial shareholders, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering) and 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares described herein will take effect as a redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. |
The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
| only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote for the election of, and to remove, directors prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, which directors will be proposed by the Companys |
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board of directors following a nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee; |
| the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
| the founder shares are entitled to registration rights; |
our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares they hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares they hold in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) or within 21 months from the closing of this offering to close a business combination that we have entered into a definitive agreement for during the first 18 months from the closing of this offering, as it may be further extended up to 24 months if such business combination is not consummated within 21 months, by depositing additional fund into the trust account for each month for three months or during any further extended time that we have to consummate a business combination as a result of a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the Shareholder Extension Period), each case as described in more detail in this prospectus; or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe; and (iv) vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. Further, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. If we submit our initial business combination to our |
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public shareholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 6,500,000, or 32.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised but including 2,000,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with the forward purchase agreements), or no public shares of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised but including 2,000,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with the forward purchase agreements) to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved; and |
| the founder shares are automatically convertible into our Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described below adjacent to the caption Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights. |
Transfer restrictions on founder shares |
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances as described herein under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Securities. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (2) if we consummate a transaction after our initial business combination which results in our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up. |
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Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights |
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares, which includes the 2,000,000 founder shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on less than a one-for-one basis. |
Appointment of directors; Voting |
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. |
Private placement warrants |
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 6,800,000 private placement warrants (or 7,700,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $6,800,000 in the aggregate (or $7,700,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. A portion of the purchase price of the private |
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placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing of this offering $202,000,000 (or $232,300,000 if the underwriter exercises its over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. The private placement warrants will be identical to the warrants sold in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), the private placement warrants will expire worthless. |
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants |
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described herein under Principal ShareholdersTransfers of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Securities. |
Proceeds to be held in trust account |
Of the net proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $202,000,000, or $232,300,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $2,020,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $2,620,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $930,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. |
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement |
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warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses. The funds held in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders. |
Extension of time to complete business combination |
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to six times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. In connection with any such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination for an additional month, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), up to an aggregate of $4,000,000, or $0.20 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. We will issue a press release announcing each extension at least three days prior to the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to |
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complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the time available for us by three additional months (for a total of 21 months to consummate such business combination) without any additional deposit into the trust account. In connection with such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. We will issue a press release announcing such extension at least three days prior to the commencement of such extension. If we cannot consummate a business combination within 21 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to three times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor or its affiliates or designees depositing into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), or up to an aggregate of $2,000,000, or $0.10 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. In addition to the foregoing arrangements, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. |
Anticipated expenses and funding sources |
Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes and/or to redeem our public shares in connection with an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as described above. The net proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $202,000,000, will be held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $202,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Unless and until we complete our |
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initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from such interest withdrawn from the trust account and: |
| the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which initially will be approximately $1,850,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $930,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and |
| any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to extend loans or invest in us; provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the funds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. |
Conditions to completing our initial business combination |
So long as our securities are then listed on NYSE, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. If our securities are not then listed on NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test. |
We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares and/or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our |
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issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-business combination company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. |
Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates |
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE listing rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities. for a description of how our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. Our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the initial business |
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combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. |
The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. |
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. In addition, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, as described in more detail in this prospectus) or with respect to other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public |
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shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. |
Manner of conducting redemptions |
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE, we will be required to comply with NYSEs shareholder approval rules. |
The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who, being entitled to do so, attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company, so long as we offer redemption in connection with such amendment. |
If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a general meeting, we will: |
| conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| file proxy materials with the SEC. |
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team above have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial |
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business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 6,500,000, or 32.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised but including 2,000,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with the forward purchase agreements), or no public shares of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised but including 2,000,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with the forward purchase agreements) to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether it was a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction. |
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will: |
| conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. |
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We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Companys DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares. |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements. We currently do not have any plan to enter into any backstop arrangement. |
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Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote |
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holders shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination. |
Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination |
On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination, to pay the underwriter its deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the |
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closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. |
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination |
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such 18-month period (or up to 24 month-period, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and 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 liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 18-month time period (or up to 24-month time period, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable). |
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable). |
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However, if our initial shareholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 18-month time period (or up to 24-month time period, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable). |
The underwriter has agreed to waive its right to its deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares. |
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described above under Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding 15% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote. For example, our board of directors may propose such an amendment if it determines that additional time is necessary to complete our initial business combination. In such event, we will conduct a proxy solicitation and distribute proxy materials pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act seeking shareholder approval of such proposal, and in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon shareholder approval of such amendment. |
Limited payments to insiders |
There will be no finders fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us |
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to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, and, if made prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account: |
| repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 principal amount of in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses including of the sponsor; |
| payment to our sponsor or an affiliate thereof of up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to us; |
| reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
Audit Committee |
We will establish and maintain an audit committee. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled ManagementCommittees of the Board of DirectorsAudit Committee. |
Conflicts of Interest |
Our officers, directors and advisors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer, director or advisor is or will be required to present business combination opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our directors, officers or advisors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. These entities may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing such opportunities. Our management team, in their capacities as members, officers or employees of our sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may be required to present potential business |
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combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by our sponsor, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. To address the matters set out above, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of our officers, directors or advisors acquires knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director, officer or advisor to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition our amended and restated articles of association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to the Company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity. See ManagementConflicts of Interest and Risk FactorsRisks Related to Our OperationsOur officers, directors and advisors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. |
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors, officers or advisors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. |
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Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled Risk Factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Position
| We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months (or up to 24 months, as applicable), it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
Risks Related to Our Proposed Initial Business Combination
| Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a business combination. |
| The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may significantly dilute the implied value of your public shares in the event we complete an initial business combination. In addition, the value of the founder shares will be significantly greater than the amount our sponsor paid to purchase such shares in the event we complete an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares to materially decline. |
| Your only opportunity to affect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek shareholder approval of such business combination. |
| If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
| The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
| The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our Class A ordinary shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
| The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) may give potential target businesses |
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leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders. |
| Our search for a business combination, and any partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets. |
| As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination. |
| Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
Risks Related to Acquiring and Operating Business in China
A significant number of our management and investment team, directors and advisors are located in or have significant ties to China or Hong Kong, and we may seek to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. Because of such ties to China or Hong Kong, we may be subjected to the laws, rules and regulations of the PRC.
| The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors (M&A Rules) and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue a business combination in the PRC. |
| Because the M&A Rules permit the government agencies to have scrutiny over the economics of an acquisition transaction and require consideration in a transaction to be paid within stated time limits, we may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in a transaction. |
| The approval or other administration requirements of the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities may be required in connection with our initial business combination with a Chinese company under PRC law. |
| Chinas economic, political and social conditions, as well as changes in any government policies, laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business. |
| There are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations. |
| Rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little or no advance notice and the Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China-based issuers, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of your shares and materially affect the interest of the investors. |
| If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws applicable to such business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights. |
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| If the PRC government deems that the contractual arrangements in relation to the VIE does not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investments in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations. |
| We may depend on contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders to operate our business in China, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control and otherwise have a material adverse effect as to our business. |
| Uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of the newly enacted PRC Foreign Investment Law and its implementing rules and how they may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
| The shareholders of the consolidated VIE may have potential conflicts of interest with us and/or the target company, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition and the value of our securities. |
| Contractual arrangements we enter into with potential future subsidiaries and affiliated entities or acquisitions of offshore entities that conduct operations through affiliates in the PRC may be subject to a high level of scrutiny by the relevant tax authorities. |
| Trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor. In that case, the NYSE would delist our securities. The delisting of our securities, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections may deprive our investors with the benefits of such inspections. |
| Our initial business combination with companies operating in China may be subject to cybersecurity review by regulatory authorities of the PRC in the future. |
| After we consummate a business combination, our PRC subsidiary will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments. |
| Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our net revenue effectively and affect the value of your investment. |
| After we consummate a business combination, we are subject to restrictions on currency exchange. |
| If we were to acquire a PRC company, the PRC regulation on loans to, and direct investment in, our PRC subsidiary by offshore holding companies and governmental control in currency conversion may restrict our ability to make loans to or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business. |
Risks Related to Our Operations
| If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public float of our Class A ordinary shares. |
| Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management. |
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Risks Related to Our Corporate Governance and Shareholder Rights
| Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests through the U.S. federal courts, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited. |
| Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination. |
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
| You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
| NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
| If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
Risks Related to Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
| After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate. |
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The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
June 30, 2021 | ||||||||
Actual | As Adjusted | |||||||
Balance Sheet Data: |
||||||||
Working (deficiency) capital(1) |
$ | (527,019 | ) | $ | 1,869,787 | |||
Total assets(2) |
555,943 | 203,869,787 | ||||||
Total liabilities(3) |
536,156 | 23,768,000 | ||||||
Value of ordinary share subject to possible conversion/tender(4) |
| 202,000,000 | ||||||
Shareholders equity(5) |
$ | 19,787 | $ | (21,898,213 | ) |
(1) | The as adjusted amount equals $1,850,000 of cash held outside the trust account (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option), plus $19,787 of actual shareholders equity on June 30, 2021. |
(2) | The as adjusted amount equals $202,000,000 of cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,850,000 in cash held outside the trust account (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option), plus $19,787 of actual shareholders equity on June 30, 2021. |
(3) | The as adjusted amount consists of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, and $16,768,000 of warrant liability, assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised. |
(4) | The as adjusted amount includes all public shares included in the units sold in this offering, assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised. |
(5) | Excludes 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares sold in the offering which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The as adjusted amount equals the as adjusted total assets, less the as adjusted total liabilities, less the value of ordinary shares that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.10 per share). |
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Position
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company newly incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
| our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| 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 Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; |
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| limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes; and |
| other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months (or up to 24 months, as applicable), it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or its affiliates to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the sale of the forward purchase securities, only $1,850,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements, after payment of estimated offering expenses. We believe that, upon closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months (or up to 24 months, as applicable); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a no-shop provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements 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 business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $930,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $930,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to loan funds to us in such circumstances. Any such loans would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.10 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase securities. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business
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combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.10 per share on the redemption of their shares. See If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share and other risk factors herein.
Our independent registered public accounting firms report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
As of June 30, 2021, we had $9,137 of cash and a working capital deficit of $527,019. Further, we had incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing acquisition plans. Managements plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Risks Related to Our Proposed Initial Business Combination
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a business combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section entitled Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationShareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination for additional information.
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The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may significantly dilute the implied value of your public shares in the event we complete an initial business combination. In addition, the value of the founder shares will be significantly greater than the amount our sponsor paid to purchase such shares in the event we complete an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares to materially decline.
Our sponsor has committed to invest an aggregate of $6,825,000 in us in connection with this offering, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $6,800,000 purchase price for the private placement warrants (or $7,700,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full). Our sponsor has subsequently transferred some of its founder shares to forward purchasers for no consideration pursuant to their forward purchase agreements and will transfer some of its founder shares to anchor investors for a nominal purchase price pursuant to their investment agreements at the closing of this offering. We are offering our units to the public at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, and the amount in our trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.00 per public share. However, because the sponsor paid only a nominal purchase price of approximately $0.003 per share for the founder shares, the value of your public shares may be significantly diluted as a result of the automatic conversion of the founder shares of our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers into Class A ordinary shares upon our completion of an initial business combination.
The following table shows the public shareholders and our sponsors investment per share and how these compare to the implied value of one Class A ordinary share upon the completion of our initial business combination. The following table assumes that (i) our valuation is $282,000,000 (which is $202,000,000 we would have in the trust account for our initial business combination assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised, plus $80,000,000 the forward purchasers will pay to buy Class A ordinary shares in a private placement to close concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination), (ii) no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account, (iii) no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination and (iv) all founder shares are held by our sponsor upon completion of our initial business combination, and does not take into account other potential impacts on our valuation at the time of the initial business combination such as (i) the value of our public and private placement warrants, (ii) the trading price of our public shares, (iii) the initial business combination transaction costs (including payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions), (iv) any equity issued or cash paid to the targets sellers, (v) any equity issued to other third party investors, or (vi) the targets business itself.
Class A ordinary shares held by public shareholders, anchor investors and forward purchasers |
28,000,000 shares | |||
Class B ordinary shares held by our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers |
7,000,000 shares | |||
Total ordinary shares |
35,000,000 shares | |||
Total funds at the initial business combination |
$ | 282,000,000.00 | ||
Public shareholders investment per Class A ordinary share(1) |
$ | 10.00 | ||
Our sponsors investment per Class B ordinary share(2) |
$ | 1.07 | ||
Implied value per Class A ordinary share upon the initial business combination(3) |
$ | 8.06 |
(1) | While the public shareholders investment is in both the public shares and public warrants, for purposes of this table the full investment amount is ascribed to the public shares only. |
(2) | The sponsors total investment in the equity of the company, inclusive of the founder shares and the sponsors $6,800,000 investment in the private placement warrants, is $6,825,000. For purposes of this table, the full investment amount is ascribed to the founder shares only. |
(3) | All founder shares held by our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers would automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares upon completion of our initial business combination. |
Based on these assumptions, each Class A ordinary share would have an implied value of $8.06 per share upon completion of our initial business combination, representing a 19.4% decrease from the initial implied value of $10.00 per public share. While the implied value of $8.06 per Class A ordinary share upon completion
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of our initial business combination would represent a dilution to our public shareholders, this would represent a significant increase in value for our sponsor relative to the price it paid for each founder share. At $8.06 per Class A ordinary share, the 7,000,000 Class A ordinary shares that the sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers would own upon completion of our initial business combination (after automatic conversion of their 7,000,000 founder shares) would have an aggregate implied value of $56,420,000. As a result, even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary share significantly declines, the value of the founder shares held by our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers will be significantly greater than the amount our sponsor paid to purchase such shares. In addition, our sponsor could potentially recoup its entire investment in our company even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares after the initial business combination is as low as $1.07 per share. As a result, our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers are likely to earn a substantial profit on their investment in us upon disposition of their Class A ordinary shares that have been converted from their founder shares even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares declines after we complete our initial business combination. Our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers may therefore be economically incentivized to complete an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or less-established target business than would be the case if our sponsor, anchor investors and forward purchasers had paid the same per share price for the founder shares as our public shareholders paid for their public shares.
Your only opportunity to affect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek shareholder approval of such business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect your investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders will own 20% of the sum of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering and the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements) and 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements. Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if it is approved by an ordinary resolution. Our initial shareholders have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any founder shares and any public shares they hold, in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders founder shares, we would need 6,500,000, or 32.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised but including 2,000,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with the forward purchase agreements), or no public shares of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised but including 2,000,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor in connection with the forward purchase agreements) to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that it is
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approved by an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we do not then become subject to the SECs penny stock rules), or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination or less than such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption of our public shares and the related business combination, and we may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our Class A ordinary shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
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The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our Class A ordinary shares could increase the risk that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation of our trust account in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the risk that our initial business combination will be unsuccessful would increase. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating an initial business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable). Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating an initial business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus surfaced which has and is continuing to spread throughout the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result, in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential partner business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected.
Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the partner businesss personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and complete a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information
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which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to complete a business combination, or the operations of a partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to complete a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 18 months (or up to 24 months, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), the funds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the funds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.10 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our initial shareholders have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable). We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general economic and market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the pandemic on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more
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than 10 business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income 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 liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law, in which case our public shareholders may only receive $10.10 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. See If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share and other risk factors herein.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors or at all.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies
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and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and consummating an initial business combination within the required time period. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.10 per share on the redemption of their shares. See If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share and other risk factors herein.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target businesss operations.
Although expected to focus on financial services companies, our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry, sector or location, we intend to capitalize
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on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management teams established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic financial services investments globally. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prohibit us from effectuating a business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target businesss operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our managements areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our managements areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our managements expertise, our managements expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our managements expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and, as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have some or all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a
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business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.10 per share on the redemption of their shares. See If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share and other risk factors herein.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and forward purchase securities, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, or delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact the value of our securities, our profitability and results of operations.
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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. However, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an accounting, valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an accounting, valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required timeframe, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. In addition, pursuant to a registration and shareholders rights agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor will be entitled to nominate two individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled Description of SecuritiesRegistration Rights.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
Involvement of members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated in civil disputes and litigation, governmental investigations or negative publicity unrelated to our business affairs could materially impact our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
Our directors and officers and companies with which they are affiliated have been, and in the future will continue to be, involved in a wide variety of business affairs, including transactions, such as sales and purchases of businesses, and ongoing operations. As a result of such involvement, members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated in have been, and may in the future be, involved in civil disputes, litigation, governmental investigations and negative publicity relating to their business affairs. Any such claims, investigations, lawsuits or negative publicity may be detrimental to our reputation and could negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination in a material manner and may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the
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trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of any of our public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholders investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We may face risks related to financial services businesses.
Business combinations with financial services businesses may involve special considerations and risks. If we complete our initial business combination with a financial services business, we will be subject to the following risks, any of which could be detrimental to us and the business we acquire:
| if the company or business we acquire provides products or services which relate to the facilitation of financial transactions, such as funds or securities settlement system, and such product or service fails or is compromised, we may be subject to claims from both the firms to whom we provide our products and services and the clients they serve; |
| if we are unable to keep pace with evolving technology and changes in the financial services industry, our revenues and future prospects may decline; |
| our ability to provide financial products and services to customers may be reduced or eliminated by regulatory changes; |
| any business or company we acquire could be vulnerable to cyberattack or theft of individual identities or personal data; |
| difficulties with any products or services we provide could damage our reputation and business; |
| a failure to comply with privacy regulations could adversely affect relations with customers and have a negative impact on business; |
| we may not be able to protect our intellectual property and we may be subject to infringement claims. |
Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to financial services businesses. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks will likely not affect us and we will be subject to other risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, none of which can be presently ascertained.
Risks Related to Acquiring and Operating Business in China
A significant number of our management and investment team, directors and advisors are located in or have significant ties to China or Hong Kong, and we may seek to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. Because of such ties to China or Hong Kong, we may be subjected to the laws, rules and regulations of the PRC.
The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue a business combination in the PRC.
The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors (the M&A Rules), adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in August 2006 and amended in 2009, and some other
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regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC (the MOFCOM) be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of the PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the Provisions on Thresholds for Prior Notification of Concentrations of Undertakings, issued by the State Council in August 2008, requires that the MOFCOM shall be notified in advance of any concentration of undertaking if certain thresholds are triggered. In addition, the security review rules issued by the MOFCOM that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise national defense and security concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise national security concerns are subject to strict review by the MOFCOM, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. Furthermore, according to the security review, foreign investments that would result in acquiring the actual control of assets in certain key sectors, such as critical agricultural products, energy and resources, equipment manufacturing, infrastructure, transport, cultural products and services, information technology, Internet products and services, financial services and technology sectors, are required to obtain approval from designated governmental authorities in advance.
In the event we propose to acquire a PRC-based business in our initial business combination, complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions, if required, could be time-consuming and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the MOFCOM or its local counterparts, may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share. Furthermore, according to the M&A Rules, if a PRC entity or individual plans to merge or acquire its related PRC entity through an overseas company legitimately incorporated or controlled by such entity or individual, such a merger and acquisition will be subject to examination and approval by MOFCOM. There is a possibility that the PRC regulators may promulgate new rules or explanations requiring that we obtain the approval of MOFCOM or other PRC governmental authorities for our business combination, which there is no guarantee we would get. And if we fail to obtain those approvals, we may be required to suspend our business combination and be subject to penalties. Any uncertainties regarding such approval requirements could have a material adverse effect on the process and timeline of our business combination.
Because the M&A Rules permit the government agencies to have scrutiny over the economics of an acquisition transaction and require consideration in a transaction to be paid within stated time limits, we may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in a transaction.
The M&A Rules have introduced aspects of economic and substantive analysis of the target business and the acquirer and the terms of the transaction by the MOFCOM and the other governing agencies through submissions of an appraisal report, an evaluation report and the acquisition agreement, all of which form part of the application for approval, depending on the structure of the transaction. The regulations also prohibit a transaction at an acquisition price obviously lower than the appraised value of the Chinese business or assets. The regulations require that in certain transaction structures, the consideration must be paid within strict time periods, generally not in excess of a year. Because the Chinese authorities intend to limit offshore flips which converted domestic companies into foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) in order to take advantage of certain benefits, including reduced taxation, in the PRC, the new regulations require new foreign sourced capital of not less than 25% of the domestic companys postacquisition capital in order to obtain FIE treatment. Accordingly, if a sufficient amount of foreign capital is not infused into the domestic company, it will not be eligible to obtain FIE treatment. In asset transactions there must be no harm of third parties and the public interest in the allocation of assets and liabilities being assumed or acquired. These aspects of the regulations will limit our ability to negotiate various terms of the acquisition, including aspects of the initial consideration, contingent consideration, holdback provisions, indemnification provisions and provisions relating to the assumption and allocation of assets and
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liabilities. Transaction structures involving trusts, nominees and similar entities are prohibited. Therefore, we may not be able to negotiate a transaction with terms that will satisfy our investors and protect our shareholders interests in an acquisition of a Chinese business or assets.
The approval or other administration requirements of the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities may be required in connection with our initial business combination with a Chinese company under PRC law.
The M&A Rules purport to require offshore special purpose vehicles that are controlled by PRC companies or individuals or have equity interest in PRC domestic companies and that have been formed for the purpose of seeking a public listing on an overseas stock exchange through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies or assets to obtain CSRC approval prior to publicly listing their securities on an overseas stock exchange. The interpretation and application of the regulations remain unclear. If CSRC approval is required, it is uncertain how long it will take for us to obtain such approval, and, even if we obtain such CSRC approval, the approval could be rescinded. Any failure to obtain or a delay in obtaining CSRC approval for our initial business combination with companies in China may subject us to sanctions imposed by the CSRC and other PRC regulatory authorities, which could include fines and penalties on our operations in China, restrictions or limitations on our ability to pay dividends outside of China, and other forms of sanctions that may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our PRC counsel has advised us that, based on its understanding of the current PRC laws and regulations, we will not be required to submit an application to the CSRC for the approval under the M&A Rules for this offering and the listing and trading of the ADSs on the NYSE because (i) the CSRC currently has not issued any definitive rule or interpretation concerning whether offerings like ours under this prospectus are subject to this regulation; and (ii) we did not acquire any equity interests or assets of a PRC domestic company as such terms are defined under the M&A Rules.
However, our PRC counsel has further advised us that there remains some uncertainty as to how the M&A Rules will be interpreted or implemented in the context of an overseas offering, and its opinions summarized above are subject to any new laws, rules and regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations in any form relating to the M&A Rules. We cannot assure you that relevant PRC governmental authorities, including the CSRC, would reach the same conclusion as our PRC counsel, and hence, we may face regulatory actions or other sanctions from them. Furthermore, relevant PRC governmental authorities promulgated the Opinions on Strictly Scrutinizing Illegal Securities Activities, among which, it is mentioned that the administration and supervision of overseas-listed China-based companies will be strengthened, and the special provisions of the State Council on overseas issuance and listing of shares by such companies will be revised, clarifying the responsibilities of domestic industry competent authorities and regulatory authorities. However, the Opinions on Strictly Scrutinizing Illegal Securities Activities were only issued recently, leaving uncertainties regarding the interpretation and implementation of these opinions. It is possible that any new rules or regulations may impose additional requirements on us. In addition, on July 10, 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a draft amendment to the Rules on Cybersecurity Review for public comments, according to which, among others, operators of critical information infrastructure or data processors holding over one million users personal information shall apply with the Cybersecurity Review Office (the CRO) for a cybersecurity review before any listing on a foreign stock exchange. It is uncertain when the final measures will be issued and take effect, how they will be enacted, interpreted or implemented, and whether they will affect us. If it is determined in the future that CSRC approval or other procedural requirements are required to be met for and prior to this offering, it is uncertain whether we can or how long it will take us to obtain such approval or complete such procedures and any such approval could be rescinded. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining such approval or completing such procedures for our initial business combination with companies in China, or a rescission of any such approval, could subject us to sanctions by the relevant PRC governmental authorities. In addition, if the PRC governmental authorities later promulgate new rules or explanations requiring that we obtain their approvals for filings, registrations or other kinds of authorizations for our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that we can obtain the approval, authorizations, or complete required procedures or other requirements in a
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timely manner, or at all, or obtain a waiver of the requisite requirements if and when procedures are established to obtain such a waiver.
Chinas economic, political and social conditions, as well as changes in any government policies, laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we acquire a company in China, our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and certain transactions we may undertake may be subject, to a significant extent, to economic, political and legal developments in China.
Chinas economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past two to three decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Demand for target services and products depends, in large part, on economic conditions in China. Any slowdown in Chinas economic growth may cause our potential customers to delay or cancel their plans to purchase our services and products, which in turn could reduce our net revenues.
Although Chinas economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market oriented economy since the late 1970s, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over Chinas economic growth through allocating resources, controlling the incurrence and payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Changes in any of these policies, laws and regulations could adversely affect the economy in China and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage foreign investment and sustainable economic growth and to guide the allocation of financial and other resources. However, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not repeal or alter these measures or introduce new measures that will have a negative effect on us. Chinas social and political conditions may change, and such changes, if not in our favor, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
The PRC government also has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of a company with substantial operations in China to conduct its business and control over securities offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investments at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities. In particular, there have been recent statements by the PRC government indicating an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China-based companies with substantial operations in China. We are not currently required to obtain permission from the PRC government to list on a U.S. securities exchange and consummate this offering. However, there is no guarantee that this will continue to be the case in the future in relation to the continued listing of our securities on a securities exchange outside of the PRC, or even when such permission is obtained, it will not be subsequently denied or rescinded. Any such regulatory oversight or control could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless. See There are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations.
There are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations.
A significant number of our management and investment team, directors and advisors are located in or have significant ties to China or Hong Kong, and we may seek to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. The uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations would apply to us if we were to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong
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regardless of whether we have a VIE structure or direct ownership structure post-business combination. Because of such ties to China or Hong Kong, we may be subjected to the laws, rules and regulations of the PRC. The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike the common law system, prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value.
In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws, rules and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investment in China. However, recently enacted laws, rules and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China or may be subject to significant degrees of interpretation by PRC regulatory agencies. In particular, because these laws, rules and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited number of published decisions and the nonbinding nature of such decisions, and because the laws, rules and regulations often give the relevant regulator significant discretion in how to enforce them, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws, rules and regulations involve uncertainties and can be inconsistent and unpredictable. In addition, rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little or no advance notice. Uncertainties due to evolving laws and regulations could impede the ability of a company with substantial operations in China to obtain or maintain permits or licenses required to conduct business in China. In the absence of required permits or licenses, governmental authorities could impose material sanctions or penalties on us. In addition, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all, and which may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until after the occurrence of the violation. Furthermore, if China adopts more stringent standards with respect to environmental protection or corporate social responsibilities, we may incur increased compliance cost or become subject to additional restrictions in our operations.
On July 6, 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council jointly promulgated the Opinions on Strictly Cracking Down on Illegal Securities Activities According to the Law, or the Opinions, which, among other things, require the relevant governmental authorities to strengthen cross-border oversight of law, enforcement and judicial cooperation, to accelerate rulemaking related to data security and cross-border data flow, to enhance supervision over China-based companies listed overseas, and to establish and improve the system of extraterritorial application of the PRC securities laws. Since the Opinions are relatively new, uncertainties still exist as to how soon legislative or administrative regulation making bodies will respond and what existing or new laws or regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations will be modified or promulgated, if any, and the potential impact such modified or new laws and regulations will have on China-based companies. Efforts by the PRC government to strengthen oversight or control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China-based companies could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer our securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless.
On February 7, 2021, the Anti-monopoly Commission of the State Council promulgated Guidelines to Anti-monopoly in the Field of Platform Economy, or the Anti-monopoly Guidelines for Platform Economy. The Anti-monopoly Guidelines for Platform Economy provides operational standards and guidelines for identifying certain prohibited manner of use of market dominant position by internet platforms as abuse of market dominant position to restrict unfair competition and safeguard users interests, including without limitation, prohibiting personalized pricing by using big data and analytics, actions or arrangements deemed as exclusivity arrangements, using technology means to block competitors interface, using bundle services to sell services or products. In addition, internet platforms compulsory collection of user data may be viewed as the abuse of dominant market position that may have the effect to eliminate or restrict competition.
On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress (the SCNPC) officially released the Personal Information Protection Law. The Personal Information Protection Law provides the basic regulatory regime for personal information protection, including without limitation, stipulating an expanded definition of personal information, providing a long-arm jurisdiction in cross-border scenarios, emphasizing
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individual rights, and prohibiting rampant infringement of personal information, such as stealing, selling, or secretly collecting personal information.
There have been some recent indications that the PRC government authorities may continue to strengthen oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in PRC businesses. Such actions taken by the PRC government authorities may adversely affect our ability to effect an initial business combination with a PRC-based business and/or to offer or continue to offer securities to our investors, result in a decrease in or even total loss of the value of our securities.
From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. Any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. Since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. These uncertainties may impede our ability to enforce the contracts we have entered into and/or our intellectual property rights and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. See If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws applicable to such business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
Rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little or no advance notice and the Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China-based issuers, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of your shares and materially affect the interest of the investors.
We currently have no operations in the PRC. Even though the PRC government currently does not exert direct influence and discretion over the manner in which we conduct our business activities outside of PRC, there is no guarantee that we will not be subject to such direct influence or discretion in the future due to changes in laws or other unforeseeable reasons or as a result of our acquisition of operations in PRC.
The PRC legal system is evolving rapidly and the PRC laws, regulations, and rules may change quickly with little or no advance notice. In particular, because these laws, rules and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited number of published decisions and the non-precedential nature of these decisions, the interpretation of these laws, rules and regulations may contain inconsistencies and their enforcement may involve uncertainties. The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over many sectors of the PRC economy through regulation and/or state ownership. Government actions have had, and may continue to have, a significant effect on economic conditions in the PRC and businesses which are subject to such government actions.
If we were to become subject to the direct intervention or influence of the PRC government at any time due to changes in laws or other unforeseeable reasons or as a result of our acquisition of operations in the PRC, it may require a material change in our operations, including our operations following our initial business combination, and/or result in increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. In addition, the market prices of our securities could be adversely affected as a result of anticipated negative impacts of any such government actions, as well as negative investor sentiment towards companies subject to direct PRC government oversight and regulation, regardless of our actual operating performance.
We are not currently required to obtain permission from the PRC government to list on a U.S. securities exchange and consummate this offering, but there is no guarantee that this will continue to be the case in the future in relation to the continued listing of our securities on a securities exchange outside of the PRC, or, even when such permission is obtained, it will not be subsequently denied or rescinded.
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Any actions by the PRC government to exert more oversight and control over offerings (including businesses whose primary operations are in Hong Kong) that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in Hong Kong- or PRC-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or be worthless.
If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws applicable to such business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws of the country in which such business operates will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations, including any contractual arrangements through which we acquire control of target business as described above. We cannot assure you that we or the target business will be able to enforce any of its material agreements or that remedies will be available in this jurisdiction. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. In addition, the judiciary in the PRC is relatively inexperienced compared to others in enforcing corporate and commercial law, leading to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of any litigation. In addition, to the extent that our target businesss material agreements are with governmental agencies in the PRC, we may not be able to enforce or obtain a remedy from such agencies due to sovereign immunity, in which the government is deemed to be immune from civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
If the PRC government deems that the contractual arrangements in relation to the VIE does not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.
If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, we may conduct our operations in China through a series of contractual arrangements with a VIE in China due to restrictions imposed by PRC laws and regulations on foreign ownership of companies involved in certain industries. In that case, the shareholders of our company will not be holding interest directly in the shares of an operating company based in the PRC, but instead in the shares of a shell company that directly or indirectly maintains contractual arrangements with the relevant operating company. The current industry entry clearance requirements governing the foreign investment activities in the PRC are set out in two categories, namely the Encouraged Industry Catalog for Foreign Investment (2020 version), as promulgated by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and MOFCOM and taking effect on January 27, 2021, and Special Administrative Measures for Entrance of Foreign Investment Negative List (2020 version), or the 2020 Negative List, issued on June 23, 2020 and effective on July 23, 2020. Industries not listed in the 2020 Negative List are generally deemed permitted for foreign investments unless specifically restricted by other PRC laws.
Because there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of PRC laws and regulations, including the PRC Foreign Investment Law and its implementing rules and other laws and regulations that may concern the industry we may choose to effect our initial business combination in, there can be no assurance that the PRC government authorities, including MOFCOM or other competent authorities, would agree that the VIE corporate structure or any of the above contractual arrangements comply with PRC licensing, registration or other regulatory requirements, with existing policies or with requirements or policies that may be adopted in the future. PRC laws and regulations governing the validity of these contractual arrangements are uncertain and the relevant government authorities have broad discretion in interpreting these laws and regulations.
If the PRC government determines that these contractual arrangements do not comply with PRC regulations, or if these regulations change or are interpreted differently in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties
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or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations, which may therefore materially reduce the value of our securities. In addition, if the imposition of any of these penalties or requirement to restructure our corporate structure causes us to lose the rights to direct the activities of our VIE or our right to receive their economic benefits, we would not be able to consolidate the financial results of such VIE in our consolidated financial statements, which may cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or even become worthless.
Furthermore, new PRC laws, rules and regulations may be introduced to impose additional requirements that may be applicable to our corporate structure and contractual arrangements. See Uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of the newly enacted PRC Foreign Investment Law and its implementing rules and how they may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Occurrence of any of these events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may depend on contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders to operate our business in China, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control and otherwise have a material adverse effect as to our business.
If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC and conduct our operations in China through a series of contractual arrangements with a VIE, these contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over our VIE. Under a VIE structure, all or substantially all of the target companys revenue are generated by, and a significant percentage of its consolidated assets are owned by, the VIE, whose financial statements are consolidated with those of the target company. Investors in our ordinary shares following a business combination would not hold equity interests in the VIE domiciled in China that is under our control and would instead hold equity interests in a Cayman Islands holding company. If our VIE or its shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under these contractual arrangements, our recourse to the assets held by our VIE is indirect and we may have to incur substantial costs and expend significant resources to enforce such arrangements in reliance on legal remedies under PRC law. These remedies may not always be effective, particularly in light of uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of the relevant laws and regulations. Furthermore, in connection with litigation, arbitration or other judicial or dispute resolution proceedings, assets under the name of any of record holder of equity interest in our VIE, including such equity interest, may be put under court custody. As a consequence, we cannot be certain that the equity interest will be disposed pursuant to the contractual arrangement or ownership by the record holder of the equity interest.
All of these contractual arrangements will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and disputes arising from these contractual arrangements will be resolved in court or through arbitration in China. As a result, uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In the event that we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant time delays or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, it would be very difficult to exert effective control over our VIE, and our ability to conduct our business and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. See Risks Relating to Doing Business in ChinaThere are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations. In the event that we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant time delays or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of the newly enacted PRC Foreign Investment Law and its implementing rules and how they may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The VIE structure through contractual arrangements has been adopted by many PRC-based companies to obtain necessary licenses and permits in the industries that are currently subject to foreign investment restrictions
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in China. In March 2019, the PRC National Peoples Congress promulgated the PRC Foreign Investment Law, and in December 2019, the State Council promulgated the Implementing Rules of PRC Foreign Investment Law, or the Implementing Rules, to further clarify and elaborate the relevant provisions of the PRC Foreign Investment Law. The PRC Foreign Investment Law and the Implementing Rules both became effective from January 1, 2020 and replaced the major previous laws and regulations governing foreign investments in the PRC. The PRC Foreign Investment Law and the Implementing Rules do not introduce the concept of control in determining whether a company would be considered as a foreign-invested enterprise, nor do they explicitly provide whether the VIE structure would be deemed as a method of foreign investment. However, the PRC Foreign Investment Law has a catch-all provision that includes investments made by foreign investors through China in other methods as specified in laws, administrative regulations, or as stipulated by the State Council in the definition of foreign investments, and as the PRC Foreign Investment Law and the Implementing Rules are newly adopted and government authorities may promulgate more laws, regulations or rules on the interpretation and implementation of the PRC Foreign Investment Law, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the concept of control may be embodied in, or the VIE structure that may be adopted by us may be deemed as a method of foreign investment by, any of such future laws, regulations and rules. If our VIE were deemed to be a foreign-invested enterprise under any of such future laws, regulations and rules, and any of the businesses that we may operate are in any negative list for foreign investment and therefore subject to any foreign investment restrictions or prohibitions, the contractual arrangements that allow us to have control over our potential future consolidated VIE may be deemed as invalid and illegal, and further actions required to be taken by us under such laws, regulations and rules may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, if future laws, administrative regulations or provisions mandate further actions to be taken by companies with respect to existing contractual arrangements, we may face substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete such actions in a timely manner, or at all. Failure to take timely and appropriate measures to cope with any of these or similar regulatory compliance challenges could materially and adversely affect our corporate structure, business, financial condition and results of operations.
The shareholders of the consolidated VIE may have potential conflicts of interest with us and/or the target company, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition and the value of our securities.
The interests of the shareholders of the consolidated VIE in their capacities as such shareholders may differ from the interests of our company as a whole, as what is in the best interests of the consolidated VIE, including matters such as whether to distribute dividends or to make other distributions to fund any offshore requirements to the extent that such funding is permitted under PRC laws, may not be in our best interests. There can be no assurance that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in our best interests or that any conflicts of interest will be resolved in our favor. In addition, these shareholders may breach or cause the consolidated VIE and its subsidiaries to breach or refuse to renew the existing contractual arrangements with the target company.
We may lose the ability to use and enjoy assets held by our consolidated VIE that are material to the operation of our business if the entity goes bankrupt or becomes subject to a dissolution or liquidation proceeding. The consolidated VIE will hold substantially all of the assets of our target company. Under the contractual arrangements, the consolidated VIE typically may not and its shareholders may not cause it to, in any manner, sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of its assets or its legal or beneficial interests in the business without the prior consent of the target companys PRC-incorporated wholly foreign owned enterprise which is a party to the VIE arrangements. However, in the event that the shareholders of the consolidated VIE breach these contractual arrangements and voluntarily liquidate our potential future consolidated VIE, or the consolidated VIE declares bankruptcy and all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, we and/or the target company may be unable to continue some or all of our or its business activities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If the consolidated VIE undergoes a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, independent third-party creditors may claim
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rights to some or all of these assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Contractual arrangements we enter into with potential future subsidiaries and affiliated entities or acquisitions of offshore entities that conduct operations through affiliates in the PRC may be subject to a high level of scrutiny by the relevant tax authorities.
Under the laws of the PRC, arrangements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the relevant tax authorities. If any of the transactions we enter into with potential future subsidiaries and affiliated entities are found not to be on an arms-length basis, or to result in an unreasonable reduction in tax under local law, the relevant tax authorities may have the authority to disallow any tax savings, adjust the profits and losses of such potential future local entities and assess late payment interest and penalties. A finding by the relevant tax authorities that we are ineligible for any such tax savings, or that any of our possible future affiliated entities are not eligible for tax exemptions, would substantially increase our possible future taxes and thus reduce our net income and the value of a shareholders investment. In addition, in the event that in connection with an acquisition of an offshore entity that conducted its operations through affiliates in the PRC, the sellers of such entities failed to pay any taxes required under local law, the relevant tax authorities could require us to withhold and pay the tax, together with late-payment interest and penalties. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could have a negative impact on our operating results and financial condition.
Trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor. In that case, the NYSE would delist our securities. The delisting of our securities, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections may deprive our investors with the benefits of such inspections.
The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, was enacted on December 18, 2020. The HFCA Act states if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspection by the PCAOB for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, the SEC shall prohibit our shares or other securities from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S.
Our current auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this prospectus, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. However, if it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, the NYSE would delist our securities, including our units, Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants being offered in this offering, and the SEC shall prohibit them from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S. For example, if we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC and if our new auditor is located in China, with operations in and who performs audit operations of registrants in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, the work of our new auditor as it relates to those operations may not be inspected by the PCAOB, which currently is the case. If our securities are delisted and prohibited from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S. due to the PCAOB not being able to conduct inspections or full investigations of our auditor, it would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our securities when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with potential delisting and prohibition would have a negative impact on the price of our securities. Also, such delisting and prohibition could significantly affect the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, or at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, financial condition and prospects.
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In May 2013, the PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations undertaken by the PCAOB in the PRC or by the CSRC or the PRC Ministry of Finance in the United States. The PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with the PCAOB and audit Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges.
On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCA Act. We will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a non-inspection year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed a bill which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two. The SEC is assessing how to implement other requirements of the HFCA Act, including the listing and trading prohibition requirements described above.
On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would amend the HFCA Act and reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two years.
On November 5, 2021, the SEC approved the PCAOBs Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Rule 6100 provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction.
The SEC may propose additional rules or guidance that could impact us if our auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspection. For example, on August 6, 2020, the Presidents Working Group on Financial Markets, or the PWG, issued the Report on Protecting United States Investors from Significant Risks from Chinese Companies to the then President of the United States. This report recommended the SEC implement five recommendations to address companies from jurisdictions that do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to fulfill its statutory mandate. Some of the concepts of these recommendations were implemented with the enactment of the HFCA Act. However, some of the recommendations were more stringent than the HFCA Act. For example, if a company was not subject to PCAOB inspection, the report recommended that the transition period before a company would be delisted would end on January 1, 2022.
The SEC has announced that the SEC staff is preparing a consolidated proposal for the rules regarding the implementation of the HFCA Act and to address the recommendations in the PWG report. It is unclear when the SEC will complete its rulemaking and when such rules will become effective and what, if any, of the PWG recommendations will be adopted. The SEC has also announced amendments to various annual report forms to accommodate the certification and disclosure requirements of the HFCA Act. There could be additional regulatory or legislative requirements or guidance that could impact us if our auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspection. The implications of these possible regulations in addition to the requirements of the HFCA Act are uncertain, and such uncertainty could cause the market price of our securities to be materially and adversely affected. If, for whatever reason, the PCAOB is unable to conduct inspections or full investigations of our auditor, the Company could be delisted or prohibited from being traded over the counter earlier than would be required by the HFCA Act. If our securities are unable to be listed on another securities exchange by then, such delisting and prohibition would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our securities when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with potential delisting and prohibition would have a negative impact on the price of our securities. Also, such delisting and prohibition could significantly affect the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, or at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, financial condition and prospects.
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Inspections of audit firms that the PCAOB has conducted have identified deficiencies in those firms audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. If the PCAOB were unable to conduct inspections or full investigations of the Companys auditor, investors in our securities would be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. In addition, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections or full investigations of auditors would may make it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the Companys independent registered public accounting firms audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in the audit procedures of our auditor and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.
Our initial business combination with companies operating in China may be subject to cybersecurity review by regulatory authorities of the PRC in the future.
To the extent that we were to pursue a business combination with a company having substantial or all of its operations in the PRC, our ability to consummate such business combination in a timely manner or at all may be impacted by PRC laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity and data protection.
In April 2020, the Cyberspace Administration of China, or the CAOC, and eleven other regulatory authorities of the PRC jointly promulgated the Rules on Cybersecurity Review. Pursuant to the Rules on Cybersecurity Review, if an operator of critical information infrastructure purchases internet products and services that implicate or may implicate national security, such operator should be subject to cybersecurity review by the CRO of the CAOC. Due to the lack of further interpretations, the exact scope of operator of critical information infrastructure under the Rules on Cybersecurity Review remains unclear. On August 17, 2021, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure, which has come into effect on September 1, 2021. Pursuant to the Regulations on Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure, critical information infrastructure shall mean any important network facilities or information systems of the important industry or field such as public communication and information service, energy, communications, water conservation, finance, public services, e-government affairs and national defense science, which may endanger national security, peoples livelihood and public interest in case of damage, function loss or data leakage. In addition, relevant administration departments of each critical industry and sector, or Protection Departments, shall be responsible to formulate eligibility criteria and determine the critical information infrastructure operator in the respective industry or sector. The operators shall be informed about the final determination as to whether they are categorized as critical information infrastructure operators.
On June 10, 2021, the SCNPC promulgated the PRC Data Security Law, which has come into effect on September 1, 2021. The PRC Data Security Law imposes data security and privacy protection obligations on entities and individuals which carry out data activities, and introduces a data classification and hierarchical protection system based on the importance of data in economic and social development, and the degree of harm it might cause to national security, public interests, or legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations when such data is tampered with, destroyed, leaked, illegally acquired or used. The PRC Data Security Law also provides a national security review procedure for data activities that may affect national security and imposes export restrictions on certain data and information.
On July 10, 2021, the CAOC and other related authorities released the draft amendment to the Rules on Cybersecurity Review for public comments through July 25, 2021, which have significantly expanded the cybersecurity review requirement under the cybersecurity laws, including a requirement that operators (including both operators of critical information infrastructure and relevant parties who are engaged in data processing) file for cybersecurity review with the CRO of the PRC if purchasing network products and services or carrying out data processing activities may affect national security. Specifically, it requires operators holding individual information of more than one million users (which term has yet to be specified) and seeking a listing in foreign exchange to file for cybersecurity review with the CRO. Currently, the 2021 Measures has been released for public comment only, and its implementation provisions and anticipated adoption or effective date remains substantially uncertain and may be subject to change.
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If we search for a target and complete an initial business combination in the PRC that gives us access to certain data, including certain personal information, and if the draft amendment is enacted as proposed, we may be subject to enhanced cybersecurity review. During such review, we may be required to suspend our operations in China and/or experience other disruptions of our operations. Cybersecurity review could also result in negative publicity with respect to our company and diversion of our managerial and financial resources. Furthermore, if we were found to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations of the PRC during such review, we could be subject to administrative penalties, such as warnings, fines or service suspension. Therefore, cybersecurity review could have a material and adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
As the revised draft amendment to the Rules on Cybersecurity Review has not been adopted and it remains unclear whether the formal version adopted in the future will have any further material changes, we may face uncertainties that the rules may be enacted, interpreted or implemented in ways that will negatively affect us. We could become subject to enhanced cybersecurity review or investigations launched by PRC regulators in the future. Any failure or delay in the completion of the cybersecurity review procedures or any other non-compliance with the related laws and regulations may result in fines or other penalties, including suspension of business, website closure and revocation of licenses, as well as reputational damage or legal proceedings or actions against us, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, our ability to offer or continue to offer our securities to investors could be significantly limited or completed hindered, and the value of our securities could significantly decline or become worthless.
After we consummate a business combination, our PRC subsidiary will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments.
After we consummate a business combination, we may rely on dividends and other distributions from our operating company to provide us with cash flow and to meet our other obligations. If the VIE structure is adopted, these dividends or other distributions to be paid by the PRC subsidiaries to their Cayman Islands holding company will arise from the PRC subsidiaries entitlement to substantially all of the economic benefits of the VIEs, which are typically in the form of services fees or license fees payable by the VIEs to the PRC subsidiaries under various VIE agreements.
Current regulations in China would permit our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends to us only out of its accumulated distributable profits, if any, determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. In addition, our PRC subsidiary will be required to set aside at least 10% (up to an aggregate amount equal to half of its registered capital) of its accumulated profits each year. Such cash reserve may not be distributed as cash dividends. In addition, if our PRC subsidiary incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict its ability to pay dividends or make other payments to us.
In addition, The PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the EIT Law, and its implementation rules provide that a withholding tax rate of up to 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by Chinese companies to non PRC-resident enterprises unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions where the non-PRC-resident enterprises are incorporated.
In response to the persistent capital outflow in China and the RMBs depreciation against the U.S. dollar in the fourth quarter of 2016, the Peoples Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (the SAFE) promulgated a series of capital control measures in early 2017, including stricter vetting procedures for domestic companies to remit foreign currency for overseas investments, dividends payments and shareholder loan repayments. The PRC government may continue to strengthen its capital controls, and more restrictions and substantial vetting process may be put forward by the SAFE for cross-border transactions falling under both the current account and the capital account. Any limitation on the ability of our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends or make other kinds of payments to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends, or otherwise fund and conduct our business.
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Governmental control of currency conversion may limit our ability to utilize our net revenue effectively and affect the value of your investment.
Following our initial business combination with a PRC target company, we will be subject to the PRC rules and regulations on currency conversion. In the PRC, the SAFE regulates the conversion of the RMB into foreign currencies. The PRC government imposes control on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China.
Under PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval of the SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. Under existing exchange restrictions, without prior approval of the SAFE, cash generated from PRC subsidiaries in China may be used to pay dividends.
However, approval from or registration with appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy our foreign currency demands, we may not pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders.
Since 2016, PRC governmental authorities have imposed more stringent restrictions on outbound capital flows, including heightened scrutiny over irrational overseas investments for certain industries, as well as over four kinds of abnormal offshore investments, which include:
| investments through enterprises established for only a few months without substantive operation; |
| investments with amounts far exceeding the registered capital of onshore parent and not supported by its business performance shown on financial statements; |
| investments in targets that are unrelated to onshore parents main business; and |
| investments with abnormal sources of RMB funding suspected to be involved in illegal transfer of assets or illegal operation of underground banking. |
PRC regulatory authorities could impose further restrictions on the convertibility of the RMB. Any future restrictions on currency exchanges may limit our ability to use the proceeds of this offering in an initial business combination with a PRC target company and use our cash flow for the distribution of dividends to our shareholders or to fund operations we may have outside of the PRC.
After we consummate a business combination, we are subject to restrictions on currency exchange.
After we consummate a business combination, our revenue and expenses may be denominated in Renminbi. Currently, the Renminbi is convertible under the current account, which includes dividends, trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, but not under the capital account, which includes foreign direct investment and loans. Companies in China may purchase foreign currency for settlement of current account transactions, by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, the relevant PRC governmental authorities may limit or eliminate our ability to purchase foreign currencies in the future for current account transactions. Foreign exchange transactions under the capital account remain subject to limitations and require approvals from, or registration with, the SAFE and other relevant PRC governmental authorities. See If we were to acquire a PRC company, the PRC regulation on loans to, and direct investment in, our PRC subsidiary by offshore holding companies and governmental control in currency conversion may restrict our ability to make loans to or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business. Since a significant amount of our future revenue and cash flow
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may be denominated in Renminbi, any existing and future restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to utilize cash generated in Renminbi to fund our business activities outside of the PRC or pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our securities, and may limit our ability to obtain foreign currency through debt or equity financing.
If we were to acquire a PRC company, the PRC regulation on loans to, and direct investment in, our PRC subsidiary by offshore holding companies and governmental control in currency conversion may restrict our ability to make loans to or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.
If we were to acquire a PRC-based company, it may become necessary or desirable for us to make loans or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary after the completion of our initial business combination. As permitted under PRC laws and regulations, in utilizing the proceeds of this offering, we may make loans to our PRC subsidiary subject to the approval from governmental authorities and the limitation of amounts, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary. Furthermore, loans by us to our PRC subsidiary to finance its activities cannot exceed the difference between their respective total project investment amount and registered capital or 2.5 times of their net worth. Also, capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary are subject to the requirement of making necessary filings in the Foreign Investment Comprehensive Management Information System and registration with other governmental authorities in China.
The SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign invested Enterprises, or Circular 19, effective on June 1, 2015. According to SAFE Circular 19, the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company is regulated such that RMB capital may not be used for the issuance of RMB entrusted loans, the repayment of inter-enterprise loans or the repayment of bank loans that have been transferred to a third party.
The SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Standardizing the Foreign Exchange Settlement Management Policy of Capital Account, or SAFE Circular 16, effective on June 9, 2016, which reiterates some of the rules set forth in SAFE Circular 19, but changes the prohibition against using RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company to issue RMB entrusted loans to a prohibition against using such capital to grant loans to non-associated enterprises. Violations of SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 could result in administrative penalties. SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 may significantly limit our ability to transfer any foreign currency we hold, including the net proceeds from this offering to our PRC subsidiary, which may adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business in the PRC.
In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations, for example, SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16, on loans to, and direct investment in, our PRC subsidiary by offshore holding companies, and the fact that the PRC government may at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans by us to our PRC subsidiary or with respect to future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiary. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to conduct our business post-initial business combination and to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.
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Risks Related to Our Operations
Past performance by our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance by our management team and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward or as indicative of any other prior investment by any of the members of our management team. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the Companys shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Moreover, certain of our officers and directors have time and attention requirements for other employers, and other third parties with which they are affiliated. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
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Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnels retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may complete our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target businesss management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the targets management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target businesss management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbate these risks. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination targets key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidates key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidates management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our officers and directors also serve and may in the future serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers and directors other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers and directors other business affairs, please see ManagementOfficers and Directors.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. To address the matters set out above, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of our officers or directors acquires knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition our amended and restated articles of association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to the Company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may invest in other sponsors of, sponsor or form other, special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures
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during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
For a complete discussion of our officers and directors business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see ManagementOfficers and Directors, ManagementConflicts of Interest and Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us, including the formation of, or investment or participation in, one or more other blank check companies. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors and officers discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our best interest. If this were the case, and the directors fail to act in accordance with their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law we may have a claim against such individuals. See the section titled Description of SecuritiesCertain Differences in Corporate LawShareholders Suits for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the funds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.10 per share.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders. Our officers
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and directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under ManagementConflicts of Interest. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationEvaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting, valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, forward purchasers, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On March 5, 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in exchange for 7,187,500 founder shares, par value $0.0001. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the Company by the number of founder shares issued. On August 16, 2021, pursuant to a downsize of this offering, our sponsor surrendered an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares for no consideration, which were cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the surrender. On August 23, 2021, in connection with entering into forward purchase agreements, (i) our sponsor transferred to forward purchasers an aggregate of 825,000 founder shares for no cash consideration and (ii) the Company issued 1,375,000 founder shares to the Sponsor, resulting in an aggregate of 7,125,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On October 20, 2021 and October 21, 2021, in connection with entering into an additional forward purchase agreement, (i) the Company issued to a forward purchaser an aggregate of 375,000 founder shares at par value and our Sponsor surrendered to the Company the same number of founder shares for no cash consideration and (ii) the Company issued 625,000 founder shares to the Sponsor, resulting in an aggregate of 7,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the sum of the outstanding shares after this offering and 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share sub-division, share dividend or share contribution back to capital, reorganization, recapitalization or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering so that the number of founder shares owned by our initial shareholders equals 20% of our issued and outstanding shares upon consummation of this offering. Up to 750,000 of the founder shares may be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment is exercised. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 6,800,000 private placement warrants (or 7,700,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) for an aggregate purchase price of $6,800,000 (or $7,700,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per warrant. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our sponsor, officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business
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combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering (or up to 24-month anniversary of the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of this offering, our initial shareholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering and including the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements) plus 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial shareholders, will entitle the holders thereof to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. This director election amendment provision of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and other provisions related to pre-business combination activities may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination. If our initial shareholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial shareholders purchase any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our staggered board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. In addition, the Company has agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares, which will include the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders) plus 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed
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issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination (including the forward purchase shares and Class A ordinary shares into which the Class B ordinary shares are converted, but not the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on less than a one-for-one basis.
Our initial shareholders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary share and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our initial shareholders acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 131.3% (or $13.13 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering of $(3.13) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public float of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE listing rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
In the event that our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders
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for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities for a description of how our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public float of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management may consider the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares, which may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of some or all of the forward purchase shares fails to close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
We have entered into forward purchase agreements pursuant to which the forward purchasers have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 forward purchase shares plus 2,000,000 redeemable warrants for a purchase price of $10.00 per forward purchase share, or $80,000,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement to close concurrently with our initial business combination. The funds from the sale of forward purchase shares may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. The obligations under the forward purchase agreements do not depend on whether any public shareholders elect to redeem their shares and provide us with a minimum funding level for the initial business combination. However, the forward purchasers may purchase less than 8,000,000 forward purchase shares in accordance with the terms of the forward purchase agreements. In addition, the forward purchasers commitment under the forward purchase agreements will be subject to their rights to terminate their commitment at any time before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination. Accordingly, if any forward purchasers exercise their rights to terminate their commitment, such forward purchaser will not be obligated to purchase any forward purchase securities, and we will not receive any of the amounts committed under such forward purchase agreement. If the sale of the forward purchase shares does not close or is for less than 8,000,000 forward purchase shares, for any reason, including by reason of the failure by some or all of the forward purchasers to fund the purchase price for their forward purchase shares, for example, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination. Additionally, the forward purchasers obligations to purchase the forward purchase shares are subject to termination prior to the closing of the sale of the forward purchase shares by mutual written consent of the company and each forward purchaser, or, automatically: (i) if this offering is not consummated on or prior to December 31, 2021; (ii) if the gross proceeds from this offering and the forward purchase agreements are less than $150,000,000; (iii) if a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination is not entered into within 24 months from the closing of this offering, unless further extended by the Shareholder Extension Period or such longer period as is mutually agreed between us and a forward purchaser; or (iv) if our sponsor or the Company becomes subject to any voluntary or involuntary petition under the United States federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law, in each case which is not withdrawn within sixty (60) days after being filed, or a receiver, fiscal agent or similar officer is appointed by a court for business or property of our sponsor or the company, in each case which is not removed, withdrawn or terminated within sixty (60) days after such appointment. The forward purchasers obligations to purchase their forward purchase shares are subject to fulfillment of customary closing conditions, including the following: (i) our initial business combination must be consummated substantially concurrently with, and immediately following, the purchase of forward purchase shares; and (ii) the Company must have delivered to the forward purchasers a certificate evidencing the companys good standing as a Cayman Islands exempted company, as of a date within ten (10) business days of the closing of the sale of forward purchase shares. In the event of any such failure to fund
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by a forward purchaser, any obligation is so terminated or any such condition is not satisfied and not waived by a forward purchaser, we may not be able to obtain additional funds to account for such shortfall on terms favorable to us or at all. Any such shortfall would also reduce the amount of funds that we have available for working capital of the post-business combination company. While each forward purchaser has represented to us that it has sufficient funds to satisfy its obligations under the respective forward purchase agreements, we have not obligated the forward purchasers to reserve funds for such obligations, and the forward purchaser may terminate its commitment at any time before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination.
If the forward purchasers purchase large amounts of public shares in the open market, they may attempt to leverage their redemption rights in order to affect the outcome of a potential business combination.
The forward purchasers have redemption rights with respect to any public shares they own, subject to the limitation that under the Companys amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 Exchange Act), is 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. If management proposes an initial business combination that some or all of the forward purchasers are not in favor of, such forward purchasers may decide to purchase public shares in the open market and seek to leverage their redemption rights to influence whether such business combination is consummated. This could result in our having to negotiate for more favorable terms for the forward purchasers, which could jeopardize our ability to successfully consummate an initial business combination. See In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management may consider the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares, which may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of some or all of the forward purchase shares fails to close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
We employ a mail forwarding service, which may delay or disrupt our ability to receive mail in a timely manner.
Mail addressed to the Company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by Company to be dealt with. None of the Company, its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the Cayman Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused in mail reaching the forwarding address, which may impair your ability to communicate with us.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Governance and Shareholder Rights
Prior to the closing of our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares are the only shareholders of the Company which will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Therefore, upon the listing of our shares on NYSE, NYSE may consider us to be a controlled company within the meaning of NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Prior to the closing of our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares are the only shareholders of the Company which will have the right to vote on the appointment of directions. As a result, NYSE may consider us to be a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a controlled company and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| we have a board that includes a majority of independent directors, as defined under NYSE listing standards; |
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| we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committees purpose and responsibilities; and |
| we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committees purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires a special resolution, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 18 months of the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments, including our warrant agreement or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
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The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their memorandum and articles which prohibits certain amendments, including those which relate to a companys pre-business combination activity, without approval by holders of a certain percentage of the companys shares. In those blank check companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires the approval by holders holding between 90% and 100% of the companys public shares. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering and including the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements) plus 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect
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service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 185 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriter). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors be appointed in each year.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into prior to the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants. Pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, we have agreed that we will use our reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination (and, with respect to clause (ii) below, within 30 days following announcement of the results of the shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination or the results of our offer to shareholders to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with our initial business combination (whichever is later), which we refer to as the disclosure date) a registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of (A) the forward purchase securities and Class A ordinary shares underlying the forward purchase warrants and founder shares, and (B) any other Class A ordinary shares or warrants acquired by the forward purchasers, including any time after we complete our initial business combination, (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter, but in no event later than 60 days after the closing of the initial business combination or the disclosure date, as the case may be and (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which the forward purchaser ceases to hold the securities covered thereby and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, and without the requirement to be in compliance with Rule 144(c)(1) under the Securities Act, subject to certain conditions and limitations set forth in the forward purchase agreements. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders or holders of our private placement warrants or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants and forward purchase warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and forward purchase warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision or (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants; provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants and forward purchase warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants and forward purchase warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants and forward purchase warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants and forward purchase warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Following the consummation of this offering and the concurrent private placement of warrants, we will have 16,800,000 warrants outstanding (comprised of the 10,000,000 warrants included in the units and the 6,800,000 private placement warrants, assuming the underwriters option to purchase additional units is not exercised). We currently expect to account for these warrants as a warrant liability, which means that we will record them at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, potential targets may seek a business combination partner that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Accordingly, our exclusive forum provision will not relieve us of our duties to comply with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, and holders of our warrants will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with these laws, rules and regulations. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a foreign action) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an enforcement action), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holders counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holders ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value of our Class A ordinary shares 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 higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests through the U.S. federal courts, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose
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courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder (Singapore) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
Potential participation in this offering by our anchor investors could reduce the public float for our shares.
Our anchor investors have each expressed to us an interest to purchase up to 9.9%, 7.425% or 4.95%, representing in the aggregate up to approximately 101.475%, of the units in this offering (or up to approximately 88.24% of the units in this offering if the underwriter exercises the over-allotment option in full) at the offering price and we have agreed to direct the underwriter to sell to the anchor investors such amount of units. If our anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, such purchases would reduce the available public float for our shares. Any such reduction in our available public float may consequently reduce the trading volume, volatility and liquidity of our shares relative to what they would have been had such shares been purchased by public investors.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
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Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a blank check company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet of the Company demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see Proposed BusinessComparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the funds held in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We intend to apply to list our units on NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be separately listed on NYSE. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, following our initial public offering, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders).
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Additionally, our units will not be traded after the completion of our initial business combination and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on NYSE. For instance, in order for our shares to be listed upon the consummation of our business combination, at such time our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our stockholders equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million and we would be required to have at least 300 round lot shareholders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500) of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those listing requirements at that time.
If NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a penny stock, which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as covered securities. Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.
If we call the warrants for redemption, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis in the circumstances described in Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase WarrantsRedemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00. If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share when there is no effective registration statement, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will
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receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential upside of the holders investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in street name, to, at the holders option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationDelivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a group of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a group (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the Excess Shares, without our prior consent. However, this limitation on redeeming Excess Shares would not restrict our shareholders ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
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We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 180,000,000 and 13,000,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriter has not exercised its over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 750,000 Class B ordinary shares) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants and the forward purchase warrants, or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. Immediately after this offering, there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering; |
| may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| could cause a change in control if a substantial number of 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; |
| may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time and such registration may not be in place when an investor
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desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement registering the sale, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 90 business days following the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis, in which case the number of Class A ordinary shares that the holders of warrants will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum number of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of covered securities under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain an effective registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify for sale the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available.
If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the unit. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying the Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
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You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; (ii) if we have so elected and 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 covered securities under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act; and (iii) if we have so elected and we call the public warrants for redemption.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless. Additionally, the exercise price for the warrants is $11.50 per share and the warrants may expire worthless unless the share price is higher than the exercise price during the exercise period.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). Please see Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase WarrantsRedemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the Market Value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us pursuant to this redemption right (except as described below under Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase WarrantsRedemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00) so long as they are held by our sponsor or their permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of our Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. Please see Description of SecuritiesWarrantsPublic Shareholders and Forward Purchase WarrantsRedemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 of our Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
Finally, the exercise price of the warrants is $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. As a result, the warrants may expire worthless unless the share price reaches that level during the exercise period.
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Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 10,000,000 of our Class A ordinary shares (or up to 11,500,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 6,800,000 private placement warrants (or 7,700,000 warrants if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $1.00 per warrant. We will also issue 2,000,000 forward purchase warrants concurrently with the sale of the forward purchase sales. To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. Only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriter. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with the representatives of the underwriter, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriter believed it reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
| the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
| prior offerings of those companies; |
| our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; |
| a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| our capital structure; |
| an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and |
| other factors as were deemed relevant. |
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Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering size, price and terms of the units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Shareholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include target historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IFRS) depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe.
Risks Related to Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income or otherwise subject it to adverse tax consequences in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident (or in which its members are resident or subject to tax if it is a tax transparent entity). We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes, other taxes or other adverse tax consequences with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations,
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including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| tariffs and trade barriers; |
| regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
| longer payment cycles; |
| tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| rates of inflation; |
| challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| cultural and language differences; |
| employment regulations; |
| underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| corruption; |
| protection of intellectual property; |
| social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| regime changes and political upheaval; |
| terrorist attacks and wars; and |
| deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the Company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such countrys economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
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General Risk Factors
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other
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things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of June 30th of the prior year, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $700 million as of June 30th of the prior year. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, which could result in adverse United States federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder (as defined in the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationMaterial U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. Holders) of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception and the timing of our initial business combination (see the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationMaterial U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. HoldersPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules). Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year (of which there can be no assurance), we may provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a qualified electing fund election, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to provide such required information, and in any event, such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules. For a more detailed explanation of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders, see the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationMaterial U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. HoldersPassive Foreign Investment Company Rules.
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If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
| adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations to which we are not currently subject. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for another exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading investment securities constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only 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. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an investment company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) or (B) with respect to any other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be
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deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.10 per share on the redemption of their shares. See If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share and other risk factors herein.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, investments and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
Data privacy and security breaches, including, but not limited to, cyber incidents or attacks, acts of vandalism or theft, computer viruses and/or misplaced or lost data, could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption, reputational harm, criminal liability and/or financial loss.
In searching for targets for our initial business combination, we may depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or privacy or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences and therefore could be liable for privacy and security breaches, including potentially those caused by any of our subcontractors. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents or other incidents that result in a privacy or security breach. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to reputational harm, criminal liability and/or financial loss.
If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all third parties, vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes
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that such third partys engagement would be in the best interests of the Company under the circumstances. Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of this offering, except with respect to the deferred underwriting commission in the case of liquidation, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them, and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable; provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsors only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.10 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per public share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by third parties, vendors and prospective target businesses.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust account such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
The net proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $202,000,000, will be held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the
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Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may use to pay our taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income earned thereon (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
If, after we distribute the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a preferential transfer or a fraudulent conveyance. As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the funds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offense and may be liable to a fine of approximately $18,000 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
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An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the Class A ordinary shares and the one-half of a warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our Class A ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holders (as defined below in TaxationMaterial U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. Holders) holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered qualified dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the section of this prospectus captioned TaxationMaterial U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. Holders for a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management teams expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, continue, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, might, plan, possible, potential, predict, project, should, would and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
| our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| our ability to complete our initial business combination, in particular due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
| our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
| our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| the proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities being available to us; |
| our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| our public securities potential liquidity and trading; |
| the lack of a market for our securities; |
| the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading Risk Factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 20,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.
Without Over-allotment Option |
Over-allotment Option Exercised |
|||||||
Gross proceeds |
||||||||
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) |
$ | 200,000,000 | $ | 230,000,000 | ||||
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement |
$ | 6,800,000 | $ | 7,700,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total gross proceeds |
$ | 206,800,000 | $ | 237,700,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Estimated offering expenses(2) |
||||||||
Underwriting commissions (excluding deferred portion)(3) |
$ | 2,020,000 | $ | 2,620,000 | ||||
Legal fees and expenses |
658,120 | 658,120 | ||||||
Accounting fees and expenses |
111,600 | 111,600 | ||||||
Printing and engraving expenses |
22,000 | 22,000 | ||||||
SEC/FINRA Expenses |
43,625 | 43,625 | ||||||
NYSE listing and filing fees |
18,250 | 18,250 | ||||||
Miscellaneous(4) |
76,405 | 76,405 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total estimated offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) |
$ | 930,000 | $ | 930,000 | ||||
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses |
$ | 203,850,000 | $ | 234,150,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Held in trust account(3) |
202,000,000 | 232,300,000 | ||||||
% of public offering size |
101 | % | 101 | % | ||||
Not held in trust account |
$ | 1,850,000 | $ | 1,850,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
The following table shows the use of the approximately $1,850,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account:(5)
Amount | % of Total | |||||||
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination(6) |
$ | 400,000 | 21.6 | % | ||||
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations |
160,000 | 8.6 | % | |||||
Payment for office space, administrative and support services |
240,000 | 13.0 | % | |||||
NYSE continued listing fees |
113,000 | 6.1 | % | |||||
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses and reserves (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income) |
937,000 | 50.6 | % | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total |
$ | 1,850,000 | 100.0 | % |
(1) | Includes amounts payable to public shareholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. |
(2) | A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. As of the date hereof, there were no amounts outstanding under |
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the promissory note provided by our sponsor. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $930,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account. These expenses are estimates only. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account. |
(3) | The underwriter has agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon and concurrently with the completion of our initial business combination, up to $7,000,000, which constitutes the underwriters deferred commissions (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriter from the funds held in the trust account. See Underwriting. The remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee used to pay redeeming shareholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriter will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. To the extent the anchor investors purchase units for which they have indicated an interest in purchasing, the underwriter will not receive any upfront underwriting discounts or commissions on a portion of the units purchased by the anchor investors, but will receive deferred underwriting commissions with respect to such units. |
(4) | Includes organizational and administrative expenses as well as taxes and may include amounts related to above-listed expenses in the event actual amounts exceed estimates. |
(5) | These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. Based on current interest rates, we would expect to earn approximately $202,000 in interest on the funds held in the trust account over the 12 months following the closing of this offering; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes an interest rate of 0.10% per annum based on current yields of securities in which the trust account may be invested. In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. |
(6) | Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a no shop provision and commitment fees for financing. |
NYSE listing rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $202,000,000 (or $232,300,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is
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exercised in full), including $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will, upon the consummation of this offering, be placed in a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasuries obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $202,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.10% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, until the earliest of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable) or (B) with respect to other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay taxes.
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to six times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. In connection with any such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination for an additional month, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), up to an aggregate of $4,000,000, or $0.20 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. We will issue a press release announcing each extension at least three days prior to the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the time available for us by three additional months (for a total of 21 months to consummate such business combination) without any additional deposit into the trust account. In connection with such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. We will issue a press release announcing such extension at least three days prior to the commencement of such extension. If we cannot consummate a business combination within the 21 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to three times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor or its affiliates or designees depositing into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), or up to an aggregate of $2,000,000, or $0.10 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our
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initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. In addition to the foregoing arrangements, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination and to pay the deferred underwriting commissions. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. We currently do not have any plan to enter into any backstop arrangement. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination.
We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their respective affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us.
We will pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses relating to the organization of the Company and of this offering. As of the date hereof, there were no amounts outstanding under the promissory note provided by our sponsor. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. This loan will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $930,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) not held in the trust account.
Prior to this offering, we entered into forward purchase agreements pursuant to which the forward purchasers agreed to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares plus 2,000,000 redeemable warrants for a purchase price of $10.00 multiplied by the number of Class A ordinary shares, or $80,000,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement to close concurrently with our initial business combination. In connection with entering into these agreements, our sponsor transferred to the forward purchasers an aggregate of 1,200,000 founder shares for no cash consideration. The founder shares transferred to the forward purchasers are subject to similar contractual conditions and restrictions as the founder shares issued to our sponsor. The forward purchasers will have redemption rights with respect to any public shares they own. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as our public warrants.
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The forward purchase agreements also provide that the forward purchasers may purchase less than 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares plus 2,000,000 redeemable warrants. In addition, the forward purchasers commitment under the forward purchase agreements will be subject to their rights to terminate their commitment at any time before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination. Accordingly, if any forward purchasers exercise their rights to terminate their commitment, such forward purchaser will not be obligated to purchase any forward purchase securities, and we will not receive any of the amounts committed under such forward purchase agreement.
The forward purchase agreements also provide that the forward purchasers are entitled to registration rights with respect to (A) the forward purchase securities and Class A ordinary shares underlying the forward purchase warrants and founder shares, and (B) any other Class A ordinary shares or warrants acquired by the forward purchasers including any time after we complete our initial business combination.
The proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase shares may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. These purchases are intended to provide us with minimum funding level for our initial business combination.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may also purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Please see Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities for a description of how such persons will determine from which shareholders to seek to acquire shares. The price per share paid in any such purchase or other transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. If they engage in such transaction, such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, if applicable, to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions and the agreement for our initial business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not
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proceed with such redemption and the related business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) or (B) with respect to other specified provisions relating to shareholders rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of this offering, or as may be extended by the Shareholder Extension Period, as applicable), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as described elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe.
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We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination or otherwise, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, we will effect a share sub-division, share dividend or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares held by our initial shareholders, which includes 2,000,000 founder shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, at 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering plus 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements.
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The difference between the public offering price per Class A ordinary share, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
At June 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $527,019, or approximately $(0.07) per ordinary share. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at June 30, 2021 would have been $(21,898,213), or $(3.13) per share ($(25,342,213) or $(3.27) per share if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book deficit (as decreased by the value of the approximately 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash, or 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $(3.06) per share (or $(3.20) per share if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial shareholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution to public shareholders from this offering of $10.00 per share. Total dilution to public shareholders from this offering will be $13.13 per share, or 131.3% (or $13.27 or 132.7%, if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public shareholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
No exercise of over- allotment option |
Exercise of over- allotment option in full |
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Public offering price |
$ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | ||||
Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
(0.07 | ) | (0.07 | ) | ||||
Decrease attributable to public shareholders |
(3.06 | ) | (3.20 | ) | ||||
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Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants |
(3.13 | ) | (3.27 | ) | ||||
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Dilution to public shareholders |
$ | 13.13 | $ | 13.27 | ||||
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Percentage of dilution to public shareholders |
131.3 | % | 132.7 | % | ||||
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For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option) by $202,000,000 because holders of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two business days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or general meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes), divided by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering.
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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial shareholders and the public shareholders:
Shares Purchased | Total Consideration | Average Price Per Share |
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Number | Percentage | Amount | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||
Initial Shareholders(1)(2) |
7,000,000 | 25.93 | % | $ | 25,000 | 0.01 | % | $ | 0.004 | |||||||||||
Public Shareholders(3) |
20,000,000 | 74.07 | % | $ | 200,000,000 | 99.99 | % | $ | 10.00 | |||||||||||
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27,000,000 | 100 | % | $ | 200,025,000 | 100.0 | % | ||||||||||||||
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(1) | Includes the 1,200,000 founder shares transferred to the forward purchasers prior to this offering in connection with the forward purchase agreements. Assumes that 750,000 founder shares are surrendered to us for no consideration after the closing of this offering in the event the underwriter does not exercise its over-allotment option. The total number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters over-allotment option, which includes the 2,000,000 Class B ordinary shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements, will equal 20% of the sum of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares at such time plus 8,000,000 Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements. |
(2) | Assumes conversion of Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis. The dilution to public shareholders would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B ordinary shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon such conversion. |
(3) | Assumes no exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriter. |
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering is calculated as follows:
Without Over- allotment |
With Over- allotment |
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Numerator: |
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Net tangible book deficit before this offering |
$ | (527,019 | ) | $ | (527,019 | ) | ||
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants(1) |
203,850,000 | 234,150,000 | ||||||
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value |
546,806 | 546,806 | ||||||
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions |
(7,000,000 | ) | (8,050,000 | ) | ||||
Less: Warrant liability(2) |
(16,768,000 | ) | (19,162,000 | ) | ||||
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption(3) |
(202,000,000 | ) | (232,300,000 | ) | ||||
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$ | (21,898,213 | ) | $ | (25,342,213 | ) | |||
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Denominator: |
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Class B ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering |
7,750,000 | 7,750,000 | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised(4) |
(750,000 | ) | | |||||
Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered |
20,000,000 | 23,000,000 | ||||||
Less: Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption |
(20,000,000 | ) | (23,000,000 | ) | ||||
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7,000,000 | 7,750,000 | |||||||
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(1) | Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $930,000 (not including $600,000 director & officer liability insurance premiums, which is operating expenses and should not be capitalized) and underwriting commissions of $2,020,000 (or $2,620,000 if the underwriter exercises its over-allotment option in full (excluding deferred underwriting fees)). See Use of Proceeds. |
(2) | The Company will account for the 16,800,000 warrants to be issued in connection with the Proposed Public Offering (the 10,000,000 Public Warrants and the 6,800,000 Private Placement Warrants assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in |
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ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Companys statement of operations. |
(3) | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See Proposed BusinessEffecting Our Initial Business CombinationPermitted Purchases of Our Securities. |
(4) | Assumes that 750,000 founder shares are surrendered to us for no consideration, if the over-allotment is not exercised. |
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at June 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our 20,000,000 units in this offering for $20,000,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the sale of 6,800,000 private placement warrants for $6,800,000 (or $1.00 per warrant) and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option:
June 30, 2021 | ||||||||
Actual | As Adjusted(2) | |||||||
Notes payable(1) |
$ | 93,725 | $ | | ||||
Warrant liability(3) |
| 16,768,000 | ||||||
Deferred underwriting commissions |
| 7,000,000 | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized; -0-and 20,000,000 shares are subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively(4) |
| 202,000,000 | ||||||
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted |
| | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted |
| | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized, 7,750,000 and 7,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(5) |
775 | 700 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital(6) |
24,225 | | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(5,213 | ) | (21,898,913 | ) | ||||
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Total shareholders equity |
$ | 19,787 | $ | (21,898,213 | ) | |||
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Total capitalization |
$ | 113,512 | $ | 203,869,787 | ||||
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(1) | Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowed $93,725 under the promissory note. |
(2) | Assumes the full forfeiture of 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised. The proceeds of the sale of such shares will not be deposited into the trust account, the shares will not be eligible for redemption from the trust account nor will they be eligible to vote upon the initial business combination. |
(3) | The Company will account for the 16,800,000 warrants to be issued in connection with the Proposed Public Offering (the 10,000,000 Public Warrants and the 6,800,000 Private Placement Warrants assuming the underwriters over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Companys statement of operations. |
(4) | Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), subject to the limitations described herein whereby redemptions cannot cause our Class A Ordinary shares to become a penny share and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. |
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(5) | Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor, and as adjusted share amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option. Includes 2,000,000 founder shares issued in connection with the forward purchase agreements. |
(6) | Additional paid-in capital as adjusted is calculated as the additional paid-in capital as of June 30, 2021 less the immediate accretion of the carry value of ordinary shares subject to redemption-to-redemption value to reduce additional paid-in capital to zero. |
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MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on March 3, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry, we intend to focus our search on companies in the financial services sector. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to backstop agreements which we currently have no plan of entering into but may enter into following the consummation of this offering or forward purchase agreements or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
The issuance of additional shares in connection with a business combination, including the issuance of forward purchase securities, to the owners of the target or other investors:
| may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| could cause a change in control if a substantial number 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; |
| 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 |
| 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 to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:
| default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants, including those that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
| our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| 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 Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and 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; |
| increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at June 30, 2021, we had $9,137 in cash and deferred offering costs of $546,806. Further, 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.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination, at the earliest. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of a $25,000 capital contribution from our sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our sponsor and up to $300,000 in loans from our sponsor.
We estimate that the net proceeds from the sale of the units in this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $206,800,000 (or $237,700,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), after deducting offering expenses of approximately $930,000 and underwriting commissions of $2,020,000 (or $2,620,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000, or $8,050,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $203,850,000 (or $234,150,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full). $202,000,000 (or $232,300,000 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes the deferred underwriting commissions described above. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The remaining approximately $1,850,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $930,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $930,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will
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depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our income taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $1,850,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, after payment of estimated offering expenses. We will use these funds to primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $400,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $160,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $113,000 for NYSE and other regulatory fees; up to $240,000 for office space, utilities, administrative and support services payments; and approximately $937,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves. We will pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services.
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a no-shop provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from shopping around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a no-shop provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the funds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business
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combination. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to backstop agreements which we currently have no plan of entering into but may enter into following the consummation of this offering or forward purchase agreements. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to certify the effectiveness of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
| staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties; |
| reconciliation of accounts; |
| proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate; |
| evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions; |
| documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and |
| documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
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Once our managements report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target businesss internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury 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 will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of June 30, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an emerging growth company and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
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 firms attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under Dodd Frank, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the report of the independent registered public accounting firm 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 CEOs compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of this offering or until we are no longer an emerging growth company, whichever is earlier.
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We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geography, we intend to focus our search on a target that is at least partially owned by a financial sponsor(s) with operations or prospective operations in the technology, media & telecommunications (TMT), business services, or consumer sectors, which we refer to as the Target Sectors, across Asia, in particular North Asia and Southeast Asia. We believe there is a large universe of growth companies and/or companies with stable growth and cash flows that could benefit from a public listing, and that we will be able to offer a differentiated and compelling value proposition to them.
Our management and investment team is comprised of 17 veteran investors and operators with over 80 years of combined investment experience, and has had significant success sourcing, acquiring, growing and monetizing these types of companies. Moreover, our directors and advisors have over 140 years of combined operating experience. Given our proven track record, we believe our team has the required investment, transactional and operational expertise to effect a business combination with an attractive target and to position it for long-term success in the public markets.
Our sponsor is Generation Asia LLC.
Our Market Opportunity
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geography, we intend to focus our search on a target owned by a financial sponsor(s) with operations or prospective operations in our Target Sectors across Asia. These could include growth companies and/or companies with stable growth with cash flows. North Asia (including Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and Southeast Asia (including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) have strong synergies with our deal flows, network, and operating and technical expertise.
We believe that there is substantial pent-up demand for private equity exits in this region, which will result in opportunities for attractive risk-adjusted returns from our initial business combination. According to the Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2020 by Bain & Company, there is a growing number of unrealized private equity investments in Asia and these unrealized investments have reached a new high of $806 billion as of June 2019. While there are several macroeconomic drivers that have contributed to private equity exits declining to a 10-year low, we believe that it is also attributable to certain systemic factors which we outline in the following paragraphs. For each factor, we also discuss why a US listing via a combination with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) may be a possible solution and provides a superior alternative.
| Long Listing Process: Traditional public listings on Asia stock exchanges are lengthy and cumbersome. Depending on the local stock exchange, each listing process is often subjective and could take as long as two years from start to finish and sometimes requires extensive discussions with and multiple approvals from local authorities. Moreover, additional restrictions in the form of minimum quantitative thresholds (e.g., revenue and profit) and operating record would also be imposed for listing candidates. In contrast, a US listing via a combination with a SPAC is conducted under a highly condensed timeline and can be completed as quickly as within four to six months with lesser listing requirements. We believe this reduces a major barrier to exit via public markets, as listing via combination with a SPAC will allow financial sponsors with public market-ready portfolio companies to benefit from shorter execution windows and time their exits to maximize investment returns. |
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| Valuation Gap: There is a persistent valuation gap between Asia-listed companies and US-listed companies. According to data from Bloomberg as of March 12, 2021, over the past year, the average forward price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P500 is 23.9x, higher than other Asia markets such as MSCI Japan at 19.4x, MSCI China at 19.6x, and MSCI ASEAN at 17.9x. The US has the largest equities market in the world supported by a large and highly sophisticated international investor base with deep understanding across all sectors. Additionally, a US listing via a combination with a SPAC allows for a more open sharing of future expectations, which may also positively impact valuation. We believe that this makes a US listing, in particular via a combination with a SPAC, a more attractive option for financial sponsors with public market-ready portfolio companies to achieve higher valuations at exit. |
| Low Liquidity: Asian markets have relatively lower liquidity than the US market. The US has undisputedly one of the most active markets globally. According to data from Bloomberg, trading liquidity, measured by the trading turnover for the three months ended March 14, 2021 as a percentage of total market capitalization, is highest in the US (59%), which is more than double than that of Japan (24%) and more than triple than that of Southeast Asia (16%). Higher trading liquidity better facilitates price discovery and results in share prices that more accurately reflect the intrinsic value of businesses. Post-listing, higher trading liquidity also provides financial sponsors with greater flexibility for subsequent sell-downs of their stakes in portfolio companies without incurring excessive friction costs or adversely impacting share price. |
We believe that the value created in private markets is a leading indicator of future investment opportunities for the public markets. Many growth companies and/or companies with stable growth and cash flows owned by financial sponsors have remained private for the aforementioned reasons. However, financial sponsors could be incentivized to explore a public listing of their portfolio companies in the US, in particular via a combination with a SPAC, since it could present a more efficient option to exit their positions and monetize their investments at more attractive valuation levels.
Our People
Our objective is to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns and create value for our shareholders. To achieve this, we have assembled a group of seasoned investors and industry veterans with deep experience and relationships in private equity and an established track record of identifying, investing, operating, and advising leading businesses. Our approach is underpinned by deep investment fundamentals combined with an intense focus on sectors and geographies where we have differentiated insights. Our team is led by Roy Kuan (Chief Executive Officer), Norimitsu Niwa (Chief Operating Officer), Catherine Kwok (Chief Financial Officer) and Tim Li (Senior Investment Advisor) who collectively have over 60 years of investment experience, deploying $5.8 billion in 38 investments, and effecting 14 IPOs. We will also leverage the complementary experiences and networks of our directors and advisors to deliver unique and actionable investment opportunities.
Management and Investment Team
Roy Kuan serves as our Chief Executive Officer and has 25 years of private equity experience in Asia. Mr. Kuan currently is a private investor across a variety of asset classes and serves on the boards or advisory boards of several private and public companies across the TMT, consumer, and industrial sectors in Asia. Mr. Kuan previously served as a Managing Partner at CVC Capital Partners (CVC), a global private equity firm from 1999 to 2020. He was a Co-Founder of CVCs Asian private equity business, served on the firms Asian Investment and Portfolio Committees, and was also a member of CVCs Board of Directors. Prior to CVC, Mr. Kuan was an Investment Director at Citigroups Asian private equity investment division from 1996 to 1999. During his private equity career, Mr. Kuan participated in 23 investments across the Target Sectors, with a total equity investment amount of $3.1 billion and achieved $7.9 billion in total realized value. Mr. Kuan has also been involved in 10 IPOs in the region. Mr. Kuans selected investments in the Target Sectors include TechnoPro Holdings (R&D staffing, Japan), Hong Kong Broadband Network (broadband services, Hong Kong), Arteria
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Networks (enterprise data communications, Japan), Infastech (technology components, Asia), Haitai Confectionery (snack products, South Korea), CJ CGV (cinemas, South Korea) and 39 Home Shopping (media commerce, Korea). Mr. Kuan currently serves as a director or advisory board member of several other companies in the Target Sectors, including eBroker (online wealth management, China), Food Union Enterprises (dairy products, Asia and Europe) and Point Avenue (education technology, Southeast Asia). Mr. Kuan received his MBA degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. degree from Georgetown University, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar. Mr. Kuan is based in Hong Kong.
Norimitsu Niwa serves as our Chief Operating Officer and has 19 years of private equity and principal investments experience. Previously, Mr. Niwa was the Head of Strategic Investments at Prored Partners from 2019 to 2020, where he founded and developed the principal investment arm of a TSE-listed consulting firm. Prior to Prored Partners, Mr. Niwa was a Senior Managing Director at CVC in Japan from 2007 to 2017. During the course of his investment career, he has completed 6 investments with a total equity investment amount of $1.6 billion and 5 add-on acquisitions. Mr. Niwa was also involved in 3 IPOs in Japan. Mr. Niwa was a deal team member in the following deals in the Target Sectors in Japan, including BellSystem24 (contact centers), Nikko Asset Management (financial services), Genesis Technology (semiconductor testing) TechnoPro Holdings, Arteria Networks and HITOWA Holdings (senior care, nursery and household cleaning services). Mr. Niwa received an MBA with Distinction from London Business School and a B.A. from Hitotsubashi University. Mr. Niwa is based in Japan.
Catherine Kwok serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Kwok previously worked in Maples Fund Services (Asia) and Sovereign Trust (Hong Kong) as Finance Manager and Finance Director, respectively. Prior to these companies, she worked in KPMG in their audit practice. Ms. Kwok received a BBA in Accountancy from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. Ms. Kwok is based in Hong Kong.
Tim Li serves as our Senior Investment Advisor and has 17 years of investment and transactional experience across technology, healthcare, financial services, logistics, and consumer sectors in Asia. Mr. Li is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Inspiration Capital Partners, a middle market private equity investment firm in China. Previously, Mr. Li was a Partner at Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2018. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Li was an investment banker in the Health Care Group and Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank from 2002 to 2005. During the course of his career, Mr. Li has completed 11 investments with a total equity investment amount of $1.6 billion. Mr. Li was also involved in 3 IPOs in the region. Mr. Li has served as a board member or was an investment team member in numerous China investments including Anhui Kouzi (spirits), Henan Songhe (wines), Ascletis Pharma (antiviral drugs), Venus MedTech (cardiovascular devices), Taikang Insurance Group (insurance), Qingdao Gooday Logistics (logistics services). Mr. Li received a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Li is based in Hong Kong and China.
Difei Cheng serves as our Investment Advisor and has 15 years of investment and transactional experience in Asia. Ms. Cheng was most recently a Director at CVC in China from 2011 to 2021. During the course of her career, Ms. Cheng has completed 5 investments with a total equity investment amount of $1.0 billion. Ms. Cheng was also involved in 2 IPOs in the region. Ms. Cheng was a deal team member in the following deals in the Target Sectors across North Asia, including Nien Made (window coverings products, Taiwan), DaNiang Dumplings (fast food restaurants, China), EIC Education (educational counselling services, China), RKE International (expressway operator, China) and Sheshido (skincare, Japan). Nien Made was a CVC portfolio company that realized a 2.4x multiple on invested capital return (MOIC). Ms. Cheng worked at General Electric and Macquarie before joining CVC. Ms. Cheng received a B.A. from Yale University. Ms. Cheng is based in China.
Yonghi Li serves as our Investment Advisor and has 14 years of investment and strategy consulting experience in Asia. Mr. Li is currently Chief Strategy Officer at LILI SG, a technology company focusing on local womens fashion in Southeast Asia. Prior to this, Mr. Li was a Director at CVC in Korea and Singapore
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from 2011 to 2020. During the course of his career, Mr. Li has completed 3 investments with a total equity investment amount of $0.7 billion. Mr. Li was also involved in 2 IPOs in the region. Mr. Li was a deal team member in the following deals in the Target Sectors across Korea and Southeast Asia, including SPi Global (business process outsourcing, the Philippines), Siloam International (hospitals, Indonesia), and Matahari (department stores, Indonesia). Mr. Li worked at McKinsey and Credit Suisse before joining CVC. Mr. Li received a B.A. from Seoul National University. Mr. Li is based in Singapore.
Edward Chen serves as our SPAC Advisor and has 13 years of investment experience in the SPAC market. Mr. Chen is the Founder and Managing Partner of Carnegie Park Capital LLC, a firm whose team has invested in SPACs since 2008. Previously, Mr. Chen was a Portfolio Manager at Water Island Capital LLC from 2013 to 2021. Prior to joining Water Island Capital, Mr. Chen was at Jefferies & Company, where in his last role as Managing Director within the firms Global Event Driven Strategies group, he was responsible for conducting research due diligence of announced mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, tenders and bankruptcy exits while managing a proprietary portfolio of event-driven investments. Mr. Chen worked at Citigroup Global Markets before joining Jefferies. Mr. Chen received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chen is based in the United States.
Chia Min Lee serves as an Investment Analyst. Mr. Lee received a BSc in Global Economics and Finance from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Leo Chan serves as an Investment Analyst. Mr. Chan received a BSc in Risk Management & Business Intelligence from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.
Independent Directors
Gary Chan serves as one of our independent directors. Mr. Chan is an Asian financial markets veteran and brings an exceptional track record of originating proprietary transactions. He is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sangyo Sosei Advisory, a TMT-focused independent boutique investment bank in Japan. Sangyo Sosei Advisory was the merger & acquisition advisor to CVC on its investment in Arteria Networks. Prior to co-founding Sangyo Sosei Advisory in 2009, Mr. Chan was a Managing Director at UBS Japan from 1995 to 2009, where he held various leadership roles including the Head of Japan Telecommunications Investment Banking, Head of Japan Financial Sponsors Coverage, and Head of Japan General Industry Group. Prior to investment banking, he was an Institutional Investors-ranked research analyst and served as the Head of Asia Telecommunications Research as well as the Head of Hong Kong and China Research. Mr. Chan received a B.A. from UC Berkeley. Mr. Chan is based in Japan.
Goodwin Gaw serves as one of our independent directors. Mr. Gaw is a renowned property investor with over 20 years of real estate investment and management experience across the United States and Asia. He is presently the Co-Founder and Chairman of Gaw Capital, a global real estate private equity firm. Mr. Gaw is also the Vice Chairman of Pioneer Global Group, a property investment company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 1994. Additionally, he is also the Founder and President of Downtown Property Holdings, a private real estate investment company with interest in commercial properties in the United States. Mr. Gaw received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. from Stanford University. Mr. Gaw is based in Hong Kong.
Operating Advisors
We have formed a group of highly experienced and reputable operating advisors who will assist our management team following the consummation of this offering in sourcing suitable business combination targets,
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assessing their viability, and subsequently driving value creation in the business that we acquire. Our operating advisors are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Max He has 8 years of operating experience, particularly as an entrepreneur in the financial technology sector in Asia. Mr. He is currently the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of eBroker since 2015, an online marketplace for China consumers to access overseas insurance and financial products. Prior to founding eBroker, he was a private banker at Morgan Stanley from 2012 to 2013. Mr. He received a B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. He is based in China.
Danny Hwang has 12 years of operating experience, primarily as an entrepreneur in the education sector. Mr. Hwang is currently the Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Point Avenue since 2018, a private education technology company offering K-12 educational services in Southeast Asia. Prior to co-founding Point Avenue, Mr. Hwang was a Managing Director at EIC Education from 2014 to 2017, a leading provider of overseas educational services in China. EIC Education was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.0x and an internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 33%7. Mr. Hwang was the Co-Founder and COO of New Pathway Education & Technology Group, an education company in China from 2009 to 2014. Mr. Hwang received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Hwang is based in Vietnam.
Samuel Hwang has 12 years of operating experience, primarily as an entrepreneur in the education technology sector. Mr. Hwang is currently the Co-Founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Point Avenue since 2018. Prior to co-founding Point Avenue, Mr. Hwang was the Chief Technology Officer of EIC Education from 2014 to 2017, a leading provider of overseas educational counselling services in China. EIC Education was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.0x and an IRR of approximately 33%8. Mr. Hwang co-founded New Pathway Education & Technology Group and was the Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2014. Mr. Hwang received a B.S. and an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Hwang is based in South Korea.
Jun Kawakami has 33 years of operating experience, particularly in the technology and healthcare sectors. Mr. Kawakami is currently a Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Group. Prior to that, Mr. Kawakami served as the CEO and President of Arteria Networks from 2017 to 2020. Arteria Networks was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.4x and an IRR of approximately 28%9. He also formerly served as CEO and President of General Electric Healthcare Japan from 2011 to 2016. He also held other senior management roles during his time at General Electric. Prior to that, Mr. Kawakami was also previously a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. Mr. Kawakami received a B.A. from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Mr. Kawakami is based in Japan.
Maulik Parekh has 25 years of operating experience, particularly as a senior executive in the technology sector. Mr. Parekh is currently an Advisor to Inspiro, an outsourcing specialist based in the Philippines, and previously was CEO from 2016 to 2020. Prior to Inspiro, Mr. Parekh served as a board member of SPi Global Holdings from 2016 to 2017, a leading provider of content outsourcing services based in the Philippines, and held the role of CEO and President from 2009 to 2016. SPi Global was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.6x and an IRR of approximately 36%10. Mr. Parekh was also Executive Vice President of TeleTech from 2006 to 2009, and Director of Outsourcing and Offshoring Customer Service at Dish Network from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Parekh received an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Mr. Parekh is based in Singapore and the Philippines.
Randy Teo has 23 years of operating experience, primarily in investments and strategy. Mr. Teo is currently the Managing Partner at T3each Global Ventures, a family office focusing on impact investing within the health
7 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar . |
8 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
9 | MOIC and IRR of Arteria Networks are calculated in Japanese Yen. |
10 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
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and education sectors. Prior to this, Mr. Teo was the Co-Head of Platinum Equitys team in Singapore from 2013 to 2017 where he was responsible for establishing the firms Asia practice, sourcing and executing private equity investments. Mr. Teo also has a wealth of operating and business development experience and previously held numerous senior executive roles at Stanley Black & Decker (President of Global Industrial), Infastech (CEO and President), Acument Global Technologies (President of Asia Pacific) and Textron Asia (President of Asia Pacific). Infastech was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 2.8x and an IRR of approximately 47%11. Mr. Teo received an MBA from the University of Hull. Mr. Teo is based in Singapore.
William Yeung has 30 years of operating experience, particularly as a senior executive in the telecommunications and technology sector. Mr. Yeung currently serves as Executive Vice-Chairman of Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN), a Hong Kong-based telecommunication and enterprise IT services company since 2018. HKBN was a CVC portfolio company that realized an MOIC of 3.6x and an IRR of approximately 63%12. Mr. Yeung joined HKBN in 2005 as COO and became the CEO in 2008. In addition, he also serves as Executive Chairman of Home+, a Hong Kong-based e-commerce platform launched by HKBN in 2020. Prior to HKBN, he served as a Director of SmarTone from 1996 to 2005. Mr. Yeung received a B.A. from Hong Kong Baptist University, an M.S. from The University of Hong Kong and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde. Mr. Yeung is based in Hong Kong.
The past performance of our directors, executive officers and advisors is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute an initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of management as indicative of future performance. Additionally, certain individuals amongst our directors, officers and advisors presently have, and in the future are expected to have, additional fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including a duty to offer acquisition opportunities to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may combine with.
Our Business Strategy and Competitive Advantages
Our business strategy is to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, further accelerate the growth of the company in the public markets. We intend to focus on growth companies and/or companies with stable growth and cash flows that we believe can benefit from our relationships, knowledge and experience as catalysts to transforming and augmenting their business performance. Our selection process will leverage our teams broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Specifically, we believe the following competitive advantages will enable us to identify a suitable business combination target and consummate a successful transaction:
| Deep Expertise in our Target Industries and Geographies: We have a multi-decade history of investing in our target industries and geographies, enabling us to build deep domain expertise and to develop a long-term view on industry cycles. Our team combines global industry knowledge with deep on-the-ground presence in our target markets. We maintain a database of potential business combination targets, which is continuously updated and refined. We believe that many of these targets could be actionable after the completion of this offering. |
| Strong Investment Track Record of Outsized Returns: Over the last 25 years, our management and investment team has invested in over 38 companies across a broad range of sectors, deploying around $5.8 billion across Asia. We believe that our teams investment track record will aid us in identifying, closing, and monitoring an attractive target for our initial business combination. |
11 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
12 | MOIC and IRR are calculated in United States Dollar. |
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| Proprietary Sourcing Network and Leading Industry Relationships: Our team has a rich and long track record as investors and operators, and has developed a large and deep network across Asia, including strong relationships with many leading founders, executives and investors. Additionally, we will tap into an extensive pool of well-established external relationships with agents, consultants and investment banks. We believe this approach will provide us with a robust pipeline of attractive and actionable business combination opportunities that would be difficult for other investors to replicate. |
| Proven Operating Capabilities to Drive Value Creation: Our team has historically worked closely with, or as members of, management teams and boards to drive value creation. Together with our directors and advisors, we are adept at working with companies to develop organic growth strategies, implement cost and working capital efficiencies, build stronger businesses through acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and/or selective divestments, and identify and recruit exceptional management teams. |
| Deep Knowledge in Execution and Structuring: We believe that our teams expertise and long track record in effecting complex transactions will allow us to successfully source and structure transactions with certain attributes that are otherwise challenging for other investors to execute. These types of transactions require creativity, deep industry knowledge, rigorous due diligence, and extensive negotiations. We believe that these unique and complex opportunities often have more attractive risk-reward profiles. Following the business combination, we also have substantial experience in executing transactions across expansionary and recessionary market cycles utilizing a variety of transaction structures that we believe will help us to minimize risk and to position the company for long-term success. |
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have defined the following criteria and guidelines in evaluating prospective targets for our potential business combination. By applying a systematic target filtering process to identify and partner with high-quality companies in Asia, we estimate there may be around 50 companies out of over 460 companies backed by private equity firms in target sectors and geographies that potentially fit our criteria and guidelines. Although we expect to adhere to these criteria and guidelines when evaluating business combination opportunities, we may decide to enter into a business combination with a target that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to focus on businesses with the following characteristics:
| Suitable for an NYSE listing and U.S. Investor Base: We seek to merge or acquire companies that can benefit from the global branding opportunity brought by NYSE listing to facilitate international growth plans after public listing. In order to secure long-term capital partners, we intend to target companies that have identifiable trading peers with similar business or revenue model among the US listed securities and are situated in industries where international investors have strong sector expertise in. |
| Large Addressable Markets: We intend to invest in companies that address a large and growing market, which creates opportunities for attractive long-term growth either in core markets or by expanding into high potential adjacent categories that have not been substantially penetrated to date. |
| Established Market Leadership: We seek to merge or acquire companies that have a leading presence across an industry or segment and have built a unique product or service and offer long-term sustainable competitive differentiation. These could include superior branding, market-leading product or service offering, and/or proprietary technologies. |
| Strong Management and Culture: We seek to partner with leading executives who have strategic vision, are results-driven and aligned with our goal to drive meaningful shareholder value. We will evaluate a companys leadership through their track record of growth, ability to build a defensible competitive advantage, quality of strategic decision-making, and establishment of a corporate culture anchored in strong values. |
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| Attractive Growth Prospects: We seek to identify companies that have concrete and visible opportunities to execute organic growth initiatives. In addition, we intend to target companies that can serve as a broader platform for future accretive acquisitions and can benefit from the public currency and improved access to capital markets afforded by being a listed company. |
| Superior Unit Economics: We seek to merge or acquire companies with a demonstrated ability to be profitable or headed towards a clear path to profitability. We intend to spend significant time evaluating a companys unit economics and capability in generating consistent and high levels of cash flow over time as the business grows, even if it chooses to use that cash to re-invest back into the business in the near term. |
| Benefit from our Sponsorship: We intend to merge or acquire companies that operate within our fields of expertise which we believe will benefit from our strategic, operating, and financial value-add. This could be in the form of, but not limited to, capital structure solutions, creative and complex transaction structuring, and connectivity to our wide and global professional network to drive operational and financial efficiency improvements. |
| Attractive Risk-adjusted Return to our Shareholders: We have a deep understanding of various valuation methodologies and frameworks across various industries, and will aim to negotiate commercial terms that will provide significant upside potential while limiting downside risk. |
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we find an opportunity that has characteristics more compelling to us than the characteristics described above, we may pursue such opportunity.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience.
Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes and value creation methods are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
We believe that the operational and transactional experience of our management team, board of directors and advisors, and the relationships they have developed as a result of such experience, will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. We have at least one member of our team present in each of our target markets and these individuals and entities have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world and particularly in Asia. This network has grown through sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses and maintaining relationships with potential sellers, financing sources and target management teams. We have significant experience in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. We believe that these networks of relationships and this experience will provide us
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with important sources of investment opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest noncore assets or divisions.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our officers, directors, or advisors (or their respective affiliates or related entities) or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our officers, directors or advisors (or their respective affiliates or related entities). In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our officers or directors (or their respective affiliates or related entities), we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. As more fully discussed in ManagementConflicts of Interest, if any of our officers, directors or advisors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our officers, directors, and advisors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Other Acquisition Considerations
In addition to our sponsor, members of our management team, directors, and advisors may directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers, directors, and advisors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers, directors, and advisors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers, directors, and advisors presently has, and in the future any of our officers, directors, and advisors may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer, director, or advisor is or will be required to present acquisition opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, if any of our officers, directors, or advisors becomes aware of an acquisition opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such acquisition opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, no officer, director, or advisor shall be disqualified or prevented from contracting with the company nor shall any contract or transaction entered into by or on behalf of the company in which he or she shall have an interest be liable to be avoided. A director shall be at liberty to vote in respect of any contract or transaction in which he is interested provided that the nature of such interest shall be disclosed at or prior to its consideration or any vote thereon by the board of directors. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers, directors, or advisors would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination. Our officers, directors, and advisors may become an officer, director, or advisor of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act even before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net
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of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Additionally, pursuant to NYSE rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to six times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. In connection with any such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination for an additional month, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), up to an aggregate of $4,000,000, or $0.20 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. We will issue a press release announcing each extension at least three days prior to the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the time available for us by three additional months (for a total of 21 months to consummate such business combination) without any additional deposit into the trust account. In connection with such extension, public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares. We will issue a press release announcing such extension at least three days prior to the commencement of such extension. If we cannot consummate a business combination 21 months, we will, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by up to three times, each time by an additional month (for a total of 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor or its affiliates or designees depositing into the trust account $666,666, or up to $766,666 if the underwriters over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.033 per share in either case), or up to an aggregate of $2,000,000, or $0.10 per share, on or prior to the date of the deadline. In addition, we will issue a press release the day after the deadline, announcing whether the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are obligated to fund the trust account in order to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination, but our sponsor will not be obligated to extend such time. In addition to the foregoing arrangements, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the business judgment of our board of directors, which will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of the target or targets, and different methods of valuation may vary greatly in outcome from one another. Such standards used will be
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disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares and/or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. If our securities are not listed on the NYSE after this offering, we would not be required to satisfy the 80% requirement. However, we intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on the NYSE at the time of our initial business combination.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information made available to us. Additionally, members of our management team, board of directors and advisors have significant executive management and public company experience, and accordingly have developed a deep network of contacts and relationships that will provide us with an important source of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that opportunities will be brought to our attention by various unaffiliated sources, including investment banks, private equity groups, consultants, accounting firms and other investment market participants.
Initial Business Combination with a Company Based in China or Hong Kong
We may seek to acquire a company that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. The approval and/or other requirements of the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities may be required in connection with our initial business combination with a PRC company under PRC rules, regulations or policies,
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and, if required, we cannot predict whether we will be able to or for how long it will take to obtain such approval. Any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining the requisite governmental approval for this offering, or a rescission of such approval, would subject us to sanctions imposed by the relevant PRC regulatory authority. In addition, if we successfully acquire a PRC company, we may conduct operations in China through a series of contractual arrangements with the VIE due to restrictions imposed by the PRC laws and regulations on foreign ownership of companies involved in certain industries. Such contractual arrangements by and among PRC subsidiaries, the VIE, and the VIEs shareholders may include (i) certain power of attorney agreements, a share pledge agreement and certain loan agreements, which will provide us effective control over the VIE; (ii) an exclusive business cooperation agreement which allows us to receive substantially all of the economic benefits from the VIE; and (iii) certain exclusive option agreements and certain spouse consent letters which provide us with an exclusive option to purchase all or part of the equity interests in and/or assets of the VIE when and to the extent permitted by PRC laws. Through contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders, we may become the primary beneficiary of the VIE, and, therefore, may consolidate the financial results of the VIE in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
These contractual arrangements may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing us with control over the VIE. If the VIE or its shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under these contractual arrangements, our recourse to the assets held by the VIE may be indirect and we may have to incur substantial costs and expend significant resources to enforce such arrangements in reliance on legal remedies under PRC law. These remedies may not always be effective, particularly in light of uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of the relevant laws and regulations. Furthermore, in connection with litigation, arbitration or other judicial or dispute resolution proceedings, assets under the name of any of record holder of equity interest in the VIE, including such equity interest of such record holder, may be put under court custody. As a consequence, we cannot be certain that the equity interest will be disposed pursuant to the contractual arrangement or that the ownership by the record holder of such equity interest will be unchallenged. See Risk FactorsWe may depend on contractual arrangements with the VIE and its shareholders to operate our business in China, which may not be as effective as direct ownership in providing operational control and otherwise have a material adverse effect as to our business. In addition, if we acquire a target company that operates its business in the PRC through contractual arrangements, investors in our ordinary shares following a business combination would not hold equity interests in the VIE domiciled in China that is under our control and would instead hold equity interests in a Cayman Islands holding company. You may never directly hold equity interests in PRC operating companies.
All of these contractual arrangements may be governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC law, and disputes arising from these contractual arrangements may be resolved in court or through arbitration in China. As a result, uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements.
In addition, the PRC government also has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of a company with substantial operations in China to conduct its business and control over securities offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investments at any time, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities. In particular, there have been recent statements by the PRC government indicating an intent to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in China-based companies with substantial operations in China. Any such regulatory oversight or control could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless. See Risk FactorsChinas economic, political and social conditions, as well as changes in any government policies, laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business. and Risk FactorsThere are uncertainties regarding the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws, rules and regulations.
The PRC government also has significant authority to exert restrictions on foreign exchange and our ability to transfer cash between entities, across borders, and to U.S. investors that may apply if we acquire a company
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that is based in China or Hong Kong in an initial business combination. We will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments as current regulations in China would permit our PRC subsidiary to pay dividends to us only out of its accumulated distributable profits, if any, determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. In addition, our PRC subsidiary will be required to set aside at least 10% (up to an aggregate amount equal to half of its registered capital) of its accumulated profits each year. See Risk FactorsAfter we consummate a business combination, our PRC subsidiary will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments. In addition, we may be subject to restrictions on currency exchange as the PRC government may limit or eliminate our ability to utilize cash generated in Renminbi to fund our business activities outside of the PRC or pay dividends in foreign currencies to our shareholders, including holders of our securities, and may limit our ability to obtain foreign currency through debt or equity financing. See Risk FactorsWe are subject to restrictions on currency exchange and Risk FactorsIf we were to acquire a PRC company, the PRC regulation on loans to, and direct investment in, our PRC subsidiary by offshore holding companies and governmental control in currency conversion may restrict our ability to make loans to or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business. These restrictions will restrict our ability to distribute earnings from our businesses, including subsidiaries and/or consolidated VIEs, to the parent company and U.S. investors as well as the ability to settle amounts owed under the VIE agreements. In addition, fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses to us and may reduce the value of, and amount in U.S. Dollar of dividends payable on, our shares in foreign currency terms.
The following illustrative table shows the post-business combination funds flow of our company to the extent that our company acquires a company based in PRC with contractual arrangements.
Note:
(1) | We may transfer funds to the Target (PRC based shell company) through an increase in the registered capital of or a shareholder loan to the Target (PRC based shell company). The company based in the PRC may in turn make distributions or pay dividends to us. |
(2) | The Target (PRC based shell company) will provide the Consolidated VIE (PRC-based operations company) with services, including technical development, technical support, management consultation, marketing and promotional services and other related services on an exclusive basis, as the case may be. The Consolidated VIE (PRC-based operations company) will pay specified service fees to the Target (PRC based shell company) as consideration for the services provided. |
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In contrast, the following illustrative table shows the post-business combination funds flow of the Company to the extent that the Company will acquire a company based in the PRC through direct equity investment.
Note:
(1) | We may transfer funds to the Target (PRC-based operations company) through an increase in the registered capital of or a shareholder loan to the Target (PRC-based operations company). The Target (PRC-based operations company) may in turn make distributions or pay dividends to us. |
Furthermore, trading in our securities may be prohibited under the HFCA Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor for three consecutive years beginning in 2021. In that case, the NYSE would delist our securities, including our units, Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants being offered in this offering, and the SEC shall prohibit them from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would amend the HFCA Act and reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two years. If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC and if our new auditor is located in China, with operations in and who performs audit operations of registrants in China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has been unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, the work of our new auditor as it relates to those operations may not be inspected by the PCAOB, which currently is the case. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China may make it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our independent registered public accounting firms audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in the audit procedures of our auditor and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements. See Risk FactorsTrading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor. In that case, the NYSE would delist our securities. The delisting of our securities, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections may deprive our investors with the benefits of such inspections.
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