Item 1. Business
Item 1. BUSINESS
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on July 15, 2024 for the purpose of merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (“Business Combination”).While we are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a Business Combination, we intends to focus on businesses in the financial services industry. We are an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31 ,2024, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2024 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“IPO”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on October 21, 2024. On October 23, 2024, the Company consummated its IPO of 23,000,000 units (the “Units”) at $10.00 per unit including the 3,000,000 Units that were issued pursuant to the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option. Each Unit consist of one share of Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Public Share”) and one-half of one redeemable warrant ( “Public Warrant”), each whole Public Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share. The Units were sold at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $230,000,000. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of Business Combination and 12 months from the closing of the IPO and will expire five years after the completion of Business Combination or earlier upon Company’s liquidation.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated private placements (the “Private Placements”) in which (i) Aldel Investors II LLC (the “Sponsor”) and BTIG LLC (“ Underwriter”) purchased 477,500 and 230,000 private units (the “Private Units”) respectively, at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit, generating total proceeds of $7,075,000, and (ii) the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 1,000,000 warrants (“$15 Private Warrant”) and, together with the Private Units, the “Private Placement Securities”) at a price of $0.10 per warrant, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $15.00 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $100,000.
Each Private Unit consist of one common share and one-half of one non-redeemable warrant (“Private Unit Warrant”). Each whole Private Unit Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share.
Each $15 Private Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $15.00 per each share, is exercisable for a period of 10 years from the date of Business Combination, is non-redeemable, and may be exercised on a cashless basis. Additionally, $15 Private Warrants and the shares issuable upon the exercise of the $15 Private Warrants are not be transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions.
Prior to the closing of the IPO, on July 19, 2024, the Company issued an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of common stock (the “Founder Shares”) to the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash. On August 13, 2024, the Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 690,000 Founder Shares to members of the Company’s management and board of directors, resulting in the Sponsor holding 5,060,000 Founder Shares. Subsequently, on September 25, 2024, the Company issued an additional 410,714 Founder Shares to the Sponsor for an approximate aggregate purchase price of $1,666. The purchase price was satisfied against the promissory note between Company and Sponsor dated July 19, 2024. This resulted in Sponsor holding 5,470,714 Founder Shares.
Following the closing of the IPO, an amount of $231,150,000 ($10.05 per Unit) from the net proceed of the sale of Units in the IPO and the sale of Private Placement Securities were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in any open-
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ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the consummation of a Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company’s shareholders, as described below.
As of December 31, 2024, there was $233,166,502 in investments and cash held in the trust account, which includes interest income available for the Company to use for its income tax, as well as $1,004,085 of cash held outside the trust account. As of December31, 2024, we have withdrawn $0 of interest earned from the trust account to pay taxes.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time. All activity through December 31,2024 relates to the Company’s formation, IPO and search for a business combination target. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate nonoperating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO.
If our Business Combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the Trust Account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our Business Combination or used for redemptions of our common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the Trust Account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our Business Combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination
While we may pursue a Business Combination target in any industry or sector, we intend to focus our search on companies within the financial services industry in North America. We will seek to acquire established businesses that we believe are fundamentally sound, but would benefit from the financial, operational, technological, strategic or managerial improvements our Company and management team can provide to maximize value. We will also look at earlier-stage companies that exhibit the potential to change the industries in which they participate, and which offer the potential of sustained high levels of revenue growth with an articulated path to profitability. NASDAQ rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination 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). Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our Business Combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our Business Combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our Business Combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our Business Combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our Business Combination such that the post- transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, 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 it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the “Investment Company Act”. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our Business Combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our 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 taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
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In evaluating prospective business combinations, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review process that will encompass, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our Business Combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our Business Combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing a Business Combination with a company that is affiliated with the Sponsor or our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our Business Combination with a company that is affiliated with the Sponsor, our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that Business Combinationis fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Redemption rights for holders of public shares upon consummation of the Business Combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our 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 Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), 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 approximately $10.14 per public share as of December 31, 2024. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our Business Combination with respect to our warrants. Our Initial Stockholders, Sponsor,Underwriter, 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 they hold and any public shares they acquired or may acquire during or after the IPO in connection with the completion of our Business Combination. .
Conduct of redemptions pursuant to tender offer rules
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: (a) conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and (b) file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our Business Combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Submission of our Business Combination to a stockholder vote
In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our Business Combination, we will distribute proxy materials and file them with the SEC. In connection therewith, we will provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the Business Combination.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our Initial Stockholders will count towards this quorum and our Initial Stockholders, Sponsor, officers and directors and the underwriters have agreed to vote any Founder Shares and the shares underlying the Private Units (the“ Private Shares”) they hold and any public shares purchased during or after the IPO (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our Business Combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our Initial Stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our Business Combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If we seek stockholder approval of our Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Initial Stockholders, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public
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warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our Business Combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our Initial Stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NASDAQ rules. However, other than as expressly stated herein, 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or 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.
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 stockholder approval of the Business Combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our Business Combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. 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 Business Combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A ordinary sharesor 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.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our 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, 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 management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public 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 holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or our management 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 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.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only the duration of the completion window to complete our Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our Business Combination. within such 24-month period, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (which interest shall be net of amounts released to us to pay our tax obligations, and to pay up to $100,000 for dissolution and liquidation expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will constitute full and complete payment for the public shares and completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating or other distributions, if any), subject to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our Business Combination within the 24- month time period.
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our Business Combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess similar or greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our Business Combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a Business Combination.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers: Robert I. Kauffman, our Chief Executive Officer and Hassan R. Baqar, our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our Business Combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our Business Combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are registered under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or 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 conduct a Business Combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our Business Combination within the prescribed time frame. There is no assurance that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. 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 have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
We have filed 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 are 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 Business Combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received 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
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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 JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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.
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 our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
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 the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues equaled to or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
Available Information
We are required to file Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events in a Current Report on Form 8-K. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website is located at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at 104 S. Walnut Street, Unit 1A, Itasca, Illinois 60143 or by telephone at (847)791-6817.
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item. For a complete list of risks relating to our operations, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our Registration Statement.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.