Angel Studios, Inc. 10-K

Item 1. Business. General We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation on April 13, 2021 and formed 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 report as our “initial business combination.” We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, we are a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash. On December 14, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (our “IPO”) of 23,000,000 units (the “units”), each unit consisting of one share of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”) and one-half of one warrant of the Company, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock for $11.50 per share (subject to adjustment). The 23,000,000 units sold in our IPO include 3,000,000 units sold to BofA Securities, Inc., the underwriter for our IPO (the “underwriter”), pursuant to the underwriter’s full exercise of its option under the underwriting agreement for our IPO to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units solely to cover over-allotments. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, and our IPO generated gross proceeds of $230,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of our IPO, we consummated a private placement (the “Private Placement”) with our sponsor of an aggregate of 11,700,000 warrants (the “private placement warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $11,700,000. On December 14, 2021, a total of $234,600,000 of the net proceeds from our IPO and the Private Placement were deposited in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust Account remain on deposit in the Trust Account earning interest and are available for a business combination, assuming no redemptions, after payment of $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees, before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), the proceeds deposited in the Trust Account will not be released from the Trust Account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide our public stockholders the right to have their public shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 14, 2023 or during any extended time we have to consummate our initial business combination beyond June 14, 2023 as a result of a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (an “Extension Period”) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination by June 14, 2023 or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested in U.S. government securities 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 of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. 2 Our sponsor, Southport Acquisition Sponsor LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company that is owned by Jeb Spencer, our Chief Executive Officer, and other investors, including certain of our directors. Our sponsor is controlled by Mr. Spencer and Mr. Jared Stone, the Chairman of our board of directors. While efforts to identify a target business may span many industries, our focus will be predominantly within the financial software space with particular focus on mortgage and real estate verticals in the United States. We plan to look for a leading financial services software or Financial Technology (“FinTech”) partner, with particular focus on mortgage and real estate software verticals, that generates between $50 million and $100 million of revenues and is valued between $1 billion and $2 billion. Acquisition Criteria The maturity and judgment of our management team will guide our acquisition process. When evaluating candidate companies, we expect to use the following non-exclusive guidelines and characteristics for determining opportunities: 1. Competitive Advantage We will look for mission-critical companies with leading position, technology and product capability. Our focus will be on businesses whose products or services are differentiated which creates strong barriers to entry and opportunity to create value by implementing best practices. We will opportunistically pursue a business with proven technology and market acceptance and that can be scaled for additional growth in the future. 2. Promising Financial Model We expect to target a business that has historically been an efficient, leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) technologies. We will look to invest in companies that we believe have a large market opportunity for growth over the next five years driven by a differentiated strategy and a defensible competitive advantage. 3. Experienced Management Team Our team has an accomplished track record and deep understanding of the financial software industry. We believe our management team’s multifaceted expertise in assessing a target’s technology and potential will be an advantage in this industry. We intend to seek a business whose performance we believe we can improve by leveraging our transactional, financial, managerial and investment experience, as well as our extensive networks and insights. We believe our management team has the right skills and capabilities to enhance a target’s results and consolidate its competitive positions in its sectors. 4. Favorable Competitive Environment in an Attractive Growing Market We will seek companies operating in growing industries with favorable dynamics and potential for consolidation. While we will target businesses with large markets with the potential to grow substantially through organic means, we will prioritize those targets that have platform opportunities to expand their addressable markets. By targeting strategic, product, customer segment and technology acquisitions, we expect our potential target business will be positioned to use its public currency and cash position to ideally generate accretive transactions that benefit shareholders. 5. Attractive Terms We intend to focus on a target business that gives our investors access to market-leading technologies, exceptional management and a large market opportunity at an attractive price. We believe an initial business combination with us would offer private companies seeking access to the public markets and liquidity for their investors and shareholders an attractive alternative to a traditional initial public offering. By focusing on a partnership with the potential to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns, we believe we have the potential to be a preferred partner for leading financial software companies. 3 These guidelines and characteristics are important, but not exhaustive. The merits of any particular initial business combination will be based on these guidelines and characteristics, as well as other considerations that our management team may deem relevant. Ultimately, we believe our management team is well suited to identify and execute on acquisition opportunities that have the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above guidelines and characteristics, we will disclose the same in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this report, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). In addition to any potential business candidates we may identify on our own, we anticipate that other target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds, and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions. Acquisition Process In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, as applicable and among other things, commercial and industry due diligence, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. To help facilitate this evaluation, we will rely on input from our management team, sponsor and directors, including third party diligence providers if and as necessary. So long as we maintain a listing for our securities on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), our initial business combination must occur with one or more businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in the Trust Account). We refer to this as the “80% of net assets test.” If our securities are no longer listed on the NYSE, we will not be obligated to satisfy the 80% of net assets test. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target businesses or assets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of our board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target businesses or assets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed initial business combination will provide public stockholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% of net assets test, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target businesses or assets, 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 will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of any applicable target business or asset, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with such target business or asset, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target assets or the prospects of the target business, including if such business is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and our board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target businesses or assets meets the 80% threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or asset or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to stockholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed initial business combination will include such opinion. 4 We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business or businesses for the post-transaction company 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 an interest in the target or assets sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction 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 shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target or issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock to third parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. 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 of Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for the purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity, equity-linked or debt securities or loans or not all of the funds released from the Trust Account are used for the aforementioned purposes or 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 post-transaction businesses, for payment of principal of or interest on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. We may seek to raise additional funds in connection with the completion of our initial business combination through an offering of equity, equity-linked or debt securities or loans, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offerings or loans rather than using the amounts held in the Trust Account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of our initial business combination funded with assets other than the Trust Account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law or we decide to do so for business or other reasons, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds through an offering of equity, equity-linked or debt securities or loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise. Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (net of permitted withdrawals for tax), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any public shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their public shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting fees we will pay to the underwriter. However, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.20 per public share initially held in the Trust Account due to claims of creditors (see “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by our public stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein). The redemption right will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. 5 Manner of Conducting Redemptions We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either: (1) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target business in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We may conduct redemptions of our public shares without a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: · conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and · file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: · conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and · file proxy materials with the SEC. Submission of Our Initial Business Combination to a Stockholder Vote In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our sponsor, directors and officers will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination. 6 Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if We Seek Stockholder Approval Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares, without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our 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 stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the public shares, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders 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 stockholders’ ability to vote all of their public shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only until June 14, 2023, unless an Extension Period applies, to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such period, we will: (1) cease all operations, except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (net of permitted withdrawals for tax 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, and our warrants will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 14, 2023 or during any Extension Period. Corporate Information Our offices are located at 1745 Grand Avenue, Del Mar, California 92014, and our telephone number is (917) 503-9722. We maintain a corporate website at https://www.southportone.com. The information that is or may be contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not part of this report and is not incorporated herein by reference. 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 Current Reports on Form 8-K. These reports are available on our website. Status as a Public Company We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer target businesses an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our Class A common stock or for a combination of shares of our Class A common stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us. Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. 7 We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). 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 stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. These exemptions will be available to us for a period of five years following the completion of our IPO or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier. Accordingly, the reports we file with the SEC may not be comparable to those of other public companies and our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. 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. 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. 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 $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of such fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year or the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible. Competition In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, 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. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for business combination targets has increased significantly in recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing business combinations. Moreover, many of these competitors possess 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 stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination. 8 Facilities We currently maintain our executive offices at 1745 Grand Avenue, Del Mar, California 92014. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations. Employees We currently have one officer and do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.