Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business Overview.
We are a Cayman Islands company incorporated on September 28, 2023, as an exempted company with limited liability. We chose to incorporate in the Cayman Islands due to (i) its tax-neutrality, which allows international transactions to be structured efficiently without an additional layer of tax and (ii) simplicity of establishment and flexibility of administration, including easy migration to another jurisdiction, the existence of statutory procedures for merger or consolidation, and no takeover code or bespoke public company filing requirements.
We were formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as a “target business.” We do not have any specific business combination under consideration and we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf), directly or indirectly, contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to such a transaction. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic location.
We may retain all of our available funds and any future earnings following a business combination to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we may not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
We believe our management team is well positioned to identify attractive risk-adjusted returns in the marketplace and that our professional contacts and transaction sources, ranging from industry executives, private owners, private equity funds, family offices, commercial and investment bankers, lawyers and other financial sector service providers and participants, in addition to the geographical reach of our affiliates, will enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities. Our management believes that its collective ability to identify and implement value creation initiatives has been an essential driver of past performance and will remain central to its differentiated acquisition strategy.
Initial Public Offering and Private Placement
In
October 2023, the Company issued 17,250,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 per share to the Sponsor, the founder shares, for
an aggregated consideration of $25,000, or approximately $0.0145 per share. On November 13, 2023, the Company and the Sponsor
entered into the First Amendment to the Subscription Agreement, pursuant to which the 17,250,000 shares of common stock were
converted to 1,725,000 Class B ordinary shares. On March 20, 2024, the Company and the Sponsor entered into the Second Amendment to
the Subscription Agreement, pursuant to which the purchased amount of shares was adjusted to 1,983,750 Class B ordinary shares,
$0.0126 par value per ordinary share. In addition, 258,750 of such founder shares were forfeited as the underwriters’
over-allotment option in the Issuer’s initial public offering was not exercised.
On
March 20, 2024, the Company consummated its initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 6,900,000 units (the
“Units”). Each Unit consists of one ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (the “Ordinary
Shares”) and one-fifth (1/5) of one right to receive one Ordinary Share upon the consummation of the Company’s initial
business combination. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $69,000,000.
The Company also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,035,000 units to cover over-allotments,
if any. On March 18, 2024, the Company elected to convert 1,725,000 Class B ordinary shares into 1,725,000 Class A ordinary
shares upon the closing of IPO.
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Simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO and the sale of the Units, the Company consummated the private placement (the “Private Placement”) of 235,500 Units (the “Placement Units”), each Placement Unit consisting of one Ordinary Share and one-fifth (1/5) of one right, to the Sponsor at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit, generating total proceeds of $2,355,000. The issuance of the Placement Units was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
A total of $69,345,000 of the net proceeds from the IPO and the Private Placement were placed in a U.S.-based trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public shareholders and maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the proceeds of the IPO and the Private Placement that are held out of the Trust Account, although substantially all the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally towards consummating a business combination and working capital.
Since our IPO, our sole business activity has been identifying and evaluating suitable acquisition transaction candidates. We presently have no revenue and have had losses since inception from incurring formation and operating costs. We have relied upon the sale of our securities and loans from the Sponsor and other parties to fund our operations.
On May 13, 2024, holders of the Company’s units could elect to separately trade the ordinary shares and rights included in its units. The ordinary shares and rights are expected to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “BKHA” and “BKHAR,” respectively. Units not separated will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “BKHAU.” Holders of units will need to have their brokers contact the Company’s transfer agent, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Co., in order to separate the holders’ Units into ordinary shares and rights.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Leadership of an Experienced Management Team and Board of Directors
Our management team is led by our Chief Executive
Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors, Mr. Kent Louis Kaufman, our Chief Operating Officer and
Director, Jonathan Ginsberg and our Independent Directors, Brandon Miller, Daniel M. McCabe, and Terry W. Protto. All of our management
team members are United States citizens.
Mr. Kent Louis Kaufman, our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chairman, serves as the CEO of the Growth and Leadership Center Inc, a role he has held since 2004. Since March 2020, Mr. Kaufman has been serving as a managing partner at BEEC Capital, a management and consulting company. He has also been a frequently utilized leadership consultant for Korn Ferry International, a recruiting and human resources consulting company, since 2006. Mr. Kaufman has worked with companies and executives at all levels, including CEOs, Boards of Directors, vice presidents, and directors. Throughout his career, he has consulted for companies including NVIDIA, Amazon, Google, Intel, Hewlett Packard, Chevron, Abbot Labs, Medtronic, Network Appliance, Barclays, Black Rock, Bank of New York Mellon, Cisco, Northrop Grumman, and Apple. Mr. Kaufman has over 30 years of experience in executive roles, management consulting, and executive coaching. From 1991 until 1996, Mr. Kaufman was one of the key leaders who took start-up StorMedia public in an IPO, where he served as the Director of Product Development. From 1979 until 1991, Mr. Kaufman began his management career at IBM, where he worked as a Materials Scientist and received the prestigious Outstanding Innovation Award from IBM. Mr. Kaufman received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington and his Master of Science from Stanford University.
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Mr. Ginsberg, has served as the President of BEEC Inc. (BEEC), an education services and technology company in California, which he co-founded
in 2016. At BEEC he leads operations and expansion of student services, with clients in North America, Asia, Oceania and Europe. Mr. Ginsberg
also oversees BEEC's software development department focused on custom learning solutions for schools and institutions. Additionally,
he is a Founding Member of BEEC Capital, LLC, an investment and consulting company owned by BEEC Inc. Mr. Ginsberg is also a Director
of NP Life Sciences Health Industry Group Inc., an OTCQB-listed company, as well as a Director of its subsidiary, GW Health Consulting
Management Inc. Mr. Ginsberg also has experience in international trade, education and law. He is active in community leadership, including
co-founding a non-profit, Global Friendship City Association (GFCA), where he serves as the Executive Director. GFCA's mission is to foster
subnational relations globally in the areas of commerce, culture, and education. Through his work, Mr. Ginsberg has helped GFCA form international
public/private partnerships across North America, Asia and Africa. Mr. Ginsberg received his Bachelor’s degree in International
Studies from Johns Hopkins University. We believe that Mr. Ginsberg’s access to contacts and sources, ranging from education services
and technology companies, and international trade, will assist us in generating acquisition opportunities and identifying suitable acquisition
candidates and he will be a valuable member of the Board.
Mr. Brandon Miller, our director, has been serving as a member of the board of directors of Yotta Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: YOTA) since April 2022 and Quetta Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: QETA) since August 2023. Mr. Miller has been the managing partner at Aspect Property Management LLC, a property management company in Connecticut, since January 2015. Before joining Aspect Property Management LLC, Mr. Miller spent a decade in the consulting industry at Matté & Company, a private and public sector consulting company from January 2005 to January 2015, where he offered executive recruiting, strategic planning, leadership, and corporate consulting services. Mr. Miller was a corporate controller at Corporate Dining Solutions, a corporate catering company, from 2003 to 2005. Mr. Miller is presently a certified manager of community associations (“CMCA”) and an association management specialist (“AMS”). Mr. Miller received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Bridgeport in 1986 and studied mechanical engineering at North Carolina State University from 1980 to 1983.
Mr. Daniel McCabe, our director, has been serving as a member of the board of directors of Yotta Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: YOTA) since April 2022 and Quetta Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: QETA) since August 2023. Mr. McCabe has been admitted to practice before the Courts of the State of Connecticut since 1974. Mr. McCabe’s legal career began as an assistant clerk of the Superior Court at Stamford from 1974 to 1976, and since then he has had his own legal practice, Daniel McCabe LLC, a general practice law firm in Connecticut founded in 1982. His work includes rendering legal advice to individuals and business entities concerning commercial transactions, business organizations, and complex litigation. Mr. McCabe is also an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at Sacred Heart University. Mr. McCabe previously was the Chairman of the Stamford Housing Authority, Co-chair of the Stamford Reapportionment Committee, Member of the Board of Parole for the State of Connecticut, Chairman of the Republican Town Committee of the City of Stamford and Counsel for the Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority. He also served as Corporation Counsel for the City of Stamford where he held the position of chief legal counsel and advisor to Mayor Stanley Esposito of the City of Stamford. Mr. McCabe obtained his Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University Law School in 1974.
Mr. Terry Protto, our director, has been a leader during his life and career in various organizations. He had a scholarship, which led to a commission in the US Army, and he quickly rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel. After his graduate school education, Mr. Protto was recruited by Macy’s, the nation’s largest retail department store firm, in 1993 and rose through the executive ranks to Vice Chairman-Operations and Finance, a position he held from 1999 until 2005. He left the Fortune 500 world in 2005 to become President of Mail Order and Retail, a privately held firm in Portland, Oregon where he served from January 2005 to November 2016. Mr. Protto opened 52 retail stores and grew the mail order business to $250M, then sold it to a public firm listed on NASDAQ in March 2020. He then formed an international management consulting business in March 2005, named www.tempCEO.com and focused on strategic services of Optimization to Asset Production, bringing Fortune 500 company business experience to small and medium business enterprises in the USA and Southeast Asia. In October 2005, Mr. Protto was awarded Global Entrepreneur for INC Magazine for his leadership in introducing Oregon and Washington State wine products into the South Asia market. From April 2016 until May 2019, Mr. Protto was a founding member of Alpine 4 Holdings, Inc. (ALPP: NASDAQ), serving as CEO/President of Alpine 4 Holdings, Inc. ALPP focuses on electronics, drones, USA government, lithium batteries, mapping software and metal fabricating. Mr. Protto played NCAA Division 1 golf, and he received his business and law degrees from Whitworth University and Gonzaga University, respectively.
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Established Deal Sourcing Network
We believe our management team’s strong track record will provide us with access to high quality companies. In addition, we believe we, through our management team, have contacts and sources from which to generate acquisition opportunities and possibly seek complementary follow-on business arrangements. These contacts and sources include those in government, private and public companies, private equity and venture capital funds, investment bankers, attorneys and accountants.
Status as a Publicly Listed Acquisition Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to prospective target businesses. As a publicly listed company, we will offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering process. We believe that some target businesses will favor this alternative, which we believe is less expensive, while offering greater certainty of execution, than the traditional initial public offering process. During an initial public offering, there are typically underwriting fees and marketing expenses, which would be costlier than a business combination with us. Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is approved by our shareholders (if applicable) and the transaction is consummated, 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 that could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with shareholders’ interests than it would as a private company. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented management staffs.
With
respect to the foregoing examples and descriptions, past performance by our management team is not a guarantee either (i) of success
with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial
business combination. Potential investors should not rely upon the historical record of our management as indicative of future performance.
BUSINESS STRATEGIES
We will seek to capitalize on the strength of our management team. Our team consists of experienced financial services, accounting and legal professionals and senior operating executives of companies operating in multiple jurisdictions. Collectively, our officers and directors have decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions and operating companies. We believe we will benefit from their accomplishments, and specifically, their current activities, in identifying attractive acquisition opportunities. However, there is no assurance that we will complete a business combination. Our officers and directors have no prior experience consummating a business combination for a “blank check” company. We believe that we will add value to these businesses primarily by providing them with access to the U.S. capital markets.
There
is no restriction in the geographic location of targets we can pursue. In particular, we intend to focus our search for an initial business
combination on private companies that have compelling economics and clear paths to positive operating cash flow, significant assets,
and successful management teams that are seeking access to the U.S. public capital markets.
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ACQUISITION CRITERIA
Our management team intends to focus on creating shareholder value by leveraging its experience in the management, operation and financing of businesses to improve the efficiency of operations while implementing strategies to scale revenue organically and/or through acquisitions. We have identified the following general criteria and guidelines, which we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. While we intend to use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating prospective businesses, we may deviate from these criteria and guidelines should we see justification to do so.
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Strong management team that can create significant value for target business . We will seek to identify companies with strong and experienced management teams that will complement the operating and investment abilities of our management team. We believe we can provide a platform for the existing management team to leverage the experience of our management team. We also believe that the operating expertise of our management team is well suited to complement the target’s management team.
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Revenue and Earnings Growth Potential . We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have the potential for significant revenue and earnings growth through a combination of both existing and new product development, increased production capacity, expense reduction and synergistic follow-on acquisitions resulting in increased operating leverage.
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Potential for Strong Free Cash Flow Generation . We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have the potential to generate strong, stable and increasing free cash flow, particularly businesses with predictable revenue streams and definable low working capital and capital expenditure requirements. We may also seek to prudently leverage this cash flow in order to enhance shareholder value.
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Benefit from Being a Public Company . We intend to only acquire a business or businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and which can effectively utilize access to broader sources of capital and a public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company.
This
criteria does not intend 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 sponsor and
management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into an 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 Annual Report, would be in the form of proxy
solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.
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Funds Flow to and from our Potential PRC Subsidiaries (Post Business Combination)
If we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the combined company whose securities will be listed on a U.S. stock exchange may make capital contributions or extend loans to its PRC subsidiaries through intermediate holding companies subject to compliance with relevant PRC foreign exchange control regulations. The combined company may rely on dividends and other distributions from the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company to provide it with cash flow and to meet its other obligations. After the business combination, the combined company’s ability to pay dividends, if any, to the shareholders and to service any debt it may incur will depend upon dividends or other distributions paid by its PRC subsidiaries which are entitled to substantially all of the economic benefits. Under PRC laws and regulations, PRC companies are subject to certain restrictions with respect to paying dividends or otherwise transferring any of their net assets to offshore entities. In particular, under the current PRC laws and regulations in effect at the time of this Annual Report, dividends may be paid only out of distributable profits. Distributable profits are the net profit as determined under Chinese accounting standards and regulations, less any recovery of accumulated losses and appropriations to statutory and other reserves required to be made. A PRC company is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year to fund certain statutory reserve funds (up to an aggregate amount equal to half of its registered capital). Entities in China may also be required to further set aside a portion of their after-tax profits to fund the employee welfare fund, although the amount to be set aside, if any, is determined at the discretion of its board of directors. Although the statutory reserves can be used, among other ways, to increase the registered capital and eliminate future losses in excess of retained earnings of the respective companies, the reserve funds are not distributable as cash dividends except in the event of liquidation. As a result, the combined company’s PRC subsidiaries may not have sufficient distributable profits to pay dividends to the combined company.
Furthermore, if certain procedural requirements are satisfied, the payment in foreign currencies on current account items, including profit distributions and trade and service related foreign exchange transactions, can be made without prior approval from State Administration of Foreign Exchange (the “SAFE”) or its local branches. However, 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, approval from or registration with competent government authorities or its authorized banks is required. The PRC government may take measures at its discretion from time to time to restrict access to foreign currencies for current account or capital account transactions. If the foreign exchange control regulations prevent the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy their foreign currency demands, the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company may not be able to pay dividends or repay loans in foreign currencies to their offshore intermediary holding companies and ultimately to the combined company. In addition, exchange controls that exist in the PRC may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to acquire a target company in the PRC and limit our ability to utilize our cash flow effectively following a business combination, which may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. Thus, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your share in the open market. We cannot assure you that new regulations or policies will not be promulgated in the future, which may further restrict the remittance of RMB into or out of the PRC. We cannot assure you, in light of the restrictions in place, or any amendment to be made from time to time, that the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company will be able to satisfy their respective payment obligations that are denominated in foreign currencies, including the remittance of dividends outside of the PRC.
As an offshore holding company, if we acquire a target company that operates its business in China, we may use the proceeds of our offshore fund-raising activities to provide loans or make capital contributions to the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company, in each case subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The PRC subsidiaries may pay dividends to us out of their retained earnings. As of the date of this Annual Report, we have not made any dividends or distributions to our shareholders. We do not intend to distribute earnings or settle amounts owed until after the closing of the business combination.
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Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our 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 or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.
We will have until 15 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 15 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination (for up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extensions to our shareholders for approval or offering our public shareholders redemption rights in connection therewith. 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, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon ten days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $690,000, or up to $793,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each extension ($0.10 per public share in either case, up to an aggregate of $1,380,000 or $1,587,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial shareholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. Our Sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within such time period, we will redeem 100% of our issued and outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay liquidation and dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein, and then seek to liquidate and dissolve. We expect the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.05 per Class A ordinary share (regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option), without taking into account any interest earned on such funds. However, we cannot assure you that we will in fact be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public shareholders.
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, 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 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 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 shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our 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.
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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, venture capital, funds leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have significant experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. 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, the requirement that, so long as our securities are listed on Nasdaq, we acquire a target business or businesses having a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) at the time of the agreement to enter into the business combination, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights, and our outstanding rights and the potential future dilution they represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination.
If we succeed in effecting a business combination, there will be, in all likelihood, intense competition from competitors of the target business. We cannot assure you that, subsequent to a business combination, we will have the resources or ability to compete effectively.
Our Investment Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience. Due to the relationships among our sponsor, management team and their respective affiliates, we believe that we will have the capacity to appropriately source opportunities, and to conduct critical business, financial and other analyses of prospective target businesses ourselves, and accordingly, relative to other blank check companies, we believe we have less reliance on unaffiliated third parties to provide such key elements of the investment process.
Each of our directors and officers presently has, and in the future any of our directors and officers may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director 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 or directors 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 will provide that, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any officer or director unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination. See “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest”.
Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets
We believe that the operational and transactional experience of our management team and their respective affiliates, and the relationships they have developed as a result of such experience, will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. These individuals and entities have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and experience in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. We believe that these networks of contacts and relationships will provide us 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.
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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.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would 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 such an 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.
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 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 tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
As more fully discussed in “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing 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. All of our officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Other Acquisition Considerations
Members
of our management team may directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or private placement units 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 and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect
to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a
target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
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Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our shares or for a combination of our shares 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 underwriters’ 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 shareholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may have a negative view of us since we are a blank check company, without an operating history, and there is uncertainty relating to our ability to obtain shareholder approval of our proposed initial business combination and retain sufficient funds in our trust account in connection therewith.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. 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 $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior December 31, 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 Rule 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 equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the second fiscal quarter of such fiscal year, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the second fiscal quarter of such fiscal year.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $69,000,000 assuming no redemptions before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
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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 following our offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our offering and the private placement of the private placement units, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may, although we do not currently intend to, seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, start-up companies or companies with speculative business plans or excess leverage, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
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 or used for redemptions of our ordinary 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.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.
In the case of an 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, we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through 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.
Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination
Nasdaq rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our Board of Directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. 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.
If our board 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 firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
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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 will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial 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 initial 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.
Lack of business diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
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subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and
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cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.
Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that such additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
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Shareholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
Under the Nasdaq’s listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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we issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of ordinary shares then outstanding (other than in a public offering);
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any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or
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the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control.
Permitted purchases of our securities
In the event 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, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares 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 such persons may purchase. 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. In the event our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates determine to make any such purchases at the time of a shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, such purchases could have the effect of influencing the vote necessary to approve such transaction. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement 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. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
In the event that our sponsor, 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. 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.
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The purpose of such purchases would be 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. This 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.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our ordinary shares 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. However, in the event our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase shares from public shareholders, such purchases would by structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:
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the Company’s registration statement/proxy statement filed for its business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases;
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if the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase shares from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through the Company’s redemption process;
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the Company’s registration statement/proxy statement filed for its business combination transaction would include a representation that any of the Company’s securities purchased by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction;
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the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to the Company’s securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and
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the Company would disclose in its Form 8-K, before to the Company’s security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items:
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the amount of the Company’s securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates, along with the purchase price;
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the purpose of the purchases by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates;
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the impact, if any, of the purchases by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved;
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the identities of Company security holders who sold to the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of Company security holders ( e.g ., 5% security holders) who sold to the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates; and
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the number of Company securities for which the Company has received redemption requests pursuant to its redemption offer.
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Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Such persons would select the shareholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such 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. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of ordinary shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
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 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 as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share (subject to increase of up to an additional $0.10 per public share in the event that our sponsor elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus). 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 shares they may hold 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 ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder 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 shareholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with Nasdaq rules.
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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, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and
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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.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
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 a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 both immediately prior to and upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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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
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file proxy materials with the SEC.
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any shareholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
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If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our sponsor and its permitted transferees will own 23.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (including private placement shares) entitled to vote thereon. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, 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 public shares in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will 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 both immediately prior to and upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all 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, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek shareholder approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing, 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 will 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 seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders 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 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 if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or 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 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 Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers and directors have, pursuant to a letter agreement entered into with us and waived their right to have any founder shares or public shares held by them redeemed in connection with our initial business combination. Unless any of our other affiliates acquires founder shares through a permitted transfer from an initial shareholder, and thereby becomes subject to the letter agreement, no such affiliate is subject to this waiver. However, to the extent any such affiliate acquires public shares in this offering or thereafter through open market purchases, it would be a public shareholder and restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to any Excess Shares.
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Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, 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. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a shareholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the shareholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).
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Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 15-month period (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) 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 each case 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 public rights or private placement rights, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 15-month time period (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).
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 their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). However, if our sponsor acquires public shares 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 15-month time period (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would (i) 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 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (ii) with respect to the other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 both immediately prior to and upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the funds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
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If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this
offering and the sale of the private placement units, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into
account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution
would be approximately $10.05 (subject to increase of up to an additional $0.10 per public share in the event that our sponsor
elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus). The proceeds
deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the
claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not
be substantially less than $10.05 per public share. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have
funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or 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, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would 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 an 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 perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, 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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.05 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.05 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification 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 may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.05 per public share.
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We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor
will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than
our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving
any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to
any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities
Act. We will have access to up to $69,345,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, with which
to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be
no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and
liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In
the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $10.05, we may fund such excess with funds from the 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 $10.05, the amount of funds we intend to be
held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable
bankruptcy 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, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.05
per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against
us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy
laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could
seek to recover all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty
to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, 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.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier of (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 to (A) 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 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.
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Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contains certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, we will provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide, among other things, that:
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prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which shareholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) or (2) provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to tender their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a shareholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) in each case subject to the limitations described herein;
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we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon such consummation and, solely if we seek shareholder approval, a majority of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination;
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if our initial business combination is not consummated within 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 or 21 months, as applicable from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and
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prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional ordinary 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 cannot be amended without the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend and vote at a general meeting. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the ordinary shares voted by our shareholders at a duly held shareholders meeting.
Conflicts of Interest
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and in the future any of our directors and our officers may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director 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 or directors 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 will provide that, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any officer or director unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination.
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Indemnity
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.05 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Employees
We currently have two officers. Members of our management team 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 initial business combination. The amount of time that our officers or any other members of our management team will devote in any time period 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.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include risk factors in this Annual Report.
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.