DevvStream Corp. 10-K

ITEM 1. BUSINESS Overview We are a blank check company with a mission to amplify social impact by investing in a high-growth company that is meaningfully aligned with one or more of four UN SDGs: Three (Good Health and Well-being); Four (Quality Education); Eight (Decent Work and Economic Growth); and Ten (Reduced Inequality). We define such businesses as “Social-Forward Companies,” and we believe meaningful alignment can be achieved through, among other things, a company’s business model, leadership, investment in its employees and commitment to its community. Through our focus, we hope to increase public market access for Social-Forward Companies and emphasize their potential competitive advantages in today’s markets and going forward. In pursuit of this mission, Focus Impact Acquisition Corporation was formed as a Delaware corporation with a dual purpose: first, to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction with one or more businesses (the “initial business combination”); and second, to encourage the development, deployment and amplification of financially and socially value-accretive operating practices and policies in the post-combination business. We believe executing this dual purpose will simultaneously enhance our target business’ competitiveness while also advancing social impact. We find support both in credible research and in our management team’s professional experience for a connection between a business’s social commitments and competitive advantages. A National Bureau of Economic Research study found that employment opportunities that are social responsibility-oriented attract 25% more applicants, and those who they attract are more productive and produce higher quality work. Another study by a marketing agency found that 79% of Americans surveyed say they are more loyal as customers to purpose-driven brands than traditional brands. There is additional evidence that diversity of leadership correlates positively with financial performance and innovation; firms that invest in employee development have less churn and outperform; and a robust ESG framework mitigates risks. We believe we have seen evidence of such connections and more in our own leadership experience. We also believe there are a large number of potential Social-Forward Companies. To narrow our search, we plan to focus on high-growth businesses in the education technology (EdTech), technology-enabled manufacturing and services, financial technology (FinTech) and healthcare technology (Health Tech) sectors, as well as on compelling companies in these or other sectors led by, founded by or serving BIPOC or women. As we discuss in more detail below, our four target sectors had an estimated combined global market size, measured by revenues, of approximately $688 billion in 2020, and the universe of BIPOC- and women-led or focused businesses expands our target pool further. Within this universe, we will identify companies well-positioned to generate financial and social value when provided access to public markets, support from our leadership and our strategic partners and networks. We believe that many companies in our four target sectors are either providing or capable of providing greater access for disadvantaged populations to essential services and opportunities in education, health and professional development. Further, we believe that BIPOC and women-led or focused businesses have been disadvantaged in terms of access to capital and therefore undervalued by markets. We believe elevating talented BIPOC and women executives into the public markets would contribute to reducing inequality by further improving the visibility of under-represented leaders. We believe that responsibly delivering capital to these sectors—and to BIPOC and women leaders—can be socially beneficial in and of itself. Our team has particular expertise in our four target sectors, which we believe will position us to be a like-minded, operationally and financially sophisticated partner for the Social-Forward Companies that we target and provide us with an advantage in the market for such businesses. Additionally, we believe that our network and affiliation with Auldbrass Partners, an investment management fund and investor in our sponsor, will enhance our ability to source and execute an attractive initial business combination and provide us with differentiated access to pre-IPO businesses, particularly within our target industries. 4 Table of Contents While we may pursue an initial business combination in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus our search in the United States. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Our target business does not need to already be a leader relative to its peers in terms of social forward-best practices. We intend to work with the target to unlock the value of its social investments in its business model, leadership, employees or commitment to its community. Our Mission Our mission is to amplify social impact by elevating the profile of Social-Forward Companies in public markets. We observe that, traditionally, companies create economic value through the deployment of strategic capital into their goods, services, people and processes for the benefit of shareholders. However, we believe that in addition to such traditional methods of value creation, businesses can incrementally increase economic value by intentionally pursuing social impact and generating positive outcomes for their stakeholders. Although there are many ways to pursue social impact, we chose to focus on those companies actively or intending to become meaningfully aligned with UN SDGs Three, Four, Eight and Ten in their business models, leadership, investment in employees or commitment to community. It is our conviction that our process of identifying and investing in a Social-Forward Company will drive an increase of attention and equity capital towards this company specifically and similar companies in general; increase awareness of social issues related to SDGs Three, Four, Eight and Ten; and contribute simultaneously to economic growth and social impact. We further believe that investing in such a business represents an attractive and underappreciated economic opportunity for the benefit of all participating stakeholders. We intend to demonstrate the incremental value available to Social-Forward Companies not only by means of our investment criteria and operational objectives but in other aspects of our company. Recognizing value in diversity is a key component of driving social impact. Founded by a BIPOC leadership group, our company has purposefully and carefully curated a group of directors and advisors comprised of BIPOC and women leaders. In addition, we are working with BIPOC- or women-led teams for underwriting, accounting and auditing services. We believe our unique combination of experiences and perspectives will help us accomplish our mission as a partner, while enhancing our attractiveness to potential target companies. Our hope is that our company serves not only as a precedent but also as an inspiration and catalyst for other social-forward leaders interested in creating financial and social value through public market participation. The Current Situation and Our Opportunity Our focus on Social-Forward Companies aligns with what we believe are prominent and long-term social and economic trends. We assert that a confluence of factors creates opportunities for a blank check company such as ours. There is a growing body of evidence that companies with a strong social profile—that is, those with a commitment to the “S” in ESG—outperform those with a weak social profile. For example, data provider MSCI has found that, over a 13-year back-tested period, top quintile “S” companies in the MSCI World Index outperformed bottom quintile companies in terms of both return and risk-adjusted return. Non-profit organization JUST Capital has found that, for the twelve months following the onset of COVID-19 in February 2020, the cumulative return of Russell 1000 companies in the top quintile when scored for workforce investment and training outperformed that of bottom quintile companies by over 5%. Our team members have each in her/his own context directly observed the organizational performance benefits of a social impact orientation, whether expressed in the social purpose of a business, contributions to a community, diversity and inclusion or other ways. Recent years have seen a surge in attention to Environmental, Social and Governance factors as indicators of risk, opportunity and long-term, sustainable value. According to the latest Global Sustainable Investment Alliance Review in 2018, the pool of assets seeking ESG-aligned strategies that year topped $30 trillion, and we believe this number to have grown since then. Many companies are also aligning around the UN SDG framework for measuring and reporting their sustainability impacts and contributions. Per the 2020 UN Global Compact Progress Report, of the 615 companies surveyed, 84% reported taking specific action to advance the SDGs, and only 39% of companies believed their own targets were sufficiently ambitious. In the finance community, firms with assets under management of over $103 trillion had signed the UN Principles for Responsible Investment as of March 2020. 5 Table of Contents While the ESG concept is gaining traction, the attention has not been equally distributed across the E, S and G factors nor across the SDGs. A 2017 study by the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights found that the “S” factors in ESG frameworks were either too vague or too limited to provide insight into corporate performance. In a 2019 BNP Paribas survey, 46% of the 347 respondents indicated that the “S” component was the most difficult element to incorporate into their investment analysis. However, COVID-19 has put into sharp focus the importance of social factors generally and unequal access to healthcare and technology among different groups in the United States in particular. We assert that the pandemic has set back our country’s progress with regard to SDGs Three, Four, Eight and Ten. The need for corporations and the private sector to be intentional about social impact is clear. Even before COVID-19, the influential Business Roundtable Group in 2019 expanded its definition of the purpose of a corporation to consider the needs of stakeholders beyond shareholders, committing signatories to invest in employees and support communities, among other items. In the intervening months, we have observed many companies make strong commitments aligned with our select SDGs and focus on BIPOC and women. Nasdaq has proposed new board diversity listing requirements for companies on its U.S. exchange, and our underwriters on this transaction have both committed to expanding capital access to under-represented and under-financed minority populations. According to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer for institutional investors, “S” jumped from being the least important ESG factor in past years to the most important factor for U.S. participants of the survey. As we seek to leverage these trends and findings, we choose to focus on those companies materially aligned to promote the achievement of SDGs Three (Good Health and Well-being), Four (Quality Education), Eight (Decent Work and Economic Growth) or Ten (Reduced Inequality). While we believe that all the SDGs are crucial to creating a more sustainable future, we feel our team’s combined experience is most relevant to these areas, and we further believe that there is extraordinary economic opportunity for the industries and companies addressing these themes. It is our belief that companies in our target sectors can address the underlying challenges in our select SDGs. Across EdTech, tech-enabled manufacturing and services, FinTech and Health Tech, as well as BIPOC and women-led or focused businesses, we see opportunity to invest in companies positioned to improve access to services and drive social impact in the United States. EdTech ($227 billion). According to industry data, global revenues for education technology were estimated to be $227 billion in 2020 and are projected to grow to over $400 billion by 2025. Growth in the sector accelerated through the COVID-19 pandemic as schools, universities and training centers reverted to remote learning, and we do not believe the world will return to the same degree of in-person instruction post-COVID. We view EdTech as being essential to providing educational and up-skilling opportunities for life-long learners regardless of where they are located. The U.S. accounted for 31% of global VC spending in the education sector from 2010 to the first half of 2020. Tech-Enabled Manufacturing and Services ($215 billion) . According to industry data, global revenues for the tech-enabled manufacturing sector were estimated to be $215 billion in 2020 and are projected to reach $385 billion by 2025. McKinsey & Company, in a 2018 report, estimated that a technology-enabled transformation of the global industrials sector could generate between $0.8 and $2.0 trillion in total return to shareholders through revenue growth and margin expansion. Real-time operational optimization, robotics, robust data analytics, enhanced safety, processes in automated communication with each other and the software to manage these new networks are driving change in the workplace. While we expect that these trends will to some extent inevitably lead to the replacement of labor with capital, these changes also have the potential to improve the nature of work and introduce new types of professions. 6 Table of Contents FinTech ($149 billion) . FinTech start-ups and growth-stage companies are disrupting the delivery and operations of financial services. In our view, such disruptive companies could not only improve the provision of financial services to existing customers but also meaningfully expand access to financial services to previously underserved groups—including BIPOC and women. According to a Deloitte report, FinTech generated $126 billion of estimated global revenue in 2020, and this revenue will grow at a projected 11.7% compound annual growth rate from 2019 through 2024. However, we believe that traditional financial firms are foregoing a substantial market opportunity by failing to adequately provide services to BIPOC and women customers. We believe that the value of these markets will accrue to the FinTech firms expanding access to services through innovation. Health Tech ($96.5 billion) . The integration of application software, distributed connectivity, artificial intelligence, wearables, and personalization insights into the healthcare system is reshaping the healthcare sector. According to industry data, the healthcare technology sector is estimated to have generated $96.5 billion of global revenue in 2020, with North America accounting for almost 40% of this value. A 2020 McKinsey & Company report predicted that the sustained expansion of telehealth in the post-COVID period could shift $250 billion of U.S. healthcare expenditures to virtual or near-virtual care in the near future, which would equate to 20% of total 2020 office, outpatient, and home health spending. We believe that this has the potential to greatly expand access to health services and that other components of the Health Tech vertical could be equally revolutionary. Led by, Founded by or Serving BIPOC and Women . We know that BIPOC- and women-led or focused businesses suffer from disadvantaged access to capital. In 2020, the share of venture capital flowing to women-founded companies fell from 2.8% in 2019 to 2.3%, per Crunchbase data. Crunchbase similarly found that, as of September 2020, the share of venture capital funding year-to-date supporting Black and Latinx founders was only 2.6%. According to a 2021 Fundera report, based on U.S. Federal Reserve data, banks extended financing to four-fifths of white business owners applying for a loan, whereas BIPOC owners were successful only two-thirds of the time. It is our conviction that BIPOC- and women-led or focused businesses are being under-financed and under-valued, and we might choose to provide capital to a compelling business outside of our four core sectors as long as it otherwise meets our investment criteria. Our target business does not need to already be a leader relative to its peers in terms of social forward-best practices. By working with the company, we intend to unlock, together, the full value of its social investments in its business model, leadership, investment in its employees and commitment to its community. We believe our focus on Social-Forward Companies will help drive increased public market access for such companies, emphasize their competitive advantages in today’s markets and in the future, and set an example for other demonstrated or aspirational social-forward leaders. By these means, we hope to amplify corporate social impact beyond just our own efforts. Our Team, Auldbrass Partners, and Advisory Board Our company’s officers, directors, affiliation with Auldbrass Partners and advisors bring together complementary expertise, resources and networks in addition to their experience leading organizations and executing transactions across business cycles. Our officers, directors, and advisors as well as professionals at Auldbrass Partners also have experience transacting with and guiding growth companies in private markets. Further, several of our team have previously implemented socially-forward programs in other organizations. We believe in the corporate value of amplifying social impact based on direct experience. For these reasons, we believe we are well positioned to identify and complete an attractive business combination and can deliver upon a differentiated strategy. Our Team The management team consists of Carl Stanton (CEO), Ernest Lyles (CFO) and Wray Thorn (CIO). Our board of directors includes Wes Moore (Chairman), Troy Carter (Independent Director), Howard Sanders (Director), and Dawanna Williams (Independent Director). Our team is comprised of professionals with experience in investment banking, operational management, technology, marketing, corporate governance, leadership development, and other areas of potential value to our company and our target business. We are all aligned with regard to the value of Social-Forward Companies. We intend to leverage our team’s expertise and networks to both identify a range of potential target businesses and create shareholder value in the initial business combination. 7 Table of Contents Westley (“Wes”) W. O. Moore, Chairman. Wes Moore currently serves as a director on the boards of IAC, Under Armour Inc. and Longview Acquisition Corp. II. Wes was the chief executive officer of Robin Hood Foundation, one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty focused charities, until May 2021. Before becoming CEO at Robin Hood, Wes was the founder and CEO at BridgeEdU, an education platform based in Baltimore addressing the college completion and job placement crisis by reinventing freshman year for underserved students. BridgeEdU was acquired by Edquity, a Brooklyn-based student financial success and emergency aid firm, in June 2019. Wes also served as a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and, prior to that, served as a captain and paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan. Wes has also worked in finance as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in London and with Citigroup in New York. Wes earned an MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004, and he graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. Wes is also the author of The New York Times bestseller “The Other Wes Moore,” which has been optioned by executive producer Oprah Winfrey and HBO to be made into a movie, as well as four other bestselling books, “The Work,” “Discovering Wes Moore,” “This Way Home” and the recently released, “Five Days” Troy Carter, Independent Director. Troy Carter is the founder and CEO of Q&A, a music technology company focused on building software solutions for recording artists via distribution and analytics. He also serves as an advisor to the NBA Players Association and The Prince Estate. Prior to founding Q&A, Troy was Global Head of Creator Services at Spotify from 2016 to 2018 and then served in a consulting role for CEO Daniel Ek until 2019. Troy serves on the boards of WeTransfer and SoundCloud, and served as an advisor to Lyft. He is also an active early stage investor, including in companies such as Uber, Lyft, Dropbox, Spotify, Slack, Warby Parker, Gimlet Media, and Thrive Market. Troy previously founded the entertainment company, Atom Factory, in 2008, where he worked with Lady Gaga, John Legend and Meghan Trainor. Troy is an executive member on the boards of trustees at The Aspen Institute and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as well as a Henry Crown Fellow. In addition, he is a member of the United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council. Troy also has served on the boards of directors of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Council for Technology & Innovation and CalArts. Troy has previously been included on Fast Company’s list of most creative people and on Billboard’s Power 100 list, an annual ranking the music industry’s top influencers. Ernest D. Lyles II, CFO. Ernest Lyles is the CEO of The HiGro Group, a mission driven private equity firm focused on buyout investing in the lower middle market, which he founded in 2016. As CEO, Ernest oversees all aspects of the firm including investment activities, growth initiatives and talent management. Additionally, he serves as a board observer of EMSAR and lead director of DRS Imaging Services, two HiGro portfolio companies. Prior to founding The HiGro Group, Ernest spent a decade as an investment banker with UBS Investment Bank where his tenure included advising the world’s most notable corporations and private equity firms. As the head of technology and business services at UBS Investment Bank, Ernest became the most senior African-American investment banker within the firm's industry coverage groups. Ernest serves as a director on the boards of the Citizens Committee for New York, Scan / Harbor, Manhattan Country School and the West Harlem Development Corporation. Ernest also is a member of the New York Economic Club and Founder of the UTULIVU Group, a mission driven non-profit focused on the continuity of holistic achievement by high performing Black men. Ernest attended The Howard University School of Law in Washington DC and Shepherd University in West Virginia. Howard L. Sanders, Director. Howard Sanders is the managing member of Auldbrass Partners, a growth-focused private equity firm investing primarily in secondaries transactions, which he founded in 2011. Howard heads Auldbrass Partners’ transactional sourcing, deal execution, investment strategy and business development. He has led successful Auldbrass Partners investments in SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), Tech-enabled manufacturing and services, Healthcare and EdTech companies. Before founding Auldbrass Partners, Howard was a managing director at Citigroup where he was responsible for managing and directing Citi Holdings’ proprietary investments in private equity, hedge funds and real estate. Prior to Citi, Howard was a vice president in mergers and acquisitions for Deutsche Bank (a successor to James D. Wolfensohn and Co.). He also previously served as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. 8 Table of Contents Howard is currently a board member of the Partnership for New York City Foundation, the Riverside Church in the City of New York and the Undergraduate Executive Board of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Carl M. Stanton, CEO. Carl brings nearly three decades of experience in leading companies across transformative Private Equity/Alternative Asset management with a proven track record in creating shareholder value. Carl has unique knowledge and skills across all facets of Asset Management. He is a team builder and has managed and co-led two Alternative Asset Management firms totaling over $4.5 billion AUM, and has delivered best-in-class investment performance results along with colleagues over multiple funds. He has advised CEOs, CFOs, and Boards of Directors of multiple companies and spread managerial, financial, and strategic best practices with demonstrated expertise in value creation strategies including revenue growth strategies, industry transformation, cost control, supply chain management, and technology best practices. Carl has also served as Board Member to more than 15 portfolio companies across Industrial Products & Services, Transportation & Logistics and Consumer industries. Carl is former Managing Partner and Head of Private Equity for Invesco Private Capital, a division of Invesco, Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ), which managed private investment vehicles across private equity, venture capital, and real estate. At Invesco Private Capital, Carl was responsible for overseeing multiple alternative asset investment Funds and served as Chair of Investment Committee for domestic PE efforts. Prior to Invesco, Carl served as Managing Partner and co-owner at Wellspring Capital Management LLC, a private equity investment firm focused on control investments in growing companies in the industrial products & services, healthcare and consumer industries. He oversaw and approved all investments as a member of the Investment Committee. At the time of his retirement in 2015, the firm had invested more than $2.5 billion in 35 platform companies and achieved top-tier investment results. Currently, Carl serves as the Founder of cbGrowth Partners, which focuses on sustainable investments, and serves as Advisor to Auldbrass Partners. Previously, Carl worked at Dimeling, Schreiber & Park, Peter J Solomon & Co, Associates, and Ernst & Young Corporate Finance LLC. Mr. Stanton holds a BS degree in Accounting from the University of Alabama and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. He resides in New York with his family and serves as Trustee, Treasurer and Head of Finance and Endowment Committee of Christ Church United Methodist, a nonprofit organization. He also serves as Board of Visitors at the University of Alabama, College of Commerce. Wray T. Thorn, CIO. Wray is the Founder and Chief Executive of Clear Heights Capital, a private investment firm committed to helping companies realize their growth and development objectives. Wray is deeply involved in building and leading businesses to source, structure, finance and make private investments as well as helping companies, organizations and executives realize their growth and development objectives. With over two decades of experience as a Chief Investment Officer, investment leader and lead director, Wray has firsthand knowledge of investment firm leadership, private investing and company value creation. Wray has also been at the forefront of proactive ESG principals, putting people first in private investing as well as applying data and technology to innovate private investing. Prior to founding Clear Heights Capital, Wray was Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer—Private Investments at Two Sigma Investments. Wray architected and led the firm’s private equity (Sightway Capital), venture capital (Two Sigma Ventures) and impact (Two Sigma Impact) investment businesses as Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer of TSPI, LP and Chair & Venture Partner of TSV. During his 9-year tenure, Wray grew the private investment businesses to nearly $4 billion in AUM and 90 team members, with the dual objectives of building differentiated direct private investment businesses that capitalized on Two Sigma’s capabilities in data science and technology through which a portion of the firm’s proprietary capital could be invested alongside external investor capital. Before Two Sigma, Wray was a Senior Managing Director with Marathon Asset Management, where he was a senior member of the investment team, developed the firm’s private equity investment activities and played a role in many new business opportunities and capital formation initiatives for the firm. Prior to joining Marathon, Wray evaluated and executed management buyout transactions as a Director with Fox Paine & Co. and as a Principal at Dubilier & Co. Wray began his career in the financial analyst program at Chemical Bank (today, J.P. Morgan) as an Associate in the Acquisition Finance Group. 9 Table of Contents Wray has been involved in approximately 290 transactions, add-on acquisitions, realizations, corporate financings, fundraisings and other principal transactions with aggregate consideration in excess of $32 billion, including direct private equity, venture and third-party managed fund investments representing more than $2.8 billion in invested capital. Wray has been a part of driving shareholder value creation and corporate growth as member of boards and committees of more than 30 companies and investment funds, across industries including technology, financial services, education, consumer services and real assets. Wray is committed to giving back to the community, serving as Co-Chair of the Board of Youth, INC, as a grant monitor and event committee chair for Hour Children, as an Associate of the Harvard College Fund and previously as the founding President of the Saint Stephen of Hungary School Foundation. In his 15+ years working with Youth, INC, a venture philanthropy organization in New York City, Wray has engaged in many aspects of the organization’s growth and development including recruiting senior leadership, leading strategic planning initiatives, chairing the governance and compensation committees and being a part of raising more than $100 million to transform the lives of NYC youth by empowering more than 175 grass-roots non-profits that serve them. Wray earned an A.B. from Harvard University. Dawanna Williams, Independent Director. Dawanna serves as the managing principal at Dabar Development Partners, which she founded over 15 years ago. Dabar has developed over 3,000 apartments units covering more than 2 million square feet of mixed-use developments and has had principal involvement in development projects awarded by NYC’S Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), NYC’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), and New York City’s Housing Authority (NYCHA). As managing principal, she is involved in all executive aspects of business operations, from developing strategic priorities to executing development projects to risk management to establishing firm values and standards. Prior to Dabar, Dawanna served as General Counsel at Victory Education Partners and as a senior associate in the commercial real estate group at Sidley Austin LLP. Dawanna serves on the board of directors of the Apollo Theater, chairing the real estate committee, and on the board of directors for the New York City Trust for Cultural Resources. She also serves on the board of directors of the New York Real Estate Chamber. Dawanna earned an A.B. from Smith College in economics and government, a master of public administration from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Maryland School of Law. Our sponsor may offer incentives, including an indirect interest in our sponsor, to any members of our team who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial business combination. The incentives available to our team will also be available on the same terms to our advisors and affiliates of Auldbrass Partners. Auldbrass Partners Auldbrass Partners is a private equity firm founded in 2011 and located in New York City. Auldbrass Partners has monitored and managed approximately $1.5 billion of global investments in growth, buyout, mezzanine, and venture capital and has an expansive pricing application analyzing over 300 investment funds, with over 5,000 active underlying companies. Auldbrass Partners leverages this database (“Thesys,” now in its third iteration) to efficiently identify, evaluate and invest in private equity high growth opportunities through secondaries transactions. Prior to the formation of Auldbrass Partners, our team (in aggregate) completed over $3.8 billion (500 funds) in secondary transactions across private equity, real estate, hedge fund side pockets, and mezzanine funds, with assets located in Europe, Asia, and North America. The Auldbrass Partners investment team also has significant primary and secondary investment experience as well as market knowledge across several alternative asset classes and maintains long-term relationships with 200 top-tier fund managers. 10 Table of Contents Figure: Example Auldbrass Partner Portfolio Investments as of March 31, 2021. Through Auldbrass Partners’ activities as a leading secondaries investor in middle market and late-stage growth portfolios, the firm and its employees have deep relationships across the private equity eco-sphere, and a sophisticated database of privately-owned companies (Thesys) that includes detailed, company-level information. Auldbrass Partners has successfully utilized Thesys to drive deal flow and will assist the company in the discovery of actionable opportunities and enhance strategic analysis. Advisory Board Our advisory board brings a unique and powerful blend of executive, investment, corporate strategy, talent development, sales and marketing, corporate finance, and social impact experience. We have purposefully and carefully curated an advisory board, the members of which bring complementary skills. We believe our advisory board members support our ability to identify and drive value in our initial business combination through their sourcing channels, relationship networks and leadership. We are confident that our advisory board members commit meaningful time and resources to assisting our company achieve our mission. The members of our advisory board assist our management team with sourcing and evaluating business opportunities and devising plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire following the consummation of our initial public offering. However, unlike our management team, members of our advisory board are not responsible for managing our day-to-day affairs and have no authority to engage in substantive discussions with business combination targets on our behalf. Members of our advisory board are neither paid nor reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses in connection with the search of business combination targets before or after the consummation of our initial business combination. We have not currently entered into any formal arrangements or agreements with the members of our advisory board to provide services to us, and they will have no fiduciary obligations to present business opportunities to us. We believe that the experience and capabilities of our management, combined with the resources of Auldbrass Partners and our board of directors and advisory board, enhance our attractiveness to potential target businesses, enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities, strengthen our ability to complete a successful combination, and drive our pursuit of financially and socially value-accretive operating practices and policies upon the completion of the initial business combination. With respect to the above, past performance of our management team, Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team, Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board and their respective affiliates as indicative of future performance. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by our management team, Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” Our management has no prior experience in operating blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies. For a list of our executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such officers and the company, please refer to “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” 11 Table of Contents Our management team, sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such other blank check company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Our Business Strategy Although we may pursue an initial business combination in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus on high-growth businesses in the EdTech, technology-enabled manufacturing and services, FinTech and Health Tech sectors, as well as on compelling companies in these or other sectors led by, founded by or serving BIPOC or women in the United States. Based on the experiences of our officers, directors, partner and advisors, we believe that within this universe of businesses are many promising potential targets that could become attractive public companies with long-term growth opportunities and attractive competitive positioning. We believe that there are a large number of Social-Forward Companies in these sectors. In executing our search and initial business combination, we plan to leverage the broad networks and complementary expertise of our officers, directors, advisory board members and Auldbrass Partners. We will also seek to attract promising private businesses to our company by emphasizing our ability to amplify the socially-forward aspects of a target business and unlock greater value from even an otherwise strong business. We believe that this combination of factors will bolster our ability to successfully complete a business acquisition that will enhance the overall value of our target and fulfill our mission. We hope that our example inspires other companies and investors to enhance their own support for health and well-being, quality education, broad-based economic growth, decent work and greater economic equality in the United States. Our networks and expertise have been developed through the experience of our officers, directors, partner and advisor by means of: • Sourcing, structuring, acquiring, integrating and selling businesses in and adjacent to our target sectors; • Operating sophisticated business and non-profit organizations and executing complex transactions; • Identifying, recruiting and developing promising talent; • Accessing the capital markets and marketing organizations; and, • Advising companies and boards on diverse corporate matters, including but not limited to the integration of socially positive concerns into business operations for value creation. Our sponsor may offer incentives, including an indirect interest in our sponsor, to any members of our team who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial business combination. 12 Table of Contents Demonstrating Our Commitment to Social Impact Certain members of our sponsor intend to make a meaningful donation of interests in our sponsor to a charitable cause following the consummation of our initial business combination. We believe that this commitment will be highly appealing to market-leading companies across all sectors. Our Competitive Advantage We believe the reputation, sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution capabilities of our officers, directors, Auldbrass Partners and members of our advisory board all contribute towards our ability to generate a pipeline of opportunities from which to select a target business, to successfully execute a combination, and to create value for our shareholders following the combination. We further believe that conducting our company as a Social-Forward Company and demonstrating our commitment to social impact through our donations make us more attractive to potential business targets and investors, many of which we believe have aligned values. Our competitive strengths include the following: • Passion to fulfill our mission to develop as a successful public company using our Social-Forward criteria. • Compelling sourcing opportunities and strategic relationships, including our highly differentiated sourcing engine provided via our relationship with secondaries investment firm Auldbrass Partners, as well as the collective networks of our officers, directors, and advisory board members. • Extensive influence and reach through a broad network that spans a range of leaders in business, entertainment, government and philanthropy. • Successful track record of investing, transaction and capital markets experience that demonstrates a strong ability to source, select and execute. • Deep insights into and subject matter expertise in a target-rich universe that provides a large total addressable market. • Values-based leadership attractive to target businesses and with the ability to amplify and validate the efforts of a Social-Forward Company. Our Combination Criteria Our search for a combination target will focus on businesses that we believe would benefit from becoming publicly traded companies and stand to benefit from our mission. We believe that our strategy creates a compelling alternative for a growing Social-Forward Company to become a public entity, thereby potentially increasing capital access, gaining liquidity, diversifying investors and otherwise benefiting from participation in public markets. We have developed a set of high-level investment criteria to guide our search for a target company. In addition to seeking businesses with strong business fundamentals and defined growth opportunities, we plan to prioritize businesses that: • Either demonstrate or appreciate the value of supporting health and well-being, quality education, reducing economic inequality and promoting decent work in the United States. • Are motivated to fulfill our mission and be positioned as, or further developed as, a Social-Forward Company. • Are excited about working with our company to realize in parallel both shareholder and social value. 13 Table of Contents • Are positioned to materially benefit from our officers’ and directors’ knowledge of the target industry and relationships. • Have strong management teams with a clear vision to either maintaining or, if an early-stage business, creating sustainable cash flows. • Are positioned to benefit from access to public capital markets and the merits of being a Social-Forward Company. While not a requirement, we may prioritize companies with existing revenue and evidence of high growth. These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation of a particular initial business combination might be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as on other considerations, factors and criteria that our officers and directors may deem relevant. In the event that our company decides to enter into an initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria, we would disclose that the target business diverges from the above guidelines in our shareholder communications related to the initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Report, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC. Our Combination Process In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review, which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, utilization of independent consultants, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. Our search for a business combination, ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination may be materially adversely affected by the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) outbreak. See “Risk Factors — Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.” We have not selected any potential business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, contacted any prospective target or had any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential target regarding entering into an initial business combination with us. We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with or related to Auldbrass Partners, our sponsor, officers, directors or members of our advisory board. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with or related to any of Auldbrass Partners, our sponsor, officers, directors or members of our advisory board, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such 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. Conflicts of Interest There are potential conflicts of interest that could impact our company and our search for, and pursuit of, potential business combination opportunities, including potential conflicts associated with the interests and activities of Auldbrass Partners. These potential conflicts are discussed in more detail elsewhere in this Report and are not, and are not intended to be, a complete enumeration or explanation of all of the potential conflicts of interest that may arise. Auldbrass Partners is an indirect investor in our sponsor. In addition, Howard Sanders, one of our directors, is currently affiliated with Auldbrass Partners as a Founding Partner and a Managing Director in its advisory business. 14 Table of Contents Auldbrass Partners manages or advises (and intends to manage and advise in the future) several investment programs. Funds managed by Auldbrass Partners may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these funds decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Auldbrass Partners may be suitable for both us and for a current or future Auldbrass Partners fund or investee company and may be directed to such entity rather than to us. Auldbrass Partners, our management team and members of our advisory board do not have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. See “Risk Factors”, including “Potential conflicts of interest with other businesses of Auldbrass Partners or other businesses with which our officers, directors or members of the advisory board may have fiduciary or contractual obligations could negatively impact the performance of an investment in us.” Our sponsor, investors in our sponsor, our directors and officers and members of our advisory board are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our sponsor, investors in our sponsor, our directors and officers and members of our advisory board are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors (including our advisory board members), in their other endeavors (including any affiliation or relationship they may have with Auldbrass Partners), may choose or be required to present potential business combinations to Auldbrass Partners or to third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. As a result, if any of our officers, directors or members of the advisory board becomes aware of a business combination 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 such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. Our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors”, including those entitled “Potential conflicts of interest with other businesses of Auldbrass Partners or other businesses with which our officers, directors or members of the advisory board may have fiduciary or contractual obligations could negatively impact the performance of an investment in us”, “Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented” and “Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.” See also the section entitled “Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest.” Similarly, if Auldbrass Partners becomes aware of a potential business combination opportunity that could be an attractive opportunity for our company, Auldbrass Partners is not under any obligation to source any potential opportunities for our initial business combination or refer any such opportunities to our company or provide any other services to our company, other than certain advisory and administrative services. Auldbrass Partners may have fiduciary and/or contractual duties to other entities and, as a result, may have a duty to offer business combination opportunities to those entities before other parties, including our company. Additionally, certain companies with which Auldbrass Partners has a relationship may enter into transactions with, provide goods or services to, or receive goods or services from an entity with which we seek to complete our initial business combination. Transactions of these types may present a conflict of interest if Auldbrass Partners may directly or indirectly receive a financial benefit as a result of such transaction. We believe that any such potential conflicts of interest of Auldbrass Partners and any of our officers or directors that are affiliated with Auldbrass Partners will be naturally mitigated by the differing nature of services that Auldbrass Partners typically provides to its clients, as compared to our activities related to pursuing an initial business combination. In addition, each of our sponsor, directors and officers does, directly or indirectly, own, founder shares and/or private placement warrants following our initial public 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, such directors and officers 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. Our sponsor may offer incentives including an indirect interest in our sponsor to Auldbrass Partners employees or others who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial business combination. 15 Table of Contents Information regarding performance by, or business associated with, our management team, Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board or their respective affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past experience or performance of our management team, Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board or their respective affiliates or related entities is not a guarantee of either (1) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (2) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team. Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board or their respective affiliates or related entities or any investment’s performance as indicative of the future performance of any investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in Auldbrass Partners. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by our management team, Auldbrass Partners, members of our advisory board and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” Initial Business Combination So long as our securities are then listed on Nasdaq, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the 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 an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Nasdaq rules also require that our initial business combination be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our 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 the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. If our securities are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test. 16 Table of Contents Our Management Team 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 any member 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. We believe our management team’s operating and transaction experience and network of relationships with investment banks, private equity firms, professional advisors and senior industrial executives provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams. Our management team is also highly experienced in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this Report entitled “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” for a more complete description of our management team’s experience. 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 shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe certain 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 or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. 17 Table of Contents Financial Position With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $225,950,000 after payment of $8,650,000 of deferred underwriting fees, in each case 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 access to the expertise of our management team, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our 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. 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 initial public offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may 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, 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 business combination or used for redemptions of purchases of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post- transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. We currently do not have any specific transaction under consideration with a target business with which to consummate our initial business combination. 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. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of 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 stockholder 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. Sources of Target Businesses We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. 18 Table of Contents Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, members of our advisory board or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate. We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with or related to Auldbrass Partners, our sponsor, officers, directors or members of our advisory board. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with or related to any of Auldbrass Partners, our sponsor, officers, directors or members of our advisory board, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. As more fully discussed in the section of this Report entitled “Management — 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. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the 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. 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 from 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 our initial public offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our business combination. 19 Table of Contents To the extent we effect our 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, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that 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, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. 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 business combination with only a single business, our lack of diversification may: • 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 • 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 business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ 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 business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our 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 those additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management. 20 Table of Contents Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, subject to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction. Type of Transaction ​ ​ Whether Stockholder Approval is Required Purchase of assets ​ ​ No Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company ​ ​ No Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company ​ ​ No Merger of the company with a target ​ ​ Yes Under Nasdaq’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example: • we issue (other than in a public offering) shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding; • any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by the 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 common stock could result in an increase in outstanding shares of common stock or voting power of 5% or more; or • the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which stockholder approval is not required by law or applicable stock exchange rules will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: • the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine stockholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek stockholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; • the expected cost of holding a stockholder vote; • the risk that the stockholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; • other time and budget constraints of the company; and • additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to stockholders. 21 Table of Contents Permitted Purchases of Our Securities In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers 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. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will be restricted from making 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 stockholder, 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 our initial public offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and 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 such purchases 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 or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders 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. The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock 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. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders 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 stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors 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 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 and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. 22 Table of Contents Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, 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 $10.20 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of shares of Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A commons stock and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). Manner of Conducting Redemptions We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors described above “— Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination,” such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: • conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and • file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock 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. 23 Table of Contents 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 stockholders 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 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: • conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and • file proxy materials with the SEC. In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count toward this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,625,001, or 37.5%, of the 23,000,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved. We will give at least 10 days prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the 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 shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. 24 Table of Contents Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination if We Seek Stockholder Approval Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights As described above, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination is initially to be held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote in which the name and other identifying information of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares. There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $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 submit or 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. Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, 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 stockholders 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. 25 Table of Contents If our initial proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our business combination within such 18-month period, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 18-month time period. Our sponsor officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after our initial public 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 24- month time period. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering or with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to the company to pay franchise and income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the 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 upon consummation of our initial business combination. 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 approximately $1,900,000 of proceeds 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 our franchise and income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses. If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, 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 stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.20. 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 stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per- share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.20. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. 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. 26 Table of Contents Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 stockholders, 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. 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) $10.20 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 interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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 our initial public 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 its 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 indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.20 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our 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) $10.20 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 our tax obligations, 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.20 per public share. 27 Table of Contents 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 registered public accounting firm), 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 our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $1,900,000 from the proceeds of our initial public offering 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, stockholders 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 $700,000, 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 $700,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date. Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), 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. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.20 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 withdrawn to pay our franchise and income taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public 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, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. 28 Table of Contents 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 stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.20 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders 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 stockholders. 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 stockholders 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 stockholders will be entitled receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, subject to applicable law. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote. Competition In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination. Facilities Our executive offices are located at 250 Park Avenue Ste 911, New York, NY, 10177, and our telephone number is (212) 213-0243. Our executive offices are provided to us by an affiliate of our sponsor. Commencing on the date that the Company’s securities were first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of the consummation of the initial business combination and the Company’s liquidation, the Company began to reimburse an affiliate of the sponsor for office space, administrative and support services provided to the Company in the amount of $10,000 per month. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations. 29 Table of Contents 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 any such person 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. Periodic Reporting and Financial Information We have registered our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm. We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with such requirements or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with such requirements. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material. We will be required to evaluate our internal controls over financial reporting procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control over financial reporting procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls over financial reporting. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.