HWH International Inc. 10-K

Item 1. Business. General Alset Capital Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on October 20, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies. As of November 30, 2022, the Company has not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from October 20, 2021 (inception) through November 30, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below and the pursuit of a suitable acquisition candidate. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected November 30 as its fiscal year end. On September 9, 2022, the Company entered into an agreement and plan of merger (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among the Company, HWH International Inc., a Nevada corporation (“HWH”) and HWH Merger Sub Inc., a Nevada corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”). The Company and Merger Sub are sometimes referred to collectively as the “ACAX Parties.” Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, a business combination between the Company and HWH will be effected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into HWH, with HWH surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”). Upon the closing of the Merger (the “Closing”), it is anticipated that the Company will change its name to “HWH International Inc.” The board of directors of the Company has (i) approved and declared advisable the Merger Agreement, the Ancillary Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) and the transactions contemplated thereby and (ii) resolved to recommend approval of the Merger Agreement and related transactions by the stockholders of the Company. HWH is owned and controlled by certain member officers and directors of the Company and its sponsor. The Merger is expected to be consummated in the first half of 2023, following the receipt of the required approval by the stockholders of the Company and the shareholder of HWH and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions. The total consideration to be paid at Closing (the “Merger Consideration”) by the Company to the HWH shareholders will be $125,000,000, and will be payable in shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (“Company Common Stock”). The number of shares of the Company Common Stock to be paid to the shareholders of HWH as Merger Consideration will be 12,500,000, with each share being valued at $10.00. All cash proceeds remaining in the trust will be used to pay transaction costs and as growth capital for HWH. There can be no assurance that the Merger will be consummated. The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on January 31, 2022. On February 3, 2022, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 8,625,000 units (“Units” and, with respect to the shares of common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), generating gross proceeds of $86,250,000, which includes the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 1,125,000 Units generating additional gross proceeds to the Company of $11,250,000, which is described in Note 3 of the Notes to the audited Financial Statements for Fiscal Year ended November 30, 2022. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private sale of 473,750 units (the “Private Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in private placement to Alset Acquisition Sponsor, LLC (the “Sponsor”) generating gross proceeds to the Company in the amount of $4,737,500. 3 The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account). The Company will only complete a 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.10 per Unit sold in the Initial Public Offering, including proceeds from the Private Placement Units, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting certain conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds held in the Trust Account, as described below. The Company will provide the holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer in connection with the Business Combination. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.10 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest then in the Trust Account, net of taxes payable). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants. The Public Shares subject to redemption will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “ Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity .” All of the Public Shares contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Company’s Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation. In accordance with the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and its guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require common stock subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the Public Shares will be issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants), the initial carrying value of Class A common stock classified as temporary equity will be the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. The Class A common stock is subject to ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, we have the option to either (i) accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or (ii) recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. We have elected to recognize the changes immediately. The accretion or remeasurement will be treated as a deemed dividend (i.e., a reduction to retained earnings, or in absence of retained earnings, additional paid-in capital). The Public Shares are redeemable and will be classified as such on the balance sheet until such date that a redemption event takes place. Redemptions of the Company’s Public Shares may be subject to the satisfaction of conditions, including minimum cash conditions, pursuant to an agreement relating to the Company’s Business Combination. The Company will not redeem Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that it does not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to the Business Combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the Business Combination, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination, or such other vote as required by law or stock exchange rule. If a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its second amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. 4 Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company. The holders of the Founder Shares have agreed (a) to waive their redemption rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemptions in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment. If the Company has not completed a Business Combination within 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering (or 15 months if we have filed a proxy statement, registration statement or similar filing for an initial Business Combination within 12 months from the consummation of Initial Public Offering but have not completed the initial Business Combination within such 12-month period, or up to 21 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination, at the election of the Company by two separate three month extensions, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, including the deposit of up to $862,500 ($0.10 per unit in either case) for each three month extension, into the trust account, or as extended by the Company’s stockholders in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation), the Company 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 pay 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), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s 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 the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The holders of the Founders Shares have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the holders of Founder Shares acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00). 5 In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.00 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, if less than $10.00 per Public Share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except for the Company’s independent registered accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account. Going Concern and Management’s Plan The Company expects to incur significant costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans and will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial business combination, at the earliest. In addition, the Company expects to have negative cash flows from operations as it pursues an initial business combination target. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern” the Company does not currently have adequate liquidity to sustain operations, which consist solely of pursuing a Business Combination. The Company may raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from the Sponsor or its stockholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers and directors and the Sponsor may, but are not obligated to (except as described above), loan the Company funds, from time to time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Based on the foregoing, the Company believes it will have sufficient cash to meet its needs through the earlier of consummation of a Business Combination or the deadline to complete a Business Combination pursuant to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (unless otherwise amended by shareholders). While the Company expects to have sufficient access to additional sources of capital if necessary, there is no current commitment on the part of any financing source to provide additional capital and no assurances can be provided that such additional capital will ultimately be available. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise additional capital (to the extent ultimately necessary) or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. As is customary for a special purpose acquisition company, if the Company is not able to consummate a Business Combination during the Combination Period, it will cease all operations and redeem the Public Shares. Management plans to continue its efforts to consummate a Business Combination during the Combination Period. Risks and Uncertainties Management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the economic effects of the pandemic could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The balance sheet does not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. 6 Employees At the present time, the Company has no employees. The Company has an agreement with Alset Management Group, Inc., pursuant to which, for a fee, Alset Management Group, Inc. provides the Company with secretarial and administrative services. Impact of Recent Public Health Events The COVID-19 pandemic worldwide and resulting epidemic in the United States has resulted in a widespread health crisis that has adversely affected the economy and financial markets, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. We may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our 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. Intellectual Property We anticipate filing additional trademark applications as we expand into new areas of business. Additional Information The Company is subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act, and, in accordance therewith, files annual, quarterly, and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the Commission. The Commission maintains an internet website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the Commission. The periodic reports, proxy statements and other information that the Company files with the Commission are available for inspection on the Commission’s website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the Commission. The Company maintains a website at https://www.alsetcapitalacquisition.com where you may also access these materials free of charge. We have included our website address as an inactive textual reference only and the information contained in, and that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated into and is not part of this report on Form 10-K. 7 CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy, and other objectives for our future operations. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “expect,” “may,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential” and similar expression are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. There are a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments that we may make. You should read this Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we have filed as exhibits to this Report on Form 10-K completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. The forward-looking statements contained in this Report on Form 10-K are made as of the date of this Report on Form 10-K, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.